People With No Religion Underrepresented...in New Congress

People With No Religion Underrepresented By a Factor of 100 in New Congress

The most underrepresented group is Americans who are unaffiliated with organized religion. Twenty percent of Americans are unaffiliated but only 0.2 percent of Congress is, meaning they are underrepresented by 100 times.

Other specific religious groups are overrepresented. Mormons are 2 percent of the population but 7 percent of the Senate. Jews are 2 percent of the population but 9 percent of the Senate.

None of this is to argue that people should vote for someone solely due to their religious faith, but it does show that our Congress members not only don’t look like the American people, they don’t worship (or not worship) like us either.

This is a brief but VERY astute article about how religion is dividing the world.

Elected officials need to pay attention to their constituents.... ALL of them.
Religion is a big part of what is ripping this world and country (the USA among others) apart.
I'm very interested to learn how ATS members react to this information.

Do you care? Do you think it's good? Bad?
ISIS, anyone?

Theocracy = Evil
OR
Theocracy = Good

What is your opinion??

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

The people in charge of the religions using them to divide and profit are the problems not the religions. Tons of peaceful normal Christians, Jews and Muslims. The media chooses to report on the evil acts and they create hatred towards faiths through conditioning.

In the end the only true religion will be the state or the earth or the stars, they'll create something to "unite" people. But it will be same old, same old. Join the billions, convert or die.

a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme

Thanks for your response.

The people in charge of the religions using them to divide and profit are the problems not the religions.

Right. Quite.
So - when was that not ever the case that the people in charge use them?

(hint: It has ALWAYS been the case)

And, ALL religions were invented and recorded by.....PEOPLE.
Right?

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
People With No Religion Underrepresented By a Factor of 100 in New Congress

The most underrepresented group is Americans who are unaffiliated with organized religion. Twenty percent of Americans are unaffiliated but only 0.2 percent of Congress is, meaning they are underrepresented by 100 times.

Other specific religious groups are overrepresented. Mormons are 2 percent of the population but 7 percent of the Senate. Jews are 2 percent of the population but 9 percent of the Senate.

None of this is to argue that people should vote for someone solely due to their religious faith, but it does show that our Congress members not only don’t look like the American people, they don’t worship (or not worship) like us either.

This is a brief but VERY astute article about how religion is dividing the world.

Elected officials need to pay attention to their constituents.... ALL of them.
Religion is a big part of what is ripping this world and country (the USA among others) apart.
I'm very interested to learn how ATS members react to this information.

Do you care? Do you think it's good? Bad?
ISIS, anyone?

Theocracy = Evil
OR
Theocracy = Good

What is your opinion??

The solution, of course, is to only vote for people who declare that they are not affiliated with any religion--that, and if you're one of them, run for office.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

what is the point that is to say what is it that the non religious people feel there under represented about
no one is forcing them to go to church and im sure they uphold the general values of religion
you know dont steal dont murder dont be a false witness ect..
so what is it they want


also if 80% of people are in religion and only 20 not the majority is represented .

The Constitution says Congress shall make no law establishing religion.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

What's the problem?

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

It looks like Theocracy may be well on it's way in the future according to guys like this in the video.

David Lane Is Mobilizing 1,000 Pastors To Run For Political Office

Underrepresentation is a fallacy in my opinion. A democracy is a majority rule, if I'm not mistaken?

You can't make everyone happy, its truly impossible. You should do the will of the people who elected you - which is what the majority votes for.

Constitutionally speaking

How many dems in congress? They took God out of their platform so you the non believing populace could be represented.So what's the problemo?
a reply to: BuzzyWigs

I would say that they are the most represented as they all seem to be godless in Washington DC and completely void of any consciousness...I believe some are not even breathing without aid of a machine since they have been there so long.

a reply to: guitarplayer

And the GOP threw out ALL of the actual ideas of 'Jesus' . ....
majority, eh?

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: guitarplayer

And the GOP threw out ALL of the actual ideas of 'Jesus' . ....
majority, eh?

Actual ideas? There's no historical evidence that Jesus ever lived and, even if he did, not a word of the Bible was written by anyone who heard him say anything.

a reply to: DJMSN

Yes, you have a very good point there. They all SEEM to be soulless pawns of the big-bucks-club.

So - those very few (who still represent reason and logic) are way, way outnumbered.

= Theocracy

a reply to: Tangerine
lol!!
You know I am aware of that. Go back through our post interactions.

Okay... the 'ideas' that are presented in the Bible as being the suggestions of Jesus.....that's my point here.

Whether or not he actually existed is irrelevant at this point. It's the things he supposedly said (as per that book) that are getting discarded in favor of Theocratic Ayn-Randian Conservative 'Far Right' rhetoric.
Common sense and experience be damned...the PIOUS will 'have their way.'

a reply to: guitarplayer

Fully two-thirds of the Republicans in the 114th Congress (202 members, or 67%) are Protestant, about a quarter are Catholic (81, or 27%), and 5% are Mormon (14).

Democrats in the new Congress are somewhat more religiously diverse than Republicans, though not as diverse as the population as a whole. Of the 234 Democrats in the 114th Congress, 104 (44%) are Protestant, 83 (35%) are Catholic, 27 (12%) are Jewish, two (1%) are Mormon, two are Buddhist, two are Muslim, one is Hindu and one does not identify with a particular religion. (Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., both of whom caucus with the Democrats, are counted as Democrats for the purposes of this analysis.)

www.pewforum.org...

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: guitarplayer

And the GOP threw out ALL of the actual ideas of 'Jesus' . ....
majority, eh?

.
I have no idea I'm not a Repubic or a Demonrat. I'm more conservative libertarian.

a reply to: guitarplayer

So, it doesn't bother you that the vast vast majority of Congress-members are 'religious'?
That fewer than 2 in 100 of them are free of a religious dogmatic 'platform'?

originally posted by: mOjOm
a reply to: guitarplayer

Fully two-thirds of the Republicans in the 114th Congress (202 members, or 67%) are Protestant, about a quarter are Catholic (81, or 27%), and 5% are Mormon (14).

Democrats in the new Congress are somewhat more religiously diverse than Republicans, though not as diverse as the population as a whole. Of the 234 Democrats in the 114th Congress, 104 (44%) are Protestant, 83 (35%) are Catholic, 27 (12%) are Jewish, two (1%) are Mormon, two are Buddhist, two are Muslim, one is Hindu and one does not identify with a particular religion. (Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., both of whom caucus with the Democrats, are counted as Democrats for the purposes of this analysis.)

www.pewforum.org...

I was just stating a fact they took any reference to God out of their platform. You can stand in your driveway all day long and say your a car but that doesn't make you one.

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: guitarplayer

So, it doesn't bother you that the vast vast majority of Congress-members are 'religious'?
That fewer than 2 in 100 of them are free of a religious dogmatic 'platform'?

what's your definition of religious?

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Of course it bothers me. However, regardless of my own point of view, if they are the majority then, by our democracy, their will should be done by their elected officials. No matter how stupid that will may be