Catholics, Muslims and the “nones”: old and new cultural and political divides

Abstract

Ever since they have existed, studies have shown a link between religious affiliation and political behavior. However, the basis for this link is a social science blind spot. This article will therefore focus on the relationships between four poles: religious affiliation, political, moral, and economic attitudes. According to the EVS data, Catholics, Muslims, and the “no religion” group continue to express very different political attitudes in France today. These differences are not reducible to the peculiarities of the social affiliations of their members, nor to their possible migratory origin. And the opposing political attitudes of Catholics and the “no religion” turn out to be only partly due to the cultural attitudes associated with them, in the economic sphere and even more so in the moral sphere.