Is American a Faith Based Voting Constituency?

 

“If the unaffiliated were a religion, they’d be the largest religious group in the United States.”

Elizabeth Drescher, adjunct professor at Santa Clara University

The vast majority of Americans, in every credible state and national poll, does not want the Supreme Court to reverse Roe v Wade. Most educated Americans, and the rising generations are best educated we’ve ever had, believe in tolerance and inclusion, which definitely includes racial, ethnic and gender diversity. Yet given the distinctly rural bias baked into our Constitution – the according of two Senate seats to each state regardless of population, a product of the 94% of our nation being agriculturally based in 1789 – rural still rules in 2022. The Senate filibuster adds the anomaly making the United States the only purported representational democracy on earth where a simple majority of our federal legislature (Congress) cannot pass most legislation.

As evangelicals have coopted MAGA, and as MAGA has coopted virtually the entire formal/elected Republican Party, I wondered exactly how far away from majority rule this new religious control has taken the nation. When you realize that the nation is getting less religious, the answer is far, very far. First and foremost, evangelicals comprise about 22%-25% of all Americans, according to Gallup and Pew research, but religious values are changing… declining to be precise. They operate in undivided unison under that rural bias. But the nation is now mostly urban (85%+).

“A Pew Research Center poll published [12/14/21] indicates that the number of people in the U.S. who describe themselves as unaffiliated with a religion increased by 6 points in the last five years and 10 points in the last decade... When asked about their religious identity, 29% of respondents, or about 3 in 10 U.S. adults, said they had ‘none,’ meaning they were atheists, agnostics or ‘nothing in particular,’ according to the Pew Research Center survey.

“Christians, including Protestants, Catholics, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Orthodox Christians, still make up a majority of the U.S. population, the survey indicates… Specifically, they account for 63% of the adult population, a 12 percentage point decrease compared with data from 2011... While the percentage of Catholic U.S. adults has remained relatively steady, accounting for about 21% of the population since 2014, the population of Protestant adults declined to 40% this year, down 4 points in the last five years.” The Hill, December 14th.

We’ve had two Roman Catholic presidents, several Catholic Supreme Court Justices, a few Jewish Justices, and a whole lot of Protestant “any and all of the above.” The closest we ever got to an evangelical president in recent times was very liberal Jimmy Carter and maybe a born-again George W Bush. Yet, given that rural bias and the filibuster rule at a national level, evangelical voters control everything from abortion rights and gun control to religious freedom in the United States. Christian nationalism is rising, and if you realize that “nationalism” in a political sense means “we’re better than you are,” you can understand how so many dictatorial regimes began on that note.

One major example of that sentiment is the Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano. Aside from his replacement theory and big lie conspiratorial views about the 2020 election, he is an unabashed Christian nationalist who argues that his version of Christianity should play a greater role in state government. Mastriano says he is "reclaiming" the state of Pennsylvania, which he calls the “promised land” "for Christ" and if he wins will restore "God's kingdom" in the state. Indeed, despite the First Amendment, he is one of many who believe that Christianity should be the official state religion. He is one of dozens of GOP officeholders and seekers who have very openly voiced this sentiment. Evangelicals, even as they fall in the percentage of the population, are cementing control over their flock and the GOP – their pastors are often instructing their followers on how to vote – as Catholicism seems to be losing its flock.

David Crary, writing for the June 7th Associated Press, observes: “The hard-line stances of many conservative Catholic bishops in the U.S. are not shared by a majority of lay Catholics. Most of them say abortion should be legal, favor greater inclusion of LGBTQ people, and oppose the denial of Communion for politicians who support abortion rights, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research… The poll, conducted in mid-May, shows a clear gap between the prevalent views of American Catholics and some recent high-profile actions taken by the church’s leaders.

“For example, leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently called on Catholics nationwide to pray for the U.S. Supreme Court to end the constitutional right to abortion by reversing its 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision. According to the new poll, 63% of Catholic adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 68% say Roe should be left as is… On May 20, the archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, announced that he will no longer allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) to receive Communion because of her support for abortion rights… According to the poll, only 31% of lay Catholics agree that politicians supporting abortion rights should be denied Communion, while 66% say they should be allowed access to the sacrament.

“An even larger majority — 77% — said that Catholics who identify as LGBTQ should be allowed to receive Communion… That contrasts sharply with a policy issued by the Diocese of Marquette, which encompasses Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, saying pastors should deny Communion to transgender, gay and nonbinary Catholics ‘unless the person has repented.’

“Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan College, said the rift between rank-and-file Catholics and the bishops ‘reveals a breakdown in communication and trust — shepherds who are far removed from the sheep… This is a precarious time for the U.S. Catholic Church,’ she added in an email. ‘U.S. Catholics are, on the whole, accustomed to living and working in a pluralistic society, and this poll reinforces the notion that they want the public square to remain pluralistic, free from coercion, and oriented toward care for the vulnerable populations among us.’” The disdain shown liberal and tolerant Pope Francis by a number of senior American clerics suggests that the Church is losing it grip… a fact that should have been evident from the decades of priestly sex scandals and the resulting cover-ups.

In the end, democracy is deeply and perhaps fatally challenged by members of a large minority with disproportionate political power, feeling morally superior, attempting to force their vision of God on the rest of us. The only way for that minority to succeed is via autocratic rule.

I’m Peter Dekom, and this nation was founded by people who fought hard against religious bigots trying to force the world to accept their version of faith.