It seems Congress is far more religiously aligned overall than their constituents–or at least more elected officials claim an actual faith than the population as a whole.

While over 16.1% of the U.S. population surveyed by Pew Research claimed to be unaffiliated with a specific faith, no members of Congress were churchless, though a weensy one per cent (5 members) said that they are "unspecified, "refused to state or  "don’t know" their faith. Congressman Pete Stark where were you?

I wonder what would make someone refuse to state? How can you not know what religion you are? And does unspecified mean "witch"? (One hopes!)

Christians, that combo platter of Catholics and the multiple denominations of Protestants, make up the majority of faiths on Capitol Hill and in America, according to the new report from Pew Research.  Mormons, though they would like to be considered Christians, were given their own category in the survey. "All other faiths" made up 4.5% of the U.S population, but only 3.3% of Congress, with the majority of "other" in the House.

The breakdown shows that there are four times as many Jews in Congress than in the U.S. population as a whole (8.4% vs 1.7%), as well as a higher portion of Mormons in Congress than in the U.S. population (2.6% vs 1.7%). Pluralism and ecumenical spirit are wider spread in the Senate than in House, with Mormons, Jews and other faiths accounting for 20.2% of the Senate, while the House has just 12.1% non-Christians (including Mormons).

None of the Senate (0 out of 100!) claimed they were  "unspecified,  refused, don’t know" though 1.1% (5 of 435) of the House claimed non-affiliation with a faith.

And by the way, a poll conducted last year had an openly gay person more likely to be elected President than a declared atheist.