The dangerous paradox of the religious polarization of American politics

A key factor driving political polarization in the United States today is religion — not what religion you are, but how religious you are.

Here’s the paradox: Americans have been losing their religion for years.

The Pew Research Center reports that “the country has been growing less religious over time,” evidenced by a decline in the share of the population identifying as “Christian” from about 90 percent in the early 1990s to a little over 60 percent in 2022, plus a growing number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation (those with “no religion,” atheists and agnostics now total about 30 percent).

At the same time, Pew has examined the role of religion in the lives of people in dozens of countries all over the world. The key finding: “The wealthier a country is, the less religious its people tend to be — except America.”

The U.S is by far the wealthiest country in the world. At the same time, Americans are more religious than people in other wealthy countries. More Americans claim that religion plays a “very important role in their lives” than in any other high-income country — 53 percent in the U.S., roughly double the percentage in the next three wealthiest countries (27 percent in Canada, 21 percent in Germany and 18 percent in Australia).

Why are Americans uniquely religious? Most likely because so many groups came to the United States seeking religious freedom, starting with the Puritans. A lot of immigrants were religious minorities and people who belonged to “dissenting” (i.e., non-established) churches. Those who immigrate for religious reasons usually have deep religious convictions — and work to preserve them over the generations.

The division between religious and irreligious Americans is growing. And it’s shaping our politics.

In the 2020 election, voters who attended religious services at least monthly voted for Donald Trump over Joe Biden, 59 to 40 percent. Less religious voters went for Biden over Trump, 58 to 40 percent.

In 1992, I held a post as visiting professor of American politics at a leading Jesuit university. One of the perquisites of that position was an invitation to tea with the Cardinal. After we exchanged pleasantries, the Cardinal asked, “Is there anything happening in American politics that I should be aware of?”

“As a matter of fact, there is,” I answered. “Since Ronald Reagan welcomed the religious right into the Republican Party, religious Americans of all faiths — fundamentalist Protestants, observant Catholics, even Orthodox Jews — have been moving toward the Republican Party. At the same time, secular Americans have found a home in the Democratic Party.”

I explained, “This division over religiosity is something new in American politics.” Then I went a fateful step further, adding: “We have never had a religious party in this country, and the idea makes me a little uncomfortable.”

The Cardinal pounced: “Well, I’m a little uncomfortable with an irreligious party in this country.”

To which I replied, “Your eminence, I think I’ll have more tea.”

Religious commitment has a lot to do with the takeover of the Republican Party by the radical right. What drives the radical right is resentment of the educated elite, who today tend to be Democrats — and resolutely secular.

Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, has attacked his Democratic opponent for sending his children to an “exclusive, elite” [Jewish] day school, saying it shows “disdain for people like us.”

“Christian nationalism” is becoming an influential force in the radical right. Christian nationalists are raising objections to the separation of church and state — an idea embedded in the U.S. Constitution. They want the U.S. to officially declare itself a Christian nation and to give Christianity a privileged place in public life.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told the Conservative Political Action Conference in August, “I’m a Christian nationalist. I have nothing to be ashamed of because that’s what most Americans are.” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said in June that she’s “tired of this separation of church and state junk.”

A Catholic bishop once explained his church’s position on abortion to me this way: “Abortion should never be considered a legitimate ‘choice.’ It’s like human slavery. The law should not allow you to say, ‘I think slavery is immoral, but if you feel different about it, you should have the right to buy yourself a slave.’ It’s a choice that cannot be allowed in a civilized society.”

When issues become matters of faith, they cannot be resolved politically — which is why so many people believe that the country’s extreme political polarization can only be resolved by violence: 43 percent of Americans polled in late August by YouGov and the Economist expect a civil war to break out within the next ten years.

Bill Schneider is an emeritus professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and author of “Standoff: How America Became Ungovernable” (Simon & Schuster).