Via Secular Right comes this interesting graph suggesting people who pray more tend to be more partisan (or perhaps people who are more partisan tend to pray more). One of Andrew Sullivan’s readers offers up the best explanation I’ve seen: “The more willing you are to “believe” in anything, the more likely you are to “believe” in something else.”
But it isn’t necessarily a lack of belief that makes one a moderate or independent. I don’t think the right analogy is to compare independents to agnostics, for instance. Political agnostics don’t really vote. A better comparison would be people who consider themselves spiritual versus those who consider themselves highly religious. The two may believe in the same God, but the former tends to seek out answers independently and internally, whereas the latter turns to an institution for answers.
What do you think?
Cross-posted at Ablogistan.