PRRI

Survey points to potential religious tensions between Beck and supporters

Following the rally where Fox News television host Glenn Beck called for a religious renewal in America, less than 1-in-5 (17%) Americans believe Glenn Beck is the right person to lead a religious movement, according to this month’s PRRI/RNS Religion News Poll, conducted by Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with Religion News Service.

The PRRI/RNS Religion News Poll also found that roughly an equal number of Americans have favorable and unfavorable opinions of Beck (28% and 27% respectively), but nearly 4-in-10 say they haven’t heard enough to have an opinion.

The survey found that Beck’s own religious affiliation—the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon Church)—may hamper his ability to lead a religious movement and limit his own appeal. A majority of Americans (57%) say they don’t know his religious affiliation, with less than 1-in-5 (17%) correctly identifying his religion as Mormon. But among those who can identify it, perceptions of the Mormon faith have a significant impact on attitudes toward Beck. Among those who know Beck is Mormon and believe Mormons have similar religious beliefs to their own, a majority (53%) say that he is the right person to lead a religious movement, and fully 79% have a favorable opinion of him. However, among those who know Beck is Mormon but believe Mormons have different religious beliefs from their own, less than one-third (28%) believe he is the right person to lead a religious movement and significantly fewer (54%) have a favorable opinion of him.

Given that relatively few people area aware of his religion, Beck’s popularity has not been significantly impacted by public perceptions of the Mormon faith. However, if Beck continues to make his faith a more central part of his public persona, that could change. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Americans perceive Mormon religious beliefs to be different from their own. Among white evangelical Protestants, the religious group with the highest favorability rating for Beck, more than two-thirds say that Mormons have religious beliefs somewhat (26%) or very (42%) different from their own. And similar proportions of Republicans, another group highly supportive of Beck, also say that Mormons have religious beliefs somewhat (29%) or very (40%) different from their own.

Highlights of the survey findings include:

The public who are familiar with Beck are split over their opinion of him, with nearly as many expressing a favorable (28%) as an unfavorable opinion (27%). More than 4-in-10 say they haven’t heard enough about Beck to have an opinion.

Beck has higher favorability ratings among older Americans aged 65+ (37%), white evangelical Protestants (48%), and Republicans (55%).
Only 1-in-4 Catholics (26%), 1-in-5 younger Americans (age 18-34), and 6% of Democrats view him favorably.

Only 17% of Americans say they think Beck is the right person to lead a religious movement, compared to 50% who say he is not.

Among all Americans who hold a favorable view of Beck, less than half (45%) say he is the right person to lead a religious movement.
Among white evangelical Protestants, the religious group registering the highest favorability for Beck, only about 1-in-4 (26%) say Beck is the right person to lead a religious movement.
Among Republicans, the overall group registering the highest favorability for Beck, only 29% say he is the right person to lead a religious movement.

Seventeen percent of Americans correctly identify Beck’s religion as Mormon. An equal number believe he is Protestant (12%) or Catholic (5%), and 3% believe he is not religious.

Most Americans (64%) perceive Mormon religious beliefs to be different from their own.

More than two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants say that Mormons have religious beliefs somewhat (26%) or very (42%) different from their own.
Among Republicans, more than two-thirds say that Mormons have religious beliefs somewhat (29%) or very (40%) different from their own.

Recommended citation:

Jones, Robert P., and Daniel Cox. “Less than 1-in-5 Support Fox News Host Glenn Beck as Religious Leader.” PRRI. 2010. http://www.prri.org/research/less-than-1-in-5-support-fox-news-host-glenn-beck-as-religious-leader/.