By number, Christians overrepresented in Congress
(The Christian Science Monitor) Even as the percentage of Americans who claim no religious identification has risen to nearly a quarter of the population, 91 percent of representatives in the current Congress call themselves Christian—about the same amount as in 1961—according to an annual analysis from the Pew Research Center.
That doesn’t mean the religious composition of Congress hasn’t changed at all: the share of Catholics has climbed substantially, from 19 percent in 1961 to 31 percent today, while the share of Protestants has fallen from 75 percent to 56 percent over the decades. And while the share of Jews has remained roughly the same since the early 1980s, more Buddhist, Mormon, and Muslim politicians have been elected to Congress, in proportions that more or less reflect those of the general public.
“The group that is most notably underrepresented is the religiously unaffiliated,” according to Pew, whose study uses data compiled by CQ Roll Call. Only one member of Congress, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.), lists no public religious affiliation.
