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TechnoratiNevertheless, only 11 percent of Americans identify with the religious right political movement and only 7 percent, the religious left political movement, according to a 2006 Pew Forum survey. Meanwhile, 32 percent of all Christians identify themselves as liberal or progressive and 38 percent as born-again or evangelical Christians. And among evangelicals, 36 percent also describe themselves as liberal or progressive Christians.
Edgar called the media to seek a more balanced approach when covering issues of religion and to cover what the majority of faithful Americans are doing.
Today's American churches are hearing more about hunger, poverty, Iraq, and the environment from the pulpit, the 2006 Pew Forum survey revealed.
And while progressives have not shown cohesive answers to specific issues as conservatives have done, Forbes says progressive Christians have an "openness to new insight."
"It is good news that progressives are mobilizing for vigorous and effective use of the media and ensuring that the public will have access to perspectives they may not have received in the last few years," said Forbes.
Other findings in the "Left Behind" report included separate studies on "the celebrities" such as conservatives Falwell and Dobson as well as progressives Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. These leaders are frequently quoted and would outrank other leaders in their respective ideological categories, according to the report. The study found Jackson and Sharpton appear most often in the American media followed by the conservatives in this specific study.
Influential religious leaders, including megapastors Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen, were also absent from the final report as all three seem to avoid being associated with a political ideology and have messages that are too ambiguous to label them as simply "conservative," the report stated. If they were included in the main study, Warren would have placed fourth, Jakes sixth and Osteen seventh among the most quoted, interviewed, or mentioned conservative leaders.
