I used to work for a Senator who liked to say “Before you can solve a problem you have to measure it.” I’ve been big on measuring things since then, which often means looking at polling. In fact, we're going to do a poll of our own here in the coming months on our most important issues, polling that should interest people on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile there have been some interesting public polling results recently.
Gallup reported that the percentage of American adults who say religion is an important part of their daily lives has fallen from 66% in 2015 to 49% today. Less than half. This 17 point decline ranks among the largest declines in religiosity Gallup has recorded in any country over a 10 year period since 2007. So that’s good for making the case that secular voters deserve support.
Pew Research just came out with a study of religiosity among Democrats and Republicans, or religiousness if you prefer. Republicans are 20-25 percent more religious than Democrats on the four usual measures of religiosity: belief in God, pray daily, attend services often, and view religion as important in their lives. Forty percent of Democrats are religiously unaffiliated compared to 20 percent of Republicans, making the unaffiliated Democrats a big voting block.
However, when you break down the Democrats you see that 42 percent of White Democrats are Christian and 48 percent are unaffiliated. (Other religions are 9 percent.) Among Black Democrats it’s far different; 76 percent are Christian and 20 percent are unaffiliated.
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Black Democrats have long been an important and reliable voting block, although that slipped some in 2024. Hispanics are also more Christian than White Democrats. Balancing the issues and outlooks of all groups is a challenge for the Democratic party. This is far less of a challenge for Republicans, who are 74 percent Christian and 20 percent unaffiliated. There are no dramatic religious differences among White, Black, and Hispanic Republicans so they can just push Christianity and Christian nationalism and the large majority of their voters are fine with it.
One of our coalition members is Black Nonbelievers which provides community and support for those who break from their very religious families and communities. Groups like Black Nonbelievers can help bring together secular and religious Black voters.
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Keep an eye out for our coming-very-soon announcement that registration is open for Lobby Day 2026, which is March 10! We will decide next month what legislation we will be advocating for or against but we’d love to have your help. No experience necessary.
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Your advocate,
Scott MacConomy
Director of Policy and Government Affairs
Secular Coalition for America |
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The Secular Coalition for America works every day to defend the separation of religion and government and to fight anti-democratic ideologies like Christian nationalism. Your support for this work is vital.
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