I wanted to paste so much more in...
the whole article is at
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/4986723.html(you may get a reigstration required page)
The Things That Separate Us
Dane Smith and Eric Black, Star Tribune
September 18, 2004
While it's a stretch to say that the nation is splitting apart over politics, it is divided in a new way over morality and religion. These issues are a growing source of tension, according to experts, polls and interviews with Minnesota voters.
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This "religiosity" split has been widely noted by those who think political discord is abnormally high in America today, but religious differences have long been tied to political differences in American and Minnesota history. Protestants have tended to vote Republican and Catholics have been Democrats. But that's changing somewhat.
Nowadays, most observers agree, the denominational divide is disappearing and the splits are occurring within the larger faiths. Evangelical Protestants and traditionalist Catholics are separating against mainstream Protestants and the non-religious.
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Republicans were more likely than Democrats to name "abortion" and "same-sex" marriage as moral issues. Democrats were more likely than Republicans to name "the gap between rich and poor" and "expanding health care to all Americans."