Two leaders of the new U.S. House could put Baptist diversity in the news spotlight — GetReligion
* Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, Democratic newly turned Independent, is in fact the only member of Congress who candidly lists herself as religiously “unaffiliated.” Many others call themselves unspecified “Christian” or “Protestant,” which could mean anything from a vague inclination to active membership in a non-denominational church.
* Twenty members declined to identify a religion, including prominent Democrats like senators Tammy Baldwin (WI), Michael Bennet (CO), Tammy Duckworth (IL) and John Fetterman (PA), and representative Pramila Jayapal (WA), the influential chair of the 105-member Congressional Progressive Caucus. (A Republican, New York’s famously fabulist freshman George Santos, was switched last-minute from Jewish to unknown.)
* Looking at one trend over time, when John F. Kennedy took office as the first Catholic president, the Capitol had 398 Protestants and only 100 Catholics. The Catholic total reached 168 by 2017 but is now down to 148 — of which 45% are Republicans, showing an historic shift. The Protestant number has hovered around 300 the past 14 years; currently 303.
* Pew’s comparisons between the over-all U.S. population and the makeup of the 118th Congress show Pentecostalists are underrepresented on the Hill, making up 4% of Americans but with only two members. Heavily over-represented groups include Jews, with 2% of the population but 33 members, Episcopalians with 1% compared with 22 members and Presbyterians with 2% compared with 25 members.
Apart from Judaism, the other major non-Christian religions have member totals roughly comparable with their populations: three Muslims, two Buddhists, and two Hindus; all are Democrats.
The Democrats also have one self-identified “humanist” and three Unitarian Universalists. Republican ranks include one “pietist” and one “messianic” Jew.
MAIN IMAGE: Graphic featured with the Pew Research report on 118th U.S. Congress.
FIRST IMAGE: From the cover of the “In God We Trust Tour Guide” of Washington, D.C.
