My mother sent me a link to this article with an interesting observation:
"The United States is the most religious of any major industrialized country; a larger percentage of Americans attend a weekly religious service than Iranians — and Iran is a theocracy."
Had to share.
Shifting sands of religion and politics
BY DOYLE McMANUS
Of the 44 U.S. presidents, all but a handful have been affiliated with a relatively narrow list of traditional Protestant denominations.
Eleven were Episcopalians (12 if you count Thomas Jefferson, whose adult beliefs are a subject of debate), eight were Presbyterians, four were Methodists and four were Baptists. Others included Congregationalists, Dutch Reformed and Disciples of Christ.
President Obama attended Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, a congregation with traditional Protestant roots despite its untraditional pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. In Washington, Obama has attended services at mostly black Protestant churches.
The only chief executive whose roots were clearly outside that mainstream tradition was John F. Kennedy, a Roman Catholic.
But among the leading candidates for this year’s Republican presidential nomination, not one is a member of the Protestant denominations that for so long have dominated American political culture.
Two of the potential candidates are Mormons (former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.); one is a member of an interdenominational evangelical church (former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty); two others are Catholics (former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Rick Santorum). Rep. Michele Bachmann, who says she’s considering the race, worships at an evangelical Lutheran church; if elected, she’d be the first Lutheran president.
But no matter who wins from this list, it won’t be an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian or a Methodist.
The denominational diversity of the GOP field reflects a trend that has been building for half a century: the decline of the “mainline” churches’ size and influence. Among Protestants, evangelical congregations have taken off, and the old mainline denominations have been shrinking.
These shifting religious sands have brought about a structural change in the relationship between politics and religion in the United States. Once, the key religious divides were among Protestants, Catholics and Jews; now they’re between conservatives and liberals within every faith. On election day, conservative Protestants have more in common with conservative Catholics than with liberal Presbyterians.
There’s still a “God gap” in American politics between the religiously observant (who tend to vote Republican) and the less observant (who tend to vote Democratic), but it now crosses denominational lines. “If I know whether you say grace before meals every day, I can probably predict how you vote,” said Notre Dame political scientist David E. Campbell. (About 44 percent of Americans say grace, and most of them vote Republican.)
That also helps explain why so many Republican candidates come from conservative religious backgrounds — whether Mormon, Catholic or evangelical — instead of the more liberal traditional GOP denominations, which now stand outside the party’s conservative mainstream.
But there’s one big, intriguing exception to this picture: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as Mormons.
“Mormon candidates like Romney still face a stained-glass ceiling,” said Campbell, himself a Mormon. “It’s an obstacle, it’s a big one, and it didn’t go away in 2008.”
The underlying problem, Campbell says, is religious, not political. Most evangelicals don’t believe Mormons are Christians. (Mormons believe in the divinity of Jesus, but their theology differs from evangelical Christianity in several ways, beginning with their belief in Mormon scriptures in addition to the New Testament.) For many of those voters, a candidate they perceive as non-Christian appears to be a step too far.
Likewise, most voters say they want their candidates to profess some kind of religious faith. The United States is the most religious of any major industrialized country; a larger percentage of Americans attend a weekly religious service than Iranians — and Iran is a theocracy. As a result, American politics is one line of work where avowed atheists need not apply.
“You can tell when an election is coming: when all the candidates are going to church again,” said Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
So, yes, there’s a de facto religious test for office. It’s not administered by the government; it’s a matter of voters’ comfort level.
But if the last half-century is any guide, the test will grow easier over time. The trend is toward ever greater openness. The arc of American history is long, but it bends toward tolerance.
Eleven were Episcopalians (12 if you count Thomas Jefferson, whose adult beliefs are a subject of debate), eight were Presbyterians, four were Methodists and four were Baptists. Others included Congregationalists, Dutch Reformed and Disciples of Christ.
President Obama attended Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, a congregation with traditional Protestant roots despite its untraditional pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. In Washington, Obama has attended services at mostly black Protestant churches.
The only chief executive whose roots were clearly outside that mainstream tradition was John F. Kennedy, a Roman Catholic.
But among the leading candidates for this year’s Republican presidential nomination, not one is a member of the Protestant denominations that for so long have dominated American political culture.
Two of the potential candidates are Mormons (former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.); one is a member of an interdenominational evangelical church (former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty); two others are Catholics (former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Rick Santorum). Rep. Michele Bachmann, who says she’s considering the race, worships at an evangelical Lutheran church; if elected, she’d be the first Lutheran president.
But no matter who wins from this list, it won’t be an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian or a Methodist.
The denominational diversity of the GOP field reflects a trend that has been building for half a century: the decline of the “mainline” churches’ size and influence. Among Protestants, evangelical congregations have taken off, and the old mainline denominations have been shrinking.
These shifting religious sands have brought about a structural change in the relationship between politics and religion in the United States. Once, the key religious divides were among Protestants, Catholics and Jews; now they’re between conservatives and liberals within every faith. On election day, conservative Protestants have more in common with conservative Catholics than with liberal Presbyterians.
There’s still a “God gap” in American politics between the religiously observant (who tend to vote Republican) and the less observant (who tend to vote Democratic), but it now crosses denominational lines. “If I know whether you say grace before meals every day, I can probably predict how you vote,” said Notre Dame political scientist David E. Campbell. (About 44 percent of Americans say grace, and most of them vote Republican.)
That also helps explain why so many Republican candidates come from conservative religious backgrounds — whether Mormon, Catholic or evangelical — instead of the more liberal traditional GOP denominations, which now stand outside the party’s conservative mainstream.
But there’s one big, intriguing exception to this picture: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as Mormons.
“Mormon candidates like Romney still face a stained-glass ceiling,” said Campbell, himself a Mormon. “It’s an obstacle, it’s a big one, and it didn’t go away in 2008.”
The underlying problem, Campbell says, is religious, not political. Most evangelicals don’t believe Mormons are Christians. (Mormons believe in the divinity of Jesus, but their theology differs from evangelical Christianity in several ways, beginning with their belief in Mormon scriptures in addition to the New Testament.) For many of those voters, a candidate they perceive as non-Christian appears to be a step too far.
Likewise, most voters say they want their candidates to profess some kind of religious faith. The United States is the most religious of any major industrialized country; a larger percentage of Americans attend a weekly religious service than Iranians — and Iran is a theocracy. As a result, American politics is one line of work where avowed atheists need not apply.
“You can tell when an election is coming: when all the candidates are going to church again,” said Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
So, yes, there’s a de facto religious test for office. It’s not administered by the government; it’s a matter of voters’ comfort level.
But if the last half-century is any guide, the test will grow easier over time. The trend is toward ever greater openness. The arc of American history is long, but it bends toward tolerance.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/07/2255656/shifting-sands-of-religion-and.html#ixzz1OpA6OGtv
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