Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
Politics & the New Religious Landscape

Politics & the New Religious Landscape

Last updated on: May 23, 2023 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

Politics & the New Religious Landscape 2023-05-20T15:56:03-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The relationship between religion and politics is an important topic, but it’s far more complicated and nuanced than the media usually portrays.

Social scientist Ryan Burge observes that most attention to the issue of religion and politics has been directed to the “religious right.” But, his research shows that the most politically active religious demographic is atheists!

Atheists are the group most likely to contact a public official and to put up political signs. They come in second only to the Hindus, by 4 percentage points, in going to local political meetings. And an astounding half of atheists give money to candidates.

Overall, according to Burge, who pulls together various measures, “The average atheist is about 65% more politically engaged than the average American.”

White evangelicals are actually in the middle of the pack in the number of “political activities” they are involved in. Muslims and White Catholics are slightly ahead of them. Mainline Protestants are much more active, with Buddhists, agnostics, and Jews even more so. But atheists lead everybody.

That shouldn’t be surprising. Atheists’ only hope is in this world so they put their faith in politics. They don’t give to a church or to religiously-motivated good works, so they give to politicians.

In another study, Burge notes that while religious involvement on the whole is declining–which favors Democrats–this change is not happening at the same rate everywhere, and there are some states in which religious involvement is growing. He then worked out the political implications.

The biggest decline is not in the Pacific Northwest or New England, where one might expect, but in the industrial Midwest, in the “rust belt” states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. These have been “swing states” that could go to one party or the other. But if they are becoming more and more secular, Burge concludes that it is more likely that they will end up in the Democratic column.

On the other hand, in Texas and Florida–#2 and #3 in population after California, all of them having passed New York–religious involvement is increasing. Which would suggest, according to Burge, that the Democratic hopes to turn them blue will be in vain.

Why are those states becoming more religious? Because of the large number of Hispanic immigrants. Comments Burge,

Survey data indicates that recent immigrants to the United States report very high levels of religious attendance and prayer frequency, which predisposes this group to cultural conservatism.

Messages about the rights of transgender individuals and expanded abortion access do not resonate with these types of voters.

Hispanics were a reliable part of the Democratic base back when the party focused on “working class” economic issues, but not so much now that the party has shifted its focus to sex and gender.

Note too the irony. Most cultural conservatives tend to be leery of the upsurge in immigration–that is to say, illegal immigration–and yet the immigrants they decry tend to be cultural conservatives themselves. And they may be the ones who can help pull America back from the secularist abyss.

And yet, Burge himself thinks that religion overall is fading from politics. He comments, “I think that era of religion and politics is rapidly coming to a close. The Religious Right is no longer a primarily religious movement – it’s one about cultural conservativism and nearly blind support for the GOP with few trappings of any real religiosity behind it.”

I would argue that the decline of religion is also affecting conservatives, so that the “moral majority” version of the Christian Right will no longer have the influence that it did and that conservatism–even cultural conservatism–will become less concerned with moral issues.

Donald Trump would not have passed muster with the moral majority. That evangelicals tend to support him means that they themselves are not insisting on morality and spirituality in politics like they used to. The libertarian bros among the “bar stool conservatives” aren’t religious, and yet they are strong Trump supporters. So more generally is the working class, the most unchurched demographic. As I’ve blogged about, the most loyal members of Trump’s base are self-identifying evangelicals who don’t go to church.

These would probably show up as “unaffiliated” in Burge’s data base, which is drawn from church membership rolls. The displaced workers in the Rust Belt may have stopped going to church, but their unhappiness at their once high-paying jobs moving overseas, leaving behind boarded up factories and rusting machinery, is only made worse by the judgmental condescension of the progressive elites. They are not going to vote for woke Democrats. So I don’t think Republicans need to give up on Wisconsin and Michigan.

Ron DeSantis is shaping up to be the embodiment of “Trumpism without Trump.” He is definitely a cultural conservative–pro-life, anti-LGBTQ, and an in-your-face opponent of wokism in all of its forms. Evangelicals seem to like him. But, as has been noted, DeSantis, at least so far, is eschewing “God-talk” and not bothering to court religious leaders.

Just as there are different kinds of religion and different kinds of Christians, there are different kinds of “nones.” And just as America’s religious landscape is changing, America’s political landscape is changing. And it isn’t completely clear what those changes will mean.

Illustration: “Last 2 Elections: Red States, Blue States, & Purple States” by BobWyatt07, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Politics

Religions

atheism and politics

Christianity and politics

church membership decline

cultural conservatives

Previous Post

May 22, 2023

Monday Miscellany 5/22/23

Next Post

May 24, 2023 Political Faith vs. Political Skepticism

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"While she worked for Trump she was a tool's tool!"

reg

Luther on Tools

"I know wired earbuds are making a comeback (I never stopped using them as I ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"VCRs, tape decks, and cassette players are all having a revival among a segment of ..."

Tom Hering

Luther on Tools

"As a (retired) lawyer I see potential liability from sharing things like power or sharp ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who anointed Jesus' feet with expensive perfume and her hair?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mary Magdalene Anna Mary of Bethany Elizabeth

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »