During the last election year I discussed with some Jews the support that Obama gets from the Jewish community in the U.S. One is himself befuddled at their support of him but says he refuses to donate to funds on Obama's behalf and also stopped his subscriptions to Jewish newspapers and newsletters because of their misdirected political stances.
I was lead to study the liberal Jews and am still studying the origins of their embracement of socialism. It seems to originate with their upbringings and a seeming mistrust of Republicans, perhaps their mistrust of the far right religions. I still wonder how Jews can embrace leftist government given the results of Nazi Germany (right-wing nationalist socialism - well, the left must be better, no?).
One conclusion I have not yet come to but am open to is the possibility that American Jews may think Israel is a goner in the long run and that the U.S. can be converted into a "New Israel."
Against this, I undertook a study of the religious makeup of the U.S. Congress. I broke it down by religion and in the case of Protestants, by denomination.
There are 26 Jews in the House, 25 are Democrats and 6 of those are Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members. In the Senate, 10 of the 12 Jews are Democrats, the other two being independents, one of whom is the Senate's only DSA member (Bernard Sanders-VT). So, out of 38 Jewish members of Congress, only one is Republican.
Seeing that 12% of the Senate was Jewish, I was lead to see what percentage of the U.S. population was Jewish. The figures vary between 1.3% and 2.8%. Clearly, there is an over-representation there and the House has a 7.3% representation of voting members.
While I was chiefly interested in the Jewish makeup of Congress I found a couple of other interesting trends. In the House of Representatives about one-third of Catholic Democrats are members of the DSA. Also, 14 of 26 Baptist Democrats are members of that organization. In the House, both Muslims are DSA members as are two of three Buddhists. All members of both houses who are members of the DSA, excepting one independent, are Democrats.
Make of all this what you will, but this atheist has no religious axe to grind. However, as a conservative Constitutionalist, I do have a philosophical axe to grind and I believe the religious makeup of Congress points to the origins of what is going on in this country. It is an interesting subject, no doubt.
In my next two posts I will show the breakdown of the religions of both houses of Congress and by individual Representatives and Senators. For immediate reference, here are the general breakdowns.
House of Representatives
General Breakdown:
Anglican (2) Democrat (0) Republican (2)
Buddhist (3) [DSA-2] Democrat (3) Republican (0)
Catholic (135) [DSA-23] Democrat (73) Republican (62)
Christian Science (3) Democrat (0) Republican (3)
Eastern Orthodox (1) Democrat (0) Republican (1)
Greek Orthodox (2) Democrat (1) Republican (1)
Jewish (26) [DSA-6] Democrat (25) Republican (1)
Mormon (10) Democrat (2) Republican (8)
Muslim (2) [DSA-2] Democrat (2) Republican (0)
Protestant (250) [DSA-32] Democrat (87) Republican (163)
Quaker (1) Democrat (1) Republican (0)
Religion Not Stated (5) [DSA-3] Democrat (5) Republican (0)
Vacant Seat (1)
[DSA] Members of Democratic Socialists of America (68)
Senate
General Breakdown:
Catholic (24) Democrat (15) Republican (9)
Greek Orthodox (1) Democrat (0) Republican (1)
Jewish (12) Democrat (1) Republican (0) Independent (2)
Mormon (5) Democrat (2) Republican (3)
Protestant (56) Democrat (23) Republican (33)
Religion Not Stated Democrat (1) Republican (0)
Vacant Seat (1)
[DSA] Members of Democratic Socialists of America (1)
Sources:
C-SPAN 2011 U.S. Congressional Directory
American Socialist Voter 10/1/09 scribd.com
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