(Clearwisdom.net) A new national poll by Harvard University's Institute of Politics finds that seven out of 10 American college students believe religion is somewhat or very important in their lives and morality also plays an important role in students' political views.

According to the CNSN news report on April 11, the survey of 1,200 college students was drawn randomly from a national database of nearly 5.1 million pupils. While a majority believes hot-button issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and stem cell research are issues of morality, many also agree that the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, education policy and Iraq war policy are also questions of morality.

Institute Director Jeanne Shaheen said, "Religion is not only very important in the lives of college students today, but religion and morality are also critical to how students think about politics and form opinions on political issues."

The article says among the findings of the poll are:

-- Religion is important in the lives of college students. Seven in 10 college students say religion is important or very important in their lives.

-- Morality plays a strong role in students' political views. College students believe many issues at the forefront of political debate today are closely linked to morality. Not surprisingly, a majority of students agree somewhat or strongly that hot-button issues like abortion policy (61 percent), stem cell research (51 percent), and same-sex marriage (50 percent) are questions of morality.