Twenty-six percent is a significant number and a significant voting bloc. It’s a number that I try to work into conversations on Capitol Hill because not many people there are aware of it. It is definitely not a number that is representative of the official breakdown of religious affiliations reported by Members of Congress. According to the Pew Research Center, out of 435 House Members, 420 give a specific religious affiliation, 14 were “unknown/refused to state”, and one,
Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA), says he is a humanist. He is also a co-founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus and a reliable supporter on secular issues. But clearly the House of Representatives does not represent the nation’s religious views.
Now, the truth is that there are other Members, of both parties, who are in fact humanists, atheists, or Nones, but for political reasons don’t say so. That’s the common wisdom; you won’t get reelected if you are unaffiliated. But common wisdom is not always true.
The more we let our Representatives know what their voters really look like demographically, the easier it is for them to support secular policy and still win elections. If you have a chance to do so, let your legislators know about the results of the
Pew study.
With more Members of Congress supporting secular issues, it will be to fight bills like
H.R. 5480, the poorly named “
Protecting Religious Exemptions from Vaccine Mandates Act.” This bill was introduced in the House last week by Congressman Ron Estes (R-Kansas) and would allow religious exemptions to the White House's new vaccine requirements for federal employees, many healthcare workers, and employees at large companies.
This bill is the latest effort by legislators and the courts to misuse the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in ways that contradict the original intent of the law, and to use religion as a means to harm people through federal policy.
Vaccines work, people need to be vaccinated to protect others as well as themselves, and the pandemic meets the legal standard for a compelling national interest so there should be no religious exemptions. This bill is a shining example of why we are also advocating for Congress to pass the
Do No Harm Act which would clarify the original intent of RFRA so it is clear that RFRA can’t be used to justify ideas like this.