The LA Times bemoans the fact that we don’t have more pagans at the helm of the country.
When the new Congress convened last week, it included several firsts with its youngest elected member, its first two Muslim women and its first two American Indian women. Women now make up about a quarter of Congress, while the Senate and House of Representatives together include more blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans than ever before.
But even as Congress takes steps toward reflecting the gender and racial makeup of the country, it lags behind significantly when it comes to religion, according to an analysis released this week.
Using self-reported information about the religious affiliations of the 534 members of Congress, the Pew Research Center found that about 88 percent call themselves Christians. The number is a slight dip from the 115th Congress, in which 91 percent of members were Christians. The race in North Carolina’s 9th District has not been certified amid allegations of electoral fraud, which is why Pew counted one less person than the typical 535 that make up Congress.