On the note of the discussion of religion in Congress last class, the Christian dominance of Congress does not reflect that Christian affiliation is declining.
Each successive generation is increasingly secular. Younger voters have a lower turnout rate, especially in midterm elections. Low turnout might account for part of this congressional lag behind the downward trend in religious affiliation.
This phenomenon permeates in both political parties - Trump is perhaps the most secular candidate that the GOP has ever seen. While atheist and agnostic voters tend to favor the Dems, secular politics are on the rise for both. Hillary Clinton was a Sunday school teacher for many years - while this might endear her to highly religious Democrats, they're not a majority within her own party, so she doesn't really highlight this fact.
ReplyDeleteI think there's also an expectation among Christian voters that their candidate will share their own faith. The reverse, however, simply isn't true - atheist and agnostic voters still cast their ballots for both Pres. Obama and Gov. Romney, despite both identifying as very religious.