Title

Religious identity and political participation in the mennonite Church USA

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Politics and Religion

Publication Date

8-1-2012

Abstract

This article examines religious identity and its effect on political participation in the context of the Mennonite Church USA. Traditionally, Mennonite doctrine discouraged political activity because of its "worldly" nature. But it is uncertain if traditional doctrine influences the political behavior of contemporary church members. This article seeks to determine (1) to what extent there is a religious identity among contemporary Mennonites, (2) does this identity discourage support for political participation, and (3) if Mennonite identity discourages political participation, what is the substantive difference in support for political participation between low and high identity Mennonites? The analysis reveals that Mennonite religious identity is widespread in the Mennonite Church USA and high levels of identity decreases support for political activity. Despite this, Mennonites as a whole are fairly supportive of political participation, regardless of their level of identity. © 2012 Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association.

Volume

5

Issue

2

First Page

367

Last Page

393

DOI

10.1017/S1755048312000077

ISSN

17550483

E-ISSN

17550491

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS