Sacred rites and civil rights : religion's effect on attitudes toward same-sex unions and the perceived cause of homosexuality.

Same-sex unions have received a great deal of attention in public discourse and current scholarly research. The importance of religion and individuals’ attributions of the cause of homosexuality on attitudes toward same-sex unions have been established. Using a novel data set (Baylor Religion Survey, 2007) this study investigates which demographic and religious variables are associated with views toward the cause of homosexuality as well as which demographic and religious variables are most strongly associated with views toward same-sex unions while accounting for attribution. While the findings in this study support previous research a more comprehensive account of religion’s effect is provided due to a broader and more in-depth collection of religion measures. This includes religious belief, behavior, and affiliation’s relation to the attribution variable, their cumulative and individualized effects when considering same-sex unions, as well as the varied effect of affiliation when comparing homosexual marriage to civil unions.