Jews vs. Mormons on the Iraq War

Gallup has some new interesting numbers on the Iraq War-more specifically, if you’re Jewish, you’re probably against it. If you’re Mormon, you’re probably for it: Among Religious Groups, Jewish Americans Most Strongly Oppose War by Jeffrey M. Jones GALLUP NEWS SERVICE PRINCETON, NJ-An analysis of Gallup Poll data collected since the beginning of 2005 finds […]

Gallup has some new interesting numbers on the Iraq War-more specifically, if you’re Jewish, you’re probably against it. If you’re Mormon, you’re probably for it:

Among Religious Groups, Jewish Americans Most Strongly Oppose War

by Jeffrey M. Jones


GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ-An analysis of Gallup Poll data collected since the beginning of 2005 finds that among the major religious groups in the United States, Jewish Americans are the most strongly opposed to the Iraq war. Catholics and Protestants are more or less divided in their views on the war, while Mormons are the most likely to favor it. Those with no religious affiliation also oppose the war, but not to the same extent that Jewish people do.

The greater opposition to the war is not simply a result of high Democratic identification among U.S. Jews, as Jews of all political persuasions are more likely to oppose the war than non-Jews

who share the same political leanings.

For this analysis, Gallup combined 13 surveys from the last two-plus years that measured both support for the Iraq war (using Gallup’s “mistake for the U.S. to send troops to Iraq” question) and respondent religious affiliation, for a combined sample of more than 12,000 interviews.

Across the time period these 13 surveys covered, an average of 52% of Americans opposed the war by saying the United States made a mistake to invade Iraq, and 46% favored the war by saying it did not make a mistake.

The table shows how Iraq war support breaks down among the religious groups for which there are sufficiently large sample sizes to provide stable estimates.

United States Made a Mistake in Sending Troops to Iraq, by Religious Affiliation, 2005-2007 Gallup Polls

Religious Preference / War a mistake (%) / War not a mistake (%)

All Americans 52/46

Protestants 48/49

Non-black Protestants 43/55

Black Protestants 78/18

Catholics 53/46

Jews 77/21

Mormons 27/72

No religion 66/33

Of these major religious groups, three show more opposition than support for the war:

  • Jewish people oppose the Iraq war by a better than 3-to-1 margin, 77% to 21%.
  • Americans without a religious preference are twice as likely to oppose (66%) as to support (33%) the war.
  • Catholics are somewhat more likely to oppose (53%) than to support the war (46%).
  • On the other hand, Mormons and Protestants show more support than opposition to the war. Mormons are strongly in favor, as just 27% term the war “a mistake.”
  • Overall, Protestants are divided, with 48% opposed and 49% in favor. But black Protestants and non-black Protestants diverge in their views. Black Protestants-who are overwhelmingly Democratic-show strong opposition to the war, while among non-black Protestants, support for the Iraq war surpasses the majority level (55% say the war was not a mistake).

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