The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has an interesting study on the religious breakdown of the 111th Congress.
Using data for Congress from Congressional Quarterly, the Pew study shows Catholics to be the single largest religious group, accounting for 30 percent of lawmakers who take office today.
Protestants, collectively, are broken into more than a dozen denominations, including Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. They constitute 51.3 percent of the U.S. adult population, compared with 24 percent of all the U.S. population who profess to be Catholic.
The study, entitled “Faith on the Hill,” shows the 111th Congress to be the most diverse in more than half a century and finds that Catholics, Jews, and Mormons are among religious groups better represented in Congress than in the nation as a whole.
The entire article, complete with charts, is available here. The study provides an interesting snapshot of congressional representation — viewing elected officials from a different, more personal perspective — yet one that deeply impacts the lives, and perhaps the votes, of many.
January 6, 2009 at 4:51 pm
With all of those Congressional Catholics ensconced on the Hill, we should be seeing some good pro-life legislation, wouldn’t you think? Too bad too many are Kennedy and Kerry types, who have no qualms about forwarding legislation that promotes snuffing out pre-born human life.
January 6, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I clicked this on thinking I might see a photo of the beauteous Faith Hill!! Just kidding. Thought this title called for a humorous remark.
This actually is fascinating information. I looked it over closely and learned a lot about our representatives. My question is if so many identify themselves as people of faith, why are they so easily corruptible and why do they ebb and sway according to who puts the most cash in their campaign donation pots? Honestly, I am disgusted by the difference between the campaign pledges and the actions once elected. I never voted for anyone who promised to give us amnesty, “guest” workers and benefits for illegal aliens, but that’s what I got.
January 6, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Why are Catholics, Jews and Mormons represented in Congress in a disproporiate rate to their numbers in the demographics?
It has to do with their view of religious insitutions as ‘mediating institutions’. Religious institutions who understand their role as ‘mediating institutions’ in a democracy teach their members how to participate in a democracy by teaching leadership skills. They also translate those internal skill-building behaviors into the culture in which they are embedded.
January 6, 2009 at 10:58 pm
ron:
Huh?
January 7, 2009 at 8:56 am
ron, ron, ron. Such blather showcases your leftwing perspective. Pure incomprehensible nonsense. However, it did provide a good dose of humor to start my day!
January 7, 2009 at 4:12 pm
I’m not sure why I should be surprised at this finding. I am not convinced Congress is in practice a representative institution.
January 8, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Well, no candidate in their right mind would profess to be a faithless, churchless, institution-hating atheist. And what do you know, look at the chart: every Member of Congress has a religious affiliation.
January 9, 2009 at 9:13 am
Oh, it’s representative all right: what people profess and what they actually do and believe are often two different things. Members are no more hypocrites than voters are.