Scott Morefield | Reporter
Christians are “overrepresented” in Congress compared to their representation in U.S. society, a new PEW report found.
The research groups analysis of incoming Senate and House members shows Protestant Christians comprising 54.9 percent, compared to 48 percent of the U.S. adult population. Further, Catholics (30.5 percent to 21 percent) and Jews (6.4 percent to 2 percent) were both significantly overrepresented.
PEW reported:
Within Protestantism, certain groups are particularly numerous in the new Congress, including Methodists, Anglicans/Episcopalians, Presbyterians and Lutherans. Additionally, Protestants in the “unspecified/other” category make up just 5% of the U.S. public, but 15% of Congress. By contrast, some other Protestant groups are underrepresented, including Pentecostals (5% of the U.S. public vs. 0.4% of Congress).
Interestingly, “religiously unaffiliated” is a box checked by only one lawmaker — Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema — while 23 percent of the United States population considers themselves to be in that group. (RELATED: Jerry Falwell Jr: Its Immoral For Evangelicals To Not Support President Trump)
“While the number of self-identified Christians in Congress has ticked down slightly, Christians as a whole – and especially Protestants and Catholics – are still overrepresented in proportion to their share in the general public,” wrote PEWs Aleksandra Sandstrom.
The religious makeup of the new, 116th Congress is very different from that of the United States population. https://t.co/R7kKIJu5SB pic.twitter.com/VmvGUdhXLE
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) January 3, 2019
Combined — Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, and Orthodox — Christians as a group comprise 88.2 percent of the incoming Congress, significantly more than the 71 percent of U.S. adults who would identify as Christians. This is actually down from previous years.
Scott Morefield | Reporter
Christians are “overrepresented” in Congress compared to their representation in U.S. society, a new PEW report found.
The research groups analysis of incoming Senate and House members shows Protestant Christians comprising 54.9 percent, compared to 48 percent of the U.S. adult population. Further, Catholics (30.5 percent to 21 percent) and Jews (6.4 percent to 2 percent) were both significantly overrepresented.
PEW reported:
Within Protestantism, certain groups are particularly numerous in the new Congress, including Methodists, Anglicans/Episcopalians, Presbyterians and Lutherans. Additionally, Protestants in the “unspecified/other” category make up just 5% of the U.S. public, but 15% of Congress. By contrast, some other Protestant groups are underrepresented, including Pentecostals (5% of the U.S. public vs. 0.4% of Congress).
Interestingly, “religiously unaffiliated” is a box checked by only one lawmaker — Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema — while 23 percent of the United States population considers themselves to be in that group. (RELATED: Jerry Falwell Jr: Its Immoral For Evangelicals To Not Support President Trump)
“While the number of self-identified Christians in Congress has ticked down slightly, Christians as a whole – and especially Protestants and Catholics – are still overrepresented in proportion to their share in the general public,” wrote PEWs Aleksandra Sandstrom.
The religious makeup of the new, 116th Congress is very different from that of the United States population. https://t.co/R7kKIJu5SB pic.twitter.com/VmvGUdhXLE
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) January 3, 2019
Combined — Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, and Orthodox — Christians as a group comprise 88.2 percent of the incoming Congress, significantly more than the 71 percent of U.S. adults who would identify as Christians. This is actually down from previous years.
