For this election, the faithful appeal to voters’ conscience

Every two years, Gallup survey researchers ask Americans how much “thought” they typically give to congressional midterm elections. This year’s 56% response of “quite a lot” is the highest recorded over the nearly 70 years since Gallup first asked that question in 1958.Economic and financial pressures are a primary driver of heightened attention to the 2026 midterms. But a majority of Americans also say they are “stressing out” about “the future of the nation” (74%) and civic division (58%).In response, a wide range of civic and interfaith collaboration is seeking to pierce the haze of uncertainty and polarization. A quick online search reveals dozens of prayer gatherings and community conversations scheduled across the United States in the weeks and days preceding the Nov. 3 vote. The public’s yearning for direction and unity is backed by a Pew Research Center report released Wednesday: Seventy percent of U.S. adults identify with a religion, and 45% attended a service in the month preceding the survey. “Faith communities have a responsibility to lower the temperature without lowering our commitment to truth, justice and the protection of our neighbors,” read a statement put out by the multidenominational Arizona Faith Network. It encourages “every eligible voter to participate thoughtfully, informed by conscience,” and rejects the use of religion to “portray political opponents as enemies.”There are concerns on the right and left about electoral integrity and safety. Some denominational leaders have warned about illegal voting by noncitizens. (A U.S. Census Bureau analysis of 128 million votes in the 2020 federal election found about 24,000 cast by noncitizens. This represented 0.019%, or 1 out of every 5,355 votes.) Other coalitions, concerned about immigration enforcement and harsh rhetoric, are training clergy and lay members to serve as polling place “peacekeepers.”A handful of faith leaders have called on congregants to pray for specific outcomes or results in state elections. But what is much more common, according to Lifeway Research, a firm focused on evangelical churches, is that more than 90% of pastors are “consistently opposed to political endorsements from the pulpit.” As religious and civic partnerships support deeper discussion and discernment on hot-button issues, they are leaning in to shared views of individual worth and the innate abilities to participate in democratic governance.“Being informed, engaged, and involved [is] ... an important responsibility,” noted Efrem Goldberg, the senior rabbi for a large Jewish congregation in Boca Raton, Florida. In an online article Oct. 26, he wrote of being asked repeatedly whom he endorses or whom people should vote for. His response?“I endorse you. I endorse your ability to think, ... to choose, and ... to participate.” Deepen your worldviewwith Monitor Highlights.Politics with respectGet political stories with respectful analysis.There‘s a world of new ideas in everyBooks newsletter.There‘s more to life, enrich yours withCulture & Learning weekly.Follow humanity‘s discoveries withScience & Nature stories in your inbox.Gain a spiritual perspectivefrom the stories in your inbox.Want to understand the deeper impact of critical events? Learn the Monitor‘s insight.Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. That sentiment underscores something intrinsic to all individuals – what Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of this publication, referred to as the God-endowed “inalienable rights” of “self-government, reason, and conscience.”Exercising those rights can bring calm and certainty to the exercise of every vote. ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LoginReal news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.The Christian Science Monitor was founded in 1908 to lift the standard of journalism and uplift humanity. We aim to “speak the truth in love.” Our goal is not to tell you what to think, but to give you the essential knowledge and understanding to come to your own intelligent conclusions. Join us in this mission by subscribing.