Percentage of Christians in:
U.S. Congress = 87%
All U.S. adults= 62%
Pew Research Center
The religious composition of the 119th Congress
[pewresearch.org]
13
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9 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.This is not difficult to explain and it is not sinister either.
Okay, let us use the non-controversial divide that Swift used for Lillyputt, ie. which end of a boiled egg you eat from. If 62% of the population are bigenders, 35% smallenders with the rest being vegan or other. Then the chances of a smallender being elected are much smaller than 35%. There has to be a huge demographic bias towards smallenders, an outstanding smallender candidate, a huge bigender candidate scandal or a combination of all three. Either way, any smallender is at a huge disadvantage in the primaries.
Then you can have tactical voting. If you are a smallender but the best option for you is a less radical bigender? Also, even a slight advantage can alter choices radically. Say you have a card and you ask people to choose whether the next card will be higher or lower. Once that percentage goes over 50%, the overwhelming choices will be the better chance, however marginal that may be. So even if a 9 has 7 lower cards and 5 higher (Aces are high) the ratio of people choosing lower will be much greater than 7-5.
So, given that the US is 62%, Christian, it is no accident that even an obvious atheist like Trump has to feign belief.
273kelvin
Level 8
Jan 7, 2025
0
Ever since the 70s, when the Repub Party began courting the white evangelicals, Christians have been overrepresented in our politics, compared to their actual numbers in the population..
TomMcGiverin
Level 8
Jan 5, 2025
1
25% more Christians in Congress than in the general population? Yet another way in which gerrymandering is screwing up this country. 
Flyingsaucesir
Level 8
Jan 5, 2025
1
How could gerrymandering relate to the religious breakdown of Congress. There is no data to I.D. religious affiliation (or lack thereof) by ZIP code.
@Alienbeing Gerrymandering leads to election of extremists, including religious nut jobs. Also, Evangelical Christians and Christian nationalists are perhaps the most important factions within the Republican Party. Around 85% of white Evangelical Christians voted for Trump in 2016; 80% in 2020. There is a very strong correlation between voting Republican and being Christian. And were it not for gerrymandering, Republicans probably would not have the majority in the House of Representatives.
@Flyingsaucesir Your reply alleges a connection between Republicans and religion. It does nothing to show a connection between gerryadering and religion. As I previously noted there is no data to even hint that your initial allegation holds water.
Last your assumption that there is a "strong" correlation between voting Republican & Christian lacks meaning. Since Christians are the largest religious block in the USA, I am sure an equally "strong" correlation exists for Democrat voters.
@Alienbeing If 85% of (Evangelical) Christians vote Republican*, that doesn't leave very many to vote Democratic, does it? The "equally strong correlation" with Democrats you are so sure of does not, can not exist.
Again, if it were not for gerrymandering, Republicans probably would not have majorities in Congress and in so many state legislatures. I'm not saying that Republicans are the only ones who gerrymander; just that they do it more vigorously. Blue states are more likely to leave the drawing of redistricting maps up to non-partisan election boards.
If gerrymandering puts more Republicans in office, and the number of Republicans who identify as (Evangelical) Christian is greater than the number of Democrats who do so, then gerrymandering puts more (Evangelical) Christians in office than would otherwise be there.
*Up to 85% of Evangelical Christians voted for Trump in 2016. Some of them probably split the ticket and voted for some Democrats down ballot. This may help explain Pew's findings.
@Flyingsaucesir Obviously you never took any Statistics courses so I don't see how this conversation can proceed.
There is NO data to support your assertion.
@Alienbeing If A increases B, and B is largely made up of C, then A increases C. It's pretty straightforward logic.
I should note here that in this context, where I use the word "Christian" I mean Evangelical Christian and/or Christian Nationalist. Neither the original post nor my comment drew any distinction between, say, Episcopalians or Catholics and Evangelical Christians. I should have made that clear earlier.
What I have put forth here is a thesis or postulate; it's not, as far as I know, a proven fact. It's a thesis deserving further investigation.
Fuck the 119th congress. They are still as useless, and incompetent as the last congress. The whole lot of em should be made to live in the same conditions the poorest of us have to endure. The should be made to suffer our tribulations and hardships. Not living on the coattails of the rich and privileged. In fact, they ought to be barred from having any special contact or dealings with anyone or any entity. (Companies, Organizations, or Advocacy groups.) They should also eleminate all lobbiest activites and make everyone go through official channels or face prison time for corruption.
Maybe it's just me, but I am sick of the corruption and shady ass bullshit that has permeated our governing bodies from local yocals, the seat of president and all offices in between.
If you serve the public, then you should be beholden to the public and the folks you represent. So if you happen to represent the .0005% of US citizens then your votes would reflect their values and I would expect that. However, the rest of the 99.9995% of us should also have the same representation. Not up for bid or sale for favors.
Ceaselessmind
Level 7
Jan 4, 2025
5
I agree with your ideals, but we live in a plutocracy, and have been for decades, where what the peasants want and think, doesn't matter a damned bit, to the corrupt, bought off pols..
@TomMcGiverin I agree. That is why we all should say fuck them and not do what they want.
The Vatican has faced numerous allegations of money laundering and financial misconduct, often linked to organized crime. In the 1980s, figures like Michele Sindona and Roberto Calvi, both with Mafia ties, used Vatican connections to launder money through institutions like Banco Ambrosiano, in which the Vatican was a major shareholder125. The Vatican Bank (IOR) has also been implicated in laundering funds for groups like the 'Ndrangheta34. While reforms have been introduced, scandals persist, highlighting historical and systemic issues within its financial operations25.
They don't need or deserve any tax deductions.
PaddyO
Level 7
Jan 4, 2025
5
I wonder how many of them only say they're Christians in order to keep their base? I've always suspected Obama was an atheist but didn't want to risk losing the Christian vote.
Lauren
Level 8
Jan 4, 2025
8
Michelle Obama is/was a Xian. I read both of their autobiographies. I don't "know" that Barack is, but he realized the usefulness of religion to reach his prime demographic.
Yeah, he seems above the Buybull bs…..
Are you sure he isn’t a Muslim!?
@HippieChick58 I've read a couple of his books and he almost seems to consciously avoid referencing religion. But i agree that he doubtless didn't want to upset his appeal to the religious ... and I have to agree with him in that our country seems even less likely to elect an atheist than they do a woman.
Remember how well his "clinging to guns and religion" comment was received? It torpedoed his presidency, and almost sank it.
@Lauren It's also been obvious to me for years, that Bernie Sanders too is an atheist, but culturally Jewish. But he would never admit he was an atheist, as he already has the negative label of socialist to deal with..
@TomMcGiverin I expect you may be right which would be one more reason I respect him so much.
Churches fight to stay open as attendance dwindles
Houses of worship around the country are adopting varying strategies to survive.
Get religion out of politics. Tax churches.
Killtheskyfairy
Level 9
Jan 4, 2025
7
The news that smaller Catholic and Protestant churches are closing sounds like a positive development, but, unfortunately, Evangelical megachurches are expanding.
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