Pew: 116th Congress more “religious” than previous years, 3% decline of Christians

Last updated on: January 16, 2020 at 9:37 am by Bethany Blankley

Pew: 116th Congress more “religious” than previous years, 3% decline of Christians 2020-01-16T09:37:03-05:00 Bethany Blankley

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.

A new report by Pew Research states that the incoming 116th Congress is slightly more religious than the prior Congress despite a decline in the number of self-identifying Christians. Pew also notes that the religious makeup of Congress is disproportionate to the religious makeup of the U.S. population.

According to the report, the share of the number of members of Congress who identify as Christian decreased by 3 percent. In the 115th Congress, 91 percent identified as Christian; in the 116th, 88 percent do. In the 116th there are four more Jewish members, one additional Islamist and one more Unitarian Universalist, as well as eight members who did not state their religious affiliation (or lack thereof).

Despite the 3 percent decline, Christians as a whole (primarily Protestants and Roman Catholics) “are overrepresented in proportion to their share in the general public,” Pew states. Protestants in the new Congress are primarily Methodists, Anglicans/Episcopalians, Presbyterians and Lutherans.

When it comes to the disproportionate nature of members’ religious affiliation to that of the general public, Pew notes that Protestants (“unspecified/other”) comprise 5 percent of the U.S. population but account for 15 percent of congressional members. By contrast, some Protestant groups are underrepresented in Congress, such as Pentecostals. Pentecostals comprise 5 percent of the U.S. population compared to 0.4 percent of Congress.

“But by far the largest difference between the U.S. public and Congress is in the share who are unaffiliated with a religious group,” Pew states. Roughly 23 percent of Americans identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” In Congress, only one person, an open bisexual and Democrat, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, identifies as “religiously unaffiliated.” The share of “nones” in Congress 0.2 percent.

Interestingly, when asked about their religious affiliation, a growing number of members of Congress decline to specify (categorized as “don’t know/refused”), the report states. They are all Democrats.

Compared to the 115th Congress, the number of Democrats who fall into this category increased slightly from 2 to 3 percents (10 to 18). Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., identifies as a humanist and has said that he’s not sure God exists. Huffman falls into the Pew category as “don’t know/refused” because he declined to state his religious identity in the CQ Roll Call questionnaire, which Pew used for the report.

The Pew Research Center analysis was based on CQ Roll Call data gathered through questionnaires and follow-up phone calls to members’ and candidates’ offices about their religious affiliations. The CQ questionnaire asked members what religious group, if any, they belong to and did not attempt to measure their religious beliefs or practices. The Pew Research Center analysis compares the religious affiliations of members of Congress with the Center’s survey data on the U.S. public.

Previous Post

December 28, 2018

Is a third temple being built in Jerusalem? [videos]

Next Post

January 5, 2019 Is a fetus an elephant? A clump of cells? Just nothing and not human? [video]

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Christianity Islam politics Sexuality transgender Uncategorized

Select a Month 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 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 July 2016 June 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Naaman was healed of leprosy by washing seven times in the Jordan River.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE