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This paper examines the role of religion in the 2008 presidential primaries, focusing on three questions: (1) Did religion play a major role in the primaries? (2) In what ways did religion play a role? and (3) Did the primary election process reveal a continued existence of a "God gap" in American electoral politics. Religion did indeed play a major role in the presidential primaries although in ways which differed from recent presidential elections. Democrats made a concerted effort to narrow the "God gap" and the Democratic nominee, Barak Obama, proved to be more comfortable with religion and religious rhetoric than did his Republican opponent, John McCain. Nonetheless, McCain's issue positions resonated better with the G.O.P.'s grass-roots evangelical supporters. Regardless of the specific outcome of the 2008 primaries, religion promises to shape the outcomes of future presidential primaries as well as general elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper about the U.S. people's views of Muslims and Mormons is presented. It discusses several reasons for examining U.S. people's attitudes towards Muslims and Mormons. It applies the social identity theory, a theory which links information processing to attitudes toward social groups, in explaining American's attitudes toward Muslims and Mormons.

Examines the role of the Christian Right in the elections in Michigan in 2004. Definition for the term Christian Right; Information on the moralistic political culture of the state; Discussion of the existence of Christian Right organizations in the state.

This paper examines community conflict over a proposal by the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomie Indians to build a $100 million casino in a rural, culturally conservative county in southwestern Michigan. Conflict over the casino escalated in both scope and intensity over time until it involved local, state, and national governments. The paper examines the roles of various interests and actors in the conflict, focusing in particular on the activities of clergy and churches. Both ‘economic’ and ‘morality’ politics perspectives prove useful in helping us understand the complex dynamics of the casino struggle. The paper provides useful insights concerning (1) the role of people of faith in community conflict (2) the escalation of community conflict and (3) the impact of federalism on community conflict. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research related to the role of religious interests in community conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]