America is divided, we already know that. But apparently, the issue of faith has widened between Republicans and Democrats as well.
A new poll conducted by the PEW Research Center shows that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to believe in heaven, and that their faith is the only way that leads there.
"It comes down to what do you believe to be true? and do you believe the bible to be the source of absolute truth? which the bible is very clear on both of those points" said Dave Welch, president of the Texas Pastor Council. "More Republicans believe in the authority of the bible than do Democrats. From that flows your public policy beliefs."
The study shows that nearly 3 quarters of all U.S. adults believe in heaven, with more Republicans also believing in hell, while more Democrats believe there is no God, or an afterlife.
"Historically, our values and our core beliefs in this country have largely been directed by our religious faith" Welch told KTRH, "Most of that, and the majority, since our founding and beginning, has been on a Judeo Christian foundation."
And while the gap between Republicans that believe, and Democrats who do not, has widened, sadly faith across our nation has declined. In fact, according to PEW, only 4 out of 10 Republic Christians say their faith is the one true faith.
"As that has crumbled a little bit, and decayed, and we are less religious than we were before" Welch said, "What we believe is that our God is a loving father who didn't leave it to chance, and didn't want us to guess, and stumble along in life, but he made the way for us through Christ which we of course are joyfully celebrating this time of the year. The birth of the savior."
Merry Christmas!