Faith on the Hill: The Religious Affiliations of Members of Congress

12-21-2008 U.S. Congress:

Members of Congress are often accused of being out of touch with average citizens, but an examination of the religious affiliations of U.S. senators and representatives shows that, on one very basic level, Congress looks much like the rest of the country. Although a majority of the members of the new, 111th Congress, which will be sworn in on Jan. 6, are Protestants, Congress - like the nation as a whole - is much more religiously diverse than it was 50 years ago. Indeed, a comparison of the religious affiliations of the new Congress with religious demographic information from the Pew Forum's recent U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of over 35,000 American adults finds that some smaller religious groups, notably Catholics, Jews and Mormons, are better represented in Congress than they are in the population as a whole. However, certain other smaller religious groups, including Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus, still are somewhat underrepresented in Congress relative to their share of the U.S. population.

The study finds that there is at least one major difference between Congress and the nation as a whole: Members of Congress are much more likely than the public overall to say they are affiliated with a particular religion. Only five members of the new Congress (about 1%) did not specify a religious affiliation, according to information gathered by Congressional Quarterly and the Pew Forum, and no members specifically said they were unaffiliated. By contrast, the Landscape Survey found that individuals who are not affiliated with a particular faith make up about one-sixth (16.1%) of the adult population, making this one of the largest "religious" group in the U.S.

The New, 111th Congress
Collectively, Protestants account for more than half (54.7%) of the 111th Congress, about the same proportion as their share of the U.S. adult population (51.3%). But American Protestantism is very diverse and encompasses more than a dozen major denominational families, such as Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians, all with unique beliefs, practices and histories. When these Protestant denominational families are considered as separate religious groups, Catholics are the single largest religious group in the 111th Congress. Catholics, who account for nearly one-quarter of the U.S. adult population, make up about 30% of Congress. Indeed, the number of Catholics in Congress is two-and-a-half times the size of the next largest religious group, Baptists, who make up about 12% of the members.

Although Baptists are the second-largest religious group in Congress after Catholics, the group's share of Congress (12.4%) is less than its share of the national population (17.2%). Indeed, the number of Baptists on Capitol Hill is about the same as the number of Methodists in Congress (10.7%), though Methodists make up a much smaller portion of the American population overall (6.2%). Like Methodists, other Protestant groups also are overrepresented in Congress in relation to their numbers in the general population. For instance, while only 1.5% of American adults identify themselves as Episcopalians, 7.1% of Congress claims this affiliation. In addition, 8.1% of the congressional membership is Presbyterian, far outstripping the 2.7% of American adults who say they are Presbyterians.

Among the nation's smaller religious groups, one group stands out in terms of its numbers in Congress: Jews, who account for just 1.7% of the U.S. adult population, make up 8.4% of Congress, including just over 13% of the Senate.

Another small religious group, Mormons, is about as well-represented on Capitol Hill as it is in the overall population; while members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other Mormons make up 1.7% of the nation's adult population, they represent 2.6% of Congress.

Among other notable smaller religious groups in the 111th Congress are two Muslim members, both seated for the first time in the 110th Congress. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) was seated in 2007 and is the first Muslim ever to serve in Congress. Ellison, who is black and a convert to Islam, caused a minor media sensation when he declared that he would take the oath of office on the Koran rather than the Bible. In 2008, Ellison was joined by another African-American Muslim, André Carson (D-Ind.), who won a special election in March of that year. Muslims, who account for approximately 0.6% of the U.S. adult population, make up 0.4% of Congress.

The 110th Congress also saw the arrival of the first Buddhists, Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), who are both also members of the 111th Congress. Johnson is a practicing Buddhist who converted to the religion as a young adult, while Hirono, who was born in Japan, calls herself a non-practicing Buddhist. Buddhists make up 0.4% of Congress and 0.7% of the U.S. adult population.

..Click to read the remainder of the report.. (contains several excellent charts) by The PEW Forum