While 7 of 10 college students believe that religion is important in their lives, Democrats and Republicans disagree on what role it should play in politics. Among Democrats, 54 percent say the influence of religion is increasing, and by a 2-to-1 margin they believe that is a bad thing. Among Republicans, 62 percent say that religion is losing its influence, and by a 7-to-1 margin they believe that is a bad thing.

Indeed, on an individual level, religion is an important part of students' lives. Previous surveys have shown that Generation Y (those born between 1978 and 2002, according to the broadest definition) identify less with specific denominations than baby boomers did, but have a high interest in spirituality.

There is a nice chart showing attiudes to hot-button issues as well.

My comments:
First, the survey is flawed since it only shows Republican vs Democratic attitude. Independents now are equal in size to those expressing a party preference and may even be a slightly greater percentage among the young. Thus the survey omits a key group.

Second, I think the survey was predisposed towards finding a religious basis for people's attitudes. Those who are not really religious (in the traditional meaning of the word) find it better to invoke some type of vague spirituality rather than say they are non-religious or non-believing. Why should a person reveal personal attitudes to a complete stranger over the telephone? Better to chose a conventional, non-confrontational answer.

Third, what is the difference between ethics and morality? I think there is one, and I think the distinction is being blurred. Morality has to do more with person conduct. Ethics has more to do with a general set of principals for society. The young in this survey seem to want to see a more ethical society. They weren't asked about personal morality.

Young (and not so young...) want to see an improvement in the ethical makeup of our society. That's why sites like this exist. If these young voters are to be influenced it would seem that politicians will need to start to talk about ethics, not religion.