The Clergy and Public Issues in Middletown

Abstract

This chapter presents a study of the clergy in "Middletown" in 1984. Liberal clergy have been more likely than conservative clergy to speak out on a variety of public issues. At least in Middletown, the liberal churches are less homogeneous than the conservative ones; there are more theologically conservative ministers in liberal churches than vice versa. Liberal clergy have been more likely than conservative clergy to speak out on a variety of public issues. With regard to plant-closing laws, affirmative action, and Baby Doe regulations, there are no significant differences between liberal and conservative clergy. The blade clergy tended to be religiously conservative, but about forty percent were politically liberal. The clergy working at white liberal churches are more theologically and politically diverse than the clergy at white conservative churches; the difference suggests that the latter could more easily be mobilized into a political coalition than the former.