Americans Prefer to Talk About Politics More than About God, Says LifeWay Study

People talking

Americans are more comfortable talking about politics than about God, according to the findings of a new survey by LifeWay Research.

Over 1,000 Americans were interviewed about their spiritual life and perspective on politics by LifeWay. The survey focused on the preference Americans place on talking about spirituality as opposed to politics.

About 60 percent of Americans are more comfortable with talking about politics than God, the study found. Evangelicals are more likely to be comfortable with discussing their spiritual beliefs (63 percent).

However, evangelicals also said they think they have more to share than to find out in a spiritual dialogue (32 percent vs. 17 percent).

As many as 64 percent of Americans discussed politics at least three times over the last month, but only 44 percent had given the same impetus to spirituality. 65 percent of Americans not having evangelical beliefs said they talk more about politics.

Along gender lines, more women (51 percent) said they would be comfortable with talking about their faith than those who said they are not (31 percent). Men were more likely to speak about politics than religion, as some 69 percent of said they prefer to talk about politics.

The study also found that levels of preference for the context in which spiritual discussions take place also differed. About 38 percent of Americans like to share their faith or are very comfortable with expressing spiritual thoughts on social media, but 36 percent are not. And some 33 percent prefer sharing faith in a small group, and 40 percent on a one-to-one basis. Only 17 percent of Americans were "most comfortable" with sharing their faith on social media.

"People tend to discuss the things that matter most to them," he said. "For evangelicals, that is their faith," said Scott McConnell, Executive director of LifeWay Research.

Since Americans in general were open to spiritual views of their friends, McConnell encouraged Christians to talk more about faith on social media.

"If your friends are tired of arguing about politics on Facebook, trying asking them about God," he said.