Left and Christian Right Take Lumps in Poll
Liberals go too far to exclude religion from public life while conservatives overreach in imposing their values, the survey finds.
By K. Connie Kang, Times Staff Writer
September 2, 2006

Americans are critical of both the political left and the Christian right when it comes to their approaches to religion in the public square, according to a new national poll.

Liberals have gone "too far to keep religion out" of public life while conservatives have gone "too far in imposing their religious values," said the study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

These findings from the two Pew organizations — nonpartisan, Washington, D.C.-based research groups — were just two of many indicators of public opinion contained in polls and reports released in August on religious life in the United States. The surveys varied widely. Gays, politics and even attendance at Jewish summer camps were among the topics covered. the rest