If you follow the mainstream press coverage of religion — primarily coverage by reporter who are NOT religion-beat specialists — then you know that what really matters in life is politics.
As we say here at GetReligion: Politics is real. Religion? Not so much.
Now, it’s also true that money is real, as in news coverage of economics (which often overlap with politicals). If a story cannot be linked directly to politics, journalists will study its economic implications.
The Big Idea: Politics and economics matter more than culture and religion. Maybe journalists think they can ignore that classic book by candid liberal Thomas Frank: “What's the Matter with Kansas?”
This brings me to a recent Los Angeles Times piece that ran (this is the Yahoo! News version) with this headline: “4 in 10 California residents are considering packing up and leaving, new poll finds.”
This is a religion-free story. Sort of. Here is the sunny overture:
With its unmatched natural splendor and cultural attractions, California is a beacon that attracts people from around the world who put down roots and call it home.
About 70% of residents said they are happy living here, a new statewide poll shows, crediting the state's diversity, economic opportunities and an enjoyable lifestyle as reasons to stick around.
Yet large swaths of residents are also considering packing up and leaving. Many also believe that the state is headed in the wrong direction, and are anxious about the direction of the economy and their ability to pay their bills.
Message received, right there at the end.
Just in case you missed the point, the Times team goes further:
The findings of a new poll from a consortium of local nonprofits aiming to take stock of the state's mood point to a contradiction playing out across the Golden State: People are pleased by the bounty the country's largest state had to offer and mostly favor its liberal attitudes on social issues, but are also far more concerned about their livelihoods than last year.
Just in case you missed that social issues reference, a few lines later there is this take (focusing on a life-and-death political angle, which is factors affecting the re-election of Democrats):
"Voters who are anxious about the economy but happy with the cultural climate are a complicated challenge for candidates who have to appeal to those mixed feelings," said Dan Schnur, who teaches political communication at USC and UC Berkeley and helped direct this survey.
The question I think journalists should ask, at this point: Are the Californians who are leaving all hitting the exits for the same reasons?
Yes, I live in an area of Tennessee that is attracting more than its share of former Californians and, sure enough, they talk about economic realities in California vs. those in Texas and the Southeast. But that is not all that they talk about.
This story is not going away. So, there are questions that journalists need to be asking as they look for newsy patterns (click here for an overview of recent coverage). Some of them concern one of America’s most important political and cultural stories — the fault lines inside the world of Latino voters.
As I said earlier, this is NOT (for Times editors) a religion and culture story. And if there are cultural issues in play, they are all linked to race and, of course, politics. Read this next part carefully:
… (The) poll also showed evidence of a counterpoint: Californians were divided evenly when asked whether the country has "overcorrected and gone too far in its attempts to give everyone equal rights." A majority of white Californians agreed with that statement; a large majority of Black Californians disagreed. Latino and Asian poll respondents were closely divided. Latinos, in particular, were divided by age, with a majority of respondents older than 50 saying the country had gone too far, while younger respondents disagreed.
Is there any chance that the changing Latino numbers are also linked to church attendance in Catholic, evangelical and Pentecostal congregations? Wanna bet?
Back to my main theme: Remember that we are trying to figure out what is happening with a large minority of Californians. When 40% of a state’s population is involved in a story, that’s important. All kinds of complex realities can be hidden in a word like “majority.” Also, the odds are good that there is more to the term “equal rights,” in this case, than race.
Finally, it’s time for the Times team to put the nail in the coffin.
Nearly 30% of those surveyed said they might leave because the state's policies and laws don't align with their political views, a reflection of the polarization of the state and the nation at the moment. Respondents who identified as conservative were much more likely to cite the politics of the state as the reason why they were considering moving.
Self-identified Republicans were three times as likely as Democrats to say that the state's politics were why they wanted to go.
The key phrase, of course, is this one — “don't align with their political” views (emphasis added). Want to bet that, for some Californians, their decisions are linked to religious and cultural issues linked to faith, family and the First Amendment?
Now, some of you are probably poised to click “comment” and say, “There you go again! This isn’t just about religion!”
Read the post again, noting that I more than acknowledge that economic issues play a huge role in this drama. My question is this: How can the Los Angeles Times publish a long story about the complex numbers in this survey (and the stunning exit trend as a whole) with zero references to issues of religion and culture?
Is this a clue to embedded editorial policies that will shape coverage of legislative battles over hot-button issues linked to parental rights and, to use the doctrinal term now required by the Associated Press, gender-affirming care for minors?
Just asking.
FIRST IMAGE: From a collection of California highway sign reproductions for sale at Walmart.