Sunday 11-13-11

A Majority of Democrats Seldom or Never Go to Church, Says Gallup

A majority of Democrats—52 percent—say they seldom or never go to church, according to Gallup data published Monday.

That result is based on Gallup’s daily tracking polls conducted between June 1 and Aug. 31 of this year.

In addition to the 52 percent of Democrats who told Gallup they seldom or never go to church, another 20 percent said they go to church nearly weekly or monthly, and 27 percent said they go weekly.

On Oct. 28, Gallup reported that its daily tracking polls between June 1 and Aug. 31 showed that 38 percent of Republicans said they seldom or never go to church, while 21 percent said they go to church nearly weekly or monthly, and 40 percent said they go weekly.

When asked by Gallup what their religious denomination was, 19 percent of Democrats said they had none, while 9 percent of Republicans said they belonged to no religious denomination.

Democrats are less religious than the typical American and Republicans are more religous, according to Gallup’s data. Overall, 15 percent of Americans told Gallup they had no religious denomination. Also, overall, 46 percent of Americans told Gallup they seldom or never went to church, while 20 percent said they went to church nearly weekly or monthly, and 33 percent said they went weekly.

Gallup defines “Democrats” in its polling analysis as “those who either identify as Democrats or who identify as independents but say they lean toward the Democratic Party.” Similarly, it defines “Republicans” as "those who either identify as Republicans, or who identify as independents but say they lean toward the Republican Party.”

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/majority-democrats-seldom-or-never-go-church-says-gallup