Donald Clegg: Research finds link between politics, religion

Let’s try to clear up a mystery or two.

A recent Gallup poll, taken March 2 through 4, reports that only 29 percent of Republicans consider the Iraq War a mistake, while 84 percent of Democrats say, “Oops.”

This just begs a few questions: Who is this 71 and 16 percent, anyway? Why is the divide so great between the two parties?

And, since I’m bringing it up here, might religion just maybe have a connection to where folks line up on this?

Yes, it does, as it turns out. It comes into play almost accidentally, as sociologists testing for “X” found “R” – i.e., a religious component – in studies not designed to measure religious belief. (More on that later.)

It’s fun when that “Aha!” hits, the satisfaction of the last puzzle piece. I’ve been trying to solve this particular stumper through perusal of a very large field of sociological research, digging into the book “The Authoritarians” and studies like “A Dynamic Theory of Conservatism as Uncertainty Avoidance,” and the ever-in-demand “Terror Management Theory.” (OK, maybe not that popular, but I’ve certainly found it all enlightening.)

I’m no expert, but researchers in this field of inquiry are, with a house of methodological advances that has been built, remodeling as needed over the past 60 years or so.

I’ll leave it to the estimable Dr. Bob Altemeyer, of “The Authoritarians” (www.theauthoritarians.com), to pretty much write the rest of this column; I’m just along for the ride.

Let me introduce you to “authoritarians” and “Right-Wing Authoritarianism.”

Ridiculously simplifying more than 30 years of research, Altemeyer found that certain types of people were “authoritarian followers,” who tended to submit to established authority figures, such as you find in church and government. These folks also tended, among other things, to be conventional in their thinking and have “high levels of aggression in the name of their authorities.”

Altemeyer called this orientation “right-wing,” using the word in one of its earlier meanings, “proper,” and not in a political sense.

It does happen that the shoe fits political right-wingers in North America, i.e., “conservatives.” But as I think this does a real disservice to true conservatives, I’m going to use the label “authoritarian” to fit folks with RWA orientation, instead.

Let’s take a brief look at the RWA scale, listing just a few of the 22 items, with which test subjects could respond on a sliding scale of agreement or disagreement:

“Our country desperately needs a mighty leader who will do what has to be done to destroy the radical new ways and sinfulness that are ruining us.”

“Everyone should have their own lifestyle, religious beliefs, and sexual preferences, even if it makes them different from everyone else.”

“Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs.”

These statements convey the general tenor of the test: permissiveness vs. discipline. It’ll probably come as no surprise that “liberals” tend to score low on the scale, “conservatives” high, but again, I’ll be using some variation on “authoritarian” to describe the core true believers who still hold a fervent allegiance to Mr. Bush.

Altemeyer sums up authoritarians like this:

“Authoritarian followers seem to have a ‘Daddy and Mommy know best’ attitude toward the government. … They also believe that only criminals and terrorists would object to having their phones tapped, their mail opened, and their lives put under surveillance.

“They have bought their tickets and are standing in line waiting for ‘1984, The Real Thing.’ “

It appears that many of them might be waiting for something else, as well, since a certain type of religious belief also, as it happens, goes with scoring highly on the RWA scale.

This whole topic is rather a big bite, so I’ll be continuing another time. Meanwhile, a couple of statements from the “Religious Fundamentalism” scale co-authored by Altemeyer and colleague Bruce Hunsberger should give you something to chew on:

“God has given humanity a complete, unfailing guide to happiness and salvation, which must be totally followed.”

“It is more important to be a good person than to believe in God and the right religion.”

How do you feel about each of them?