Lawmakers in Congress are overwhelmingly Christian, even though nearly a quarter of the nation claims no religion or creed, a Pew Research Center study released Tuesday shows.
Ninety-eight percent of the senators and representatives in the incoming 115th Congress are religious, and more than 90 percent belong to a Christian denomination.
While Judeo-Christian religions “have greater representation in Congress than in the general population,” other religions, like Buddhists, Mormons, Muslims and Orthodox Christians, “are represented in Congress in roughly equal proportion to their share of the U.S. public,” according to the study. (RELATED: Islam Set To Become The Second-Largest Religion In America By 2040)
The number of agnostics, atheists and those who claim no religious belief or affiliation is growing in the U.S. They account for 23 percent of the nation, according to Pew’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study. In Congress, however, these religious “nones,” as they are sometimes called, make up 0.2 percent of the body.
Not only are the vast majority of Republicans the House and Senate Christian (99 percent), 80 percent of Democrats also belong to a Christian denomination.
Overall, Protestant representation is declining in Congress, as it is in the rest of the country. In 1961, the first year data on members’ religion was collected, Protestants made up 75 percent of the Congress. Today, 56 percent are Protestant. Since 1961, however, Roman Catholic representation has grown from 19 percent to 31 percent.
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