The Religious Sort

The answers to two standard survey questions – “Aside from weddings and funerals, how often to attend religious services?” and “How important is religion in your daily life?” – reveal a great deal about a person’s politics, particularly among white Americans. In short, the more religious a person is, the more likely it is that he or she identifies with the Republican Party and supports Republican candidates. This religiosity gap brings together religious mainline Protestants, evangelical Protestants, undifferentiated Christians, and Catholics under the Republican umbrella while their less devout co-religionists sit alongside religious non-identifiers – including atheists, agnostics, and those who do not call themselves part of a religion – as Democrats.