The American Religious and Political Landscape

The Religious Influence in America

Since its founding in the early colonial days, when settlers came in search of religious freedom, America has been profoundly influenced by religion. There have been many presidents who have expressed their faith; however, Dwight D. Eisenhower was influential in preserving the belief of God in public life. He said, “recognition of the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic, expression of Americanism.”

This influence continues today.

Today there are nearly 313 million people in America, making the United States the third most populous country in the world. Because of its population and history, the United States has numerically more Christians (and more Protestants) than any other country in the world.

Yet, religion in the United States is diverse in belief and practices. Have you ever wondered what these religious beliefs are, or of those held by government officials who represent the electorate?

Written by Bethany Blankley

bethanyblankley.com

The Faith of the Electorate

The majority of the United States electorate is Christian. According to a 2012 U.S. Census Statistical Abstract, three quarters of Americans responded that they adhere to the Christian faith. The next largest group identify themselves as having no religion. Following that, were those who identify themselves as Jewish, Agnostic, Atheist, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu.

According to a 2010 Association of American Religion Data Archives report, of those who identify themselves as Christian, 140 million identify themselves as nondenominational, 62 million as Catholics, 40 million as Evangelical Protestants, and 26 million as Mainline Protestants.

The top three states with the greatest number of religious congregations are Texas, California, and Pennsylvania.

According to a Public Religion Research Institute survey, two-thirds of voters (39%) identified that it is very important, and 28% of voters identified that it was somewhat important, for a presidential candidate to hold strong religious beliefs.

The Faith of the Presidency

All of the presidents of the United States have been Christian. The majority has been Protestant, and of those, the majority has been Presbyterian and Episcopalian. Several presidents were unaffiliated with a particular faith, such as Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Johnson, and Rutherford B. Hayes. The only Catholic president was John F. Kennedy. Although 20 percent of Americans surveyed believe that President Barack Obama is a Muslim, he identifies himself as a Christian. He was a member of the United Church of Christ for twenty years.

All of the vice presidents have been Protestant until Joseph Biden, who became the first Catholic vice president in 2008.

While the majority of Americans claim to be Christian, the faith of the presidency has disproportionately reflected Americans’ religious identity. There has never been a Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or member of another faith who has been elected President or Vice President.

The Faith of the Presidency

Among the Republican presidential candidates, two are Catholic, one is a Protestant, and one is a Mormon.

Newt Gingrich converted to Catholicism in 2009; he was raised Lutheran and spent most of his adult life as a Southern Baptist. He said in a recent debate: “How can you have judgment if you have no faith? The notion that you are endowed by your Creator sets a certain boundary on what we mean by America.”

It has been argued that Rick Santorum accentuates his faith more than the other candidates, asserting that “rights come from God” and that “the Government’s role is to protect those rights.”

Ron Paul is a born-again Christian who has said that his faith is “deeply private” and that he wants to “avoid any appearance of exploiting it for political gain.”

Mitt Romney’s faith has been an issue, primarily among Evangelicals who believe that Mormonism is not a Christian faith and/or is a cult.

The Faith of Congress

The majority of the 112th Congress, like the electorate, is Protestant. Of the 535 members of Congress, the top three faiths are comprised of Protestants (57%), Catholics (29%), and Jews (7%). One percent identifies itself as unaffiliated with a faith.

According to a Pew Research analysis, Buddhists and Muslims are represented in Congress roughly in equal proportion to their numbers in the general population (less than 1%). There are no Hindus or people who practice other world religions in Congress.

The majority of Congressional Republicans are Protestant; there are no Jewish Republican Senators and there is one Jewish Republican Congressman. Among Democrats, less than half identify themselves as Protestant. There are more Democratic Catholics than Republicans; fifteen percent of Congressional Democrats are Jewish.

The first Muslim Congressman (D-MN) and the first Buddhist Congressmen (D-GA & HI) were seated in 2007.

The Faith of the Supreme Court

Since 1789 when the Supreme Court was established, there have been 112 justices who have been appointed to the Court. Of those, 91 have been Protestant, 12 have been Catholics, eight have been Jewish, and one had no known religious affiliation. Three of the 17 chief justices have been Catholics; the rest have been Protestant.

Since 2010, for the first time in American history, there has been no Protestant justice on the bench. The Supreme Court is now entirely comprised of Catholics and Jews. Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, John Roberts (the third Catholic Chief Justice), Antonin Scalia, Sonia Sotomayor, and Clarence Thomas are Catholic. Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Elena Kagan are Jewish.

There has never been a known atheist among the Court; only one professed to be agnostic. Likewise, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists have never been represented on the Court.

Compared to the presidency and Congress, the Supreme Court is the least representative numerically in proportion to the religious makeup of the American population.

Christian Themes in America

“In God We Trust” is the official motto of the United States. President Eisenhower formalized the motto in a law he signed in 1956. The motto originated from a poem, The Star Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812. It became the national anthem in 1933. In it Key penned: “Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! … And this be our motto: In God is our trust.”

Inscribing “In God We Trust” onto U.S. currency was introduced by U.S. Treasury Secretary Chase in 1863.

Oaths

“So help me God,” is often added to oaths taken by the president, federal executive and legislative branch officers, the federal judiciary, and is also commonly used by sworn-in state and local officials. The Supreme Court opens each session with the phrase, “God save the United States and this Honorable Court.”

Christian Themes in America

The Pledge of Allegiance

Congress recognized the pledge in 1942, but in 1954 President Eisenhower signed a law that amended it to include “under God.” Since then, the pledge has remained: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

References to God in National Hymns

Previous to Key’s Star Spangled Banner, My Country Tis’ of Thee, was a beloved hymn sung by Americans. In it Americans sing, “Our fathers' God to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing.”

In God Bless America, Americans sing for God to “stand beside her and guide her,” and in America the Beautiful they sing “God shed his grace on thee… God mend thine every flaw… May God thy gold refine, till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine!”

The Navy hymn, Eternal Father, Strong to Save, well known among Christians and found in most Protestant hymnals, appeals to the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Separation of Church and State

Roger Williams, a Baptist theologian and founder of Rhode Island, originated the concept of a separation between church and state. In 1644, he wrote in The Bloody Tenent of Persecution, "[a] hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world."

In 1802, Thomas Jefferson popularized Williams’ phrase in a letter to Baptists in CT, when he wrote, “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their ‘legislature’ should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.”

In Reynolds v. United States (1879) the Supreme Court stated that Jefferson's comments could be "accepted almost as an authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the [First] Amendment."

The First Amendment of the Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Article VI specifies that, "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

During Congressional deliberations to amend the Constitution in1789 Madison argued that he understood the proposed amended language to mean that, “Congress should not establish a religion, and enforce the legal observation of it by law, nor compel men to worship God in any manner contrary to their conscience.”

Separation of Church and State

The concept of God being referenced in public life has been challenged in court, particularly with regard to the national motto and the Pledge of Allegiance.

The national motto was first challenged in Aronow v. United States (1970) but the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled: "It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency 'In God We Trust' has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion.”

In 2000, a lawsuit was filed that led to a 2002 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance endorsed religion and therefore violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The ruling was appealed and the Supreme Court heard the case (Newdow v. United States Congress, Elk Grove Unified School District, et al., 542 U.S. 1) in 2004.

The Supreme Court ruled that the words, “Under God,” were "protected from Establishment Clause scrutiny chiefly because they have lost through rote repetition any significant religious content." Chief Justice Rehnquist's opinion held that the term "under God" did not endorse or establish religion but that the term merely acknowledged the nation's religious heritage and the role of religion for the Founding Fathers.