Will Latinos fuel the future growth of the religious right?
Though Latinos voted overwhelmingly in favor of President Barack Obama in last year’s presidential election, a growing number of Latinos identify as evangelical Protestants -- a group associated with more conservative political ideas.
Nevertheless, many Latino evangelical leaders continue to view to their political ideas as separate from their religious affiliation.
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference said he doesn’t identify with a particular political party but is guided by his faith.
“The way that I phrase it is that I believe Latino evangelicals, and Hispanic Christians for that matter, will not be married to the agenda of the donkey or the elephant," Rodriguez said in an appearance on HuffPost Live. "We're married exclusively to the agenda of the lamb.”
Rev. Gabriel Salguero, a pastor at the Lamb’s Church in New York City, noted that Latino evangelicals share many of the same social ideas as Hispanic Catholics.
“I think we have a lot of things in common,” Rev. Gabriel Salguero told HuffPost Live. “Namely, immigration reform for one of them, caring for the poor.”
Latino evangelicals tend to lean more conservative politically than Hispanic Catholics.
Nevertheless, Latino evangelicals remain much more politically liberal than their white counterparts. Some 39 percent of Latino evangelicals supported GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, according to a Pew survey. Exit polls indicated 79 percent support for Romney among white evangelicals.
Check out the video above to see how Latinos will impact the future of the religious right.
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