* A new national survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with The Brookings Institution found that 52 percent of Americans favor gay marriage, while 41 percent oppose it. Another 7 percent said they were undecided.

* But the survey can also help us figure out why there is such push-back among African-American churches and Republicans to gay marriage here in Illinois.

For instance…

Among black Americans, nearly half (49%) are theological conservatives, 30% are theological moderates and 14 percent are theological liberals.

That compared to 40-25-18 for whites, so, overall, African-Americans are quite a bit more conservative theologically than whites.

That doesn’t explain everything, of course. New York has a higher percentage of African-Americans than Illinois, but it still approved gay marriage.

* And…

Republicans (57%) are nearly twice as likely as independents (31%) or Democrats (31%) to be theological conservatives. Tea Party members have a similar theological profile to Republicans overall, as nearly 6-in-10 (59%) are theological conservatives.

That Tea Party bent is what frightens incumbent Republicans the most, because that’s where their primary campaign opposition has been coming from during the past few cycles.

* And this is why the opposition appears to be literally dying off…

Religious conservatives make up smaller proportions of each successive generation, from 47% of the Silent Generation, 34% of the Baby Boomers, 23% of Generation X and 17% of Millenials.