Religious Identity and Political Participation in the Mennonite Church USA

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 politi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kopko, Kyle C. 1984- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Cambridge Univ. Press [2012]
In: Politics and religion
Year: 2012, Volume: 5, Issue: 2, Pages: 367-393
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1755-0491
Contains:Enthalten in: Politics and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S1755048312000077