Church much?

According to a poll by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, regular church attendance is now the prime indicator of political leanings, with regular church goers voting Republican by a 2-to-1 ratio, while people who never attend church vote Democrat, also by a 2-to-1 ratio.

Apparently this polarization is a fairly new development which started in the 1990s and “became clear” in the 2000 election. With the scary religious leanings of the current administration, I can’t see this trend reversing itself at any point soon.

The prominent form religion takes in everyday American life has been a constant source of surprise to me ever since coming to the States lo those many years ago; in Sweden secularity is the de facto mode, and it’s actually to the point there where active involvement in religion is seen as a bit … strange. It’s fine to believe in a God, but to go so far as to actually attend services … that’s a little bit odd. So it’s been very interesting for me to get used to politicos tossing religion into every debate and public statement.

The main source of interest in this study, though, should be how the right wing has taken over Christianity–the last time I read the New Testament, Jesus was pretty big on helping the poor and restricting avarice. But perhaps I’m just out of touch.