 Presbyterians lose voice in 110th U.S. Congress The Layman Online Thursday, December 14, 2006 The voice of Presbyterians serving in the U.S. House and Senate during the 110th Congress has been quieted down by the 2006 elections.
The religious affiliation lists released by various organizations, including the Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA), does not note how many Presbyterians in the House and Senate are members of PCUSA congregations.
On issues such as the war in Iraq, abortion and same-gender marriage, selection of Supreme Court justices, immigration and Cuba, the Washington Office and denominational agencies have taken positions aligning closely with liberal Democrats. Those alignments are contrary to the views of Presbyterians at large. In the 2005 Presbyterian Panel poll of political affiliations, 53 percent of the members and 51 percent of the ministers identified the Republicans as their political preference. Only 26 percent of the ministers and 13 percent of the specialized clergy listed Republicans as their preference. The 41 Presbyterians constitute the fifth largest religious affiliation group in the 110th Congress. There are 126 Roman Catholics in Congress, followed by 57 Baptists, 50 Methodists and 40 who list themselves as Protestants without specifying a denomination. Other affiliations include 30 Jewish, 26 Episcopal, 15 Lutheran, 10 Mormon, five Christian Science, five Eastern Orthodox, four Pentecostal, three African Methodist Episcopal, three United Church of Christ, two Buddhist, two Christian Reformed Church, two Seventh-Day Adventist, one Christian Church, one Community of Christ, one Quaker and one Unitarian. For the first time, Congress now includes a Muslim, Keith Ellison, D-Minn. |
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