What The Religious Breakdown Of The New Congress Tells Us About Our Nation

You probably wouldn't know it by the legislation they pass and the debates they have, but Capitol Hill is one of the most religious places on earth. At least in theory. 

According to Pew's faith survey of the new Congress -- something they've been doing since 2009 -- Christianity isn't as rare in the House and Senate as the media and Left would have you believe. Nearly every single Republican (265 out of 270) identifies as a believer. And while that won't come as a surprise, the breakdown of Democrats is guaranteed to be.

In a trend that's continued for 16 years, there's actually a greater percentage of Christians in the Hill's Democratic Party than the American population at large. An astonishing 75% of the men and women in Joe Biden's party subscribe to the Christian faith -- a whopping 13 points more than the U.S. average (62%). All told, Christians make up "the lion's share" of Congress at 87%.

That said, the freshman class is a noticeably smaller Christian bunch. The 73 newcomers are surprisingly less likely than incumbents to be believers (78% compared to 88%). Of the 71 members of Congress who aren't Christians (66 of whom are Democrats), Pew notes, 32 are Jewish, four are Muslim, four are Hindu, three are Unitarian Universalists, three are Buddhist, one self-identifies as a humanist, 20 did not specify a religion, and three are religiously unaffiliated.

It's the first time, some note, that multiple members describe themselves as "nones." For the last several years, the religiously unaffiliated existed on a microscopic level on the Hill. As the authors of the analysis point out, "Prior to the 119th session, the only member of Congress who was categorized as religiously unaffiliated in our analyses was Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent from Arizona, who served from 2013 through the Congress that just ended." But compared to the 28% spike of "nones" in the general population, the House and Senate almost seem insulated from the outside trends.

In a political world where Christianity is often marginalized -- if not outright targeted -- what does this all mean? How can Democrats, who spared just one mention of God in their party platform, be so religious on paper but fail to translate those principles to their radical agendas? 

Is this a case of "personally I believe in [life, marriage, biology, religious freedom], but publicly I support [abortion, same-sex marriage, transgenderism, censorship]?" Is it two very different worldviews -- one of social justice, welfare, amnesty, and self-determination, and the other of transcendent truth, the inerrancy of Scripture, and moral law -- claiming to spring from the same gospel? Or maybe, as FRC's Joseph Backholm speculated, it's just political expedience at work.

"The fact that most Democrats identify as Christians shouldn't be surprising," he told The Washington Stand. "Claiming to be an atheist or agnostic has long been a political liability, so politicians are generally advised to claim some kind of religious affiliation. And since most Americans have some familial or social connection to a Christian church, claiming to be Christian is the politically smart thing to do. But Congress has the same challenge as most churches in America," Backholm pointed out, "where some people who claim to be Christians are relatively uninterested in how God's word applies to their beliefs and behaviors."

And who's to say, Joseph wondered, if these members -- or Americans in general -- are telling the truth in these surveys? "I do wonder with those polls, if people sometimes say what they think they're supposed to say. I think that fever might be breaking a little. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that sometimes people say things on both sides that [people want] to hear, but maybe they don't 100% believe it. You know, it's almost like virtue signaling in a way."

Of course, a lot of the priorities of the Democratic Party "are at odds with God's design," Backholm noted, "but many politicians who claim to be Christians in the voter guide don't care at all whether God is pleased with their policy decisions." And, as Joseph was quick to point out, that's not just a challenge for Democrats. "That's a bipartisan problem, to be sure. While many of us would say being a Christian means always surrendering your will to God's will, others would claim to be Christian because they celebrate Christmas and went to church when they were kids."

It's also true, as David Harsanyi said in the latest episode of "Outstanding," that "the progressive Left has many hallmarks of religion. The way they talk about poverty or the way they want to help. And maybe the instinct is good, but it often leads to very bad places, as history has proven." At their core, Backholm agreed, "The social justice warrior and the evangelical preacher are both trying to make the world better. We just have a very different understanding of what the problem is, and therefore we propose very different solutions."

Harsanyi pointed to an eye-opening survey about transgenderism, where only 25% of self-identifying liberals who go to church every week agreed that there were only two genders. "So they are very religious by virtue of their weekly attendance. But because they're a liberal, that seems to be the defining point. And for those who identify as conservatives, the lowest number ... was among those who never attend church. So the most secular conservatives, still more than 75% of them agree that there are two genders." He paused, "So have we reached a point where our politics are now more descriptive of the way we see the world than even our religion?"

Or, as Family Research Council President Tony Perkins speculated, is the "religion" that so many Americans are getting from their churches no religion at all? "I think that's why you have a growing number of what's called 'nones,' those with no affiliation and turning away from traditional churches," he suggested in a recent conversation with Backholm. "The Left likes to say, 'Well, that's because churches have become too political.' No, it's because churches are just giving out pablum. They're not teaching truth, and they're not challenging people to live their lives according to the truth."

And frankly, while Congress seems -- at least in this report -- to be a hotbed of religiosity, the rise in "nones" certainly tracks what's happening across the population, Joseph observed. "There is less social stigma associated with being irreligious and therefore more people in Congress will feel comfortable admitting that God is not a significant part of their lives. But the greater concern is likely those who honor God with their lips but their heart is far from Him."

It's a very interesting commentary on faith in public life, FRC's David Closson told TWS. "It's notable that the percentage of Democrats who identify as Christian (75%) has dropped to the lowest percentage on record, a fact that shouldn't surprise those who follow politics. Increasingly, Democrats have taken positions on creation order issues like marriage and abortion that are antithetical to what the Bible teaches.

Nevertheless, it is still remarkable that most Democrats identify as Christian despite a voting record more in line with secular humanism than Christianity. Clearly," he said, "there is a massive and widening divide among those on the Left between what they profess and what they actually believe. For many, it is also undoubtedly true that 'Christian' now refers to more of a cultural or social identity rather than any meaningful moral or theological commitments or convictions."

That doesn't bode well for the future, Closson cautioned. "I expect that future Congresses will see an uptick in members who do not claim a religion, and my prediction is that as the percentage of unbelievers in Congress grows, the more difficult it will be to pass legislation that reflects biblical values."

While the warning signs are certainly there, FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter takes a slightly more optimistic view. "It's noteworthy so many in Congress are willing to publicly associate with the church -- on both sides of the aisle," he pointed out to TWS. "The heavenly standard we see in Scripture, which we all fall short of in our personal lives, similarly exists for the work of those in Congress. 

If our leaders in Congress profess the Christian faith, then it is an opportunity for the church, and for Christians in their states and districts, to remind them of that heavenly standard when the work of Congress touches an area of public life the word of God addresses clearly. The fact that the number of religious 'nones' is rising in Congress, and that we see a similar trend in America, should make this work even more urgent."

Originally published at The Washington Stand