What Was The Religious Makeup Of The First Congress?

A Capitol worker cleans the House floor on opening day of the 117th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sunday, Jan. iii, 2021.

A new report shows that, when information technology comes to religion, the Senate and House of Representatives are less than representative of America.

While the religious makeup of the 117th Congress is like to the one that preceded information technology, the breakdown by faith reveals a Congress that is both markedly more than religious — there isn't a single self-described atheist among the elected officials — and differently religious than the country it serves. Some faith groups are underrepresented while others have an outsize presence, Pew Inquiry Center reported.

The study also illuminates religious differences between the Republican and Democratic parties, which can add to partisan tensions.

Here are the key takeaways from Pew's report:

Virtually members of Congress identify as Protestant

While the number of Christians in America has continued to refuse in recent years, the number of Christians in Congress has increased since Pew began tracking the religious affiliation of elected officials in 2009.

Almost 90% of the 117th Congress is Christian, co-ordinate to Pew, in comparison with 65% of the American public.

The upper and lower houses of Congress have a strong Protestant majority, with Catholics coming in a distant second. The Business firm is 54.v% Protestant and 30.9% Catholic. The gap between the two Christian denominations is bigger in the Senate, where 59.2% of seats are held past Protestants and 24.five% are held by Catholics.

Both Protestants and Catholics are more than heavily represented in Congress than they are in the general population, Pew reported. However, nondenominational Protestants, Baptists, and Pentecostals are all underrepresented.

As to why Congress is more religious than America, some clues, perhaps, lie in the incoming or reelected officials who were — or remain — pastors, including Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), who sparked controversy on Lord's day when he closed a congressional prayer with "Amen and a-woman."

Speaking to the Deseret News earlier this twelvemonth, Cleaver explained that he was called to run for political office as another means of serving the public.

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) — a freshman representative who is a nurse by grooming and who got her start in politics as an activist with the Black Lives Affair movement — and Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) also previously led congregations.

If elected in the hotly contested Georgia Senate runoff, the Rev. Raphael Warnock will be another pastor joining the congressional ranks.

Rep. Cori Bush-league (D-Mo.) is pictured in this file photo speaking at a news briefing Wednesday, Aug. five, 2020, in St. Louis.

When it comes to smaller religion groups, only the Jewish community is overrepresented

In that location is a much higher proportion of Jewish people in Congress than in the state every bit a whole. Although they brand up only 2% of America'due south population, Jews plant 6.two% of the two legislative bodies.

When the House of Representatives and Senate are considered separately, Jewish overrepresentation in Congress becomes even more dramatic: With eight Senate seats, Jews comprise 8% of the upper firm.

Similarly, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are represented in the Senate at a college charge per unit than they are in the House of Representatives. Simply, when the two houses are taken together, Latter-day Saints come in at 1.7% of Congress, which is roughly the same share of Americans who identify with the faith group.

Muslims, who comprise 1% of the country, are slightly underrepresented in Congress. The three Muslim representatives, who were all reelected after serving in the 116th Congress — make up 0.6% of the 117th Congress.

The religiously unaffiliated are overwhelmingly absent from Congress

While 26% of Americans place as atheist, agnostic or "none of the above," only ane member of the 117th Congress describes herself as unaffiliated — Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona.

Sinema doesn't consider herself an atheist, co-ordinate to Pew.

Nearly 99% of Republicans in Congress identify as Christian

A whopping 98.ix% of Republicans in the Business firm and Senate identify every bit Christian. While 77.8% of Congress' Democrats are Christian, every bit well, that 21 percentage point difference points to the fact that the Democratic Party is more than generally more diverse than the GOP.

All but ii of the non-Christians who have a religious affiliation are Democrats. Amidst them are 3 Muslim representatives, 2 Hindus and a Buddhist.

Republican members of Congress are more than probable to be Protestant (68.2%) than Cosmic (25.vii%). Democrats in Congress are more evenly divide between the two denominations with 43% existence Protestant and and 33.7% existence Catholic.

Of the 33 Jewish elected officials in Congress, only two are Republican. The other 31 are Democrats, which reflects the Jewish people's long-standing, historical affiliation with the Autonomous Party.

The nine members of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints sitting in the 117th Congress are all Republicans, Pew reported, highlighting the retirement of Autonomous Senator Tom Udall from New Mexico.

Source: https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2021/1/5/22214458/congress-religion-christian-muslim-jewish-prayer-amen-cori-bush-raphael-warnock-democrat-republican

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