{"id":10227,"date":"2020-03-12T10:03:16","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T15:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/about-a-third-in-u-s-see-gods-hand-in-presidential-elections-but-fewer-say-god-picks-winners-based-on-policies\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T01:16:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T06:16:37","slug":"about-a-third-in-u-s-see-gods-hand-in-presidential-elections-but-fewer-say-god-picks-winners-based-on-policies","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/03\/12\/about-a-third-in-u-s-see-gods-hand-in-presidential-elections-but-fewer-say-god-picks-winners-based-on-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"About a third in U.S. see God\u2019s hand in presidential elections, but fewer say God picks winners based on policies"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"President
President Donald Trump placed his hand on two Bibles when he took the oath of office in 2017. One of them was the Lincoln Bible that Barack Obama also used at his swearing-in. (Mandel Ngan\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n

Since President Donald Trump\u2019s election in 2016, some religious<\/a> and political leaders have pondered God\u2019s role<\/a> in his rise to power. Trump\u2019s former energy secretary Rick Perry has said the president is \u201chere at this chosen time because God ordained it<\/a>.\u201d Evangelist Franklin Graham has said<\/a> that \u201cGod was behind the last election.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

But how many Americans believe Trump was chosen by God to be president? And among those who think God\u2019s hand was involved in the 2016 election, in what sense<\/em> do they think God was at work?<\/p>\n\n

\"Roughly<\/figure>\n\n

A new Pew Research Center survey<\/a> finds that 27% of U.S. adults believe Trump\u2019s election reflects God\u2019s will in the sense that the 2016 outcome must be part of God\u2019s overall plan, but that this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean God approves of Trump\u2019s policies. Far fewer U.S. adults \u2013 just 5% \u2013 say God chose Trump because<\/em> God approves of his policies. About half of Americans say God doesn\u2019t get involved in U.S. presidential elections (49%), while the remainder say they don\u2019t believe in God (16%).<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n

How we did this<\/h1>\n\n

The findings in this post are drawn from a new survey<\/a> exploring the intersection of religion and politics in the U.S. The survey of 6,395 U.S. adults was conducted Feb. 4 to 15. All respondents to the survey are part of Pew Research Center\u2019s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP\u2019s methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Here are the questions used<\/a> for the report, along with responses, and its methodology<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n\n

Americans hold very similar opinions about the election of President Barack Obama: 29% say Obama\u2019s elections in 2008 and 2012 were part of God\u2019s broader plan, <\/b>but just 3% say God chose him to be president because God approved of his policies.<\/p>\n\n

Among religious groups, white evangelical Protestants and black Protestants are more likely than others to say that recent presidential elections reflect God\u2019s will in some<\/em> way: A majority of white evangelicals (56%) and roughly half of black Protestants (48%) say it must be part of God\u2019s plan that Trump or Obama \u2013 or both \u2013 were elected, but that this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean God favored their policies.<\/p>\n\n

Additionally, small shares of white evangelicals and black Protestants do<\/em> think that God tipped the outcome based on policy considerations, though they differ about God\u2019s preference. Among white evangelical Protestants, 11% say God chose Trump but not Obama because God favored Trump\u2019s policies, while only 2% say God favored Obama on policy grounds, but not Trump. Among black Protestants, 12% say Obama\u2019s election (but not Trump\u2019s) reflects divine endorsement of his policies, while only 4% say this about Trump (but not Obama).<\/p>\n\n

Among all other religious groups, large majorities say that God doesn\u2019t get involved in presidential elections or that they don\u2019t believe in God. That\u2019s the case for 86% of the religiously unaffiliated, including almost all atheists (98%) and agnostics (96%), as well as eight-in-ten Jewish Americans, seven-in-ten Catholics and two-thirds of white Protestants who do not identify as born-again or evangelical.<\/p>\n\n

There also are divisions on this question by party. Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party are more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say the election of Trump or Obama (or both) was part of God\u2019s overall plan though not necessarily a divine endorsement of their policies (35% vs. 20%). Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say that God stays out of presidential elections or that they do not believe in God.<\/p>\n\n

While most Americans do not believe God has intervened in recent presidential elections, a 2017 Pew Research Center survey<\/a> that asked more general questions about the nature of God found that seven-in-ten U.S. adults do believe that there is a God or a higher power in the universe that knows everything that goes on in the world, and six-in-ten believe that God has the power to direct or change everything that happens in the world.<\/p>\n\n

\"Many<\/figure>\n\n

Note: Here are the questions used<\/a> for the report, along with responses, and its methodology<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few United States adults \u2013 just 5% \u2013 say God chose Donald Trump to be president because God approves of his 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