Photo by Patrick Fore

One recent poll from a progressive organization found that 75 percent of Christians don’t trust the Democratic Party. In 2024, Christian voters supportedDonald Trump by a nearly two-to-one margin, while 84 percent of atheists and 78 percent of agnostics lean toward the left. The partisan divide in the United States is increasingly a religious one, largely stemming from the Democratic Party’s alienation of Christian voters. However, a growing interest in religion among young people suggests that progressives need to change their approach. To reverse their estrangement from the faithful, Democrats need to invest in understanding the importance of religion in Americans’ lives.

For a long time, it appeared that moving toward secularism would be a winning political strategy for the left. However, it now seems that the reports of Christianity’s death had been greatly exaggerated. Members of Gen Z are more likely to regularly attend church than their Millennial counterparts, Bible sales are booming, and the share of people who identify as non-religious has stopped increasing. That last point is particularly bad news to a secular Democratic Party, as it means it must increase its outreach to the nearly two-thirds of Americans who are Christian rather than hoping they die out.

The much-talked-about shifttoward the right among young people is social, not just political. The militant atheism championed by the progressives of the mid-2000s is more likely to be mocked than embraced by young people, who view it as self-aggrandizing and preachy. To be conservative or religious is rebellious in a liberal and secular culture. Gen Z Christians are open about wanting their faith to influence public policy, so cultural issues will continue to play an important role in future elections.

Some Democrats are catching on to this trend. Rep. Eric Swalwell is making the rounds on Christian podcasts, and Texas State Rep. James Talarico recently made headlines for his appearanceon the Joe Rogan Experience. However, their approach has largely consisted of adapting secular talking points rather than actually trying to reach the faithful. For example, Talarico claimed that there is “no historical, theological, biblical basis” for Christian opposition to abortion.

This is not an honest engagement with faith and ends up isolating the very people Democrats should be trying to reach. Christians may be receptive to Democrats when they talk about helping immigrants or the poor, but they would be immediately turned off by such a perversion of scripture. Instead of selling Democrats as a party guided by faith, Talarico showed how inept the left is at talking about religion.

This ineptitude stems from a decades-long history of the Democratic Party intentionally distancing itself from religion. Democrats have been abandoning Christian voters since the late 20th century, thinking it was a sustainable political decision. Churchgoing rates began declining in the 1980s, and belief in God followed shortly after. Democrats embraced the task of appealing to the group of people who left organized religion, leaving Catholics and evangelicals to the then-ascendant Christian right. It increasingly supported policies at odds with Christianity, and atheists expanded their influence in the party. In the most extreme cases, progressives mocked Christians as backwards thinkers who held onto their traditions simply because they feared change.

As a result, social issues such as abortion became partisan in a way they were not before. In 1998, 42 percent of Democrats identified as pro-life, compared to 54 percent of Republicans. Today, that breakdown is 12 percent to 77 percent. There once was a place for pro-life Democrats, such as the late Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey. However, the leftward drift of the party forced his son, former Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey Jr., to adopt pro-choice views.

This trend can clearly be seen with the Democratic Party’s loss of the Catholic voting bloc. In 1960, when John F. Kennedy ran for president, three-quarters of Catholics supported him. However, Joe Biden received barely half of the Catholic vote in 2020. Both men were Catholic, but only one was able to energize those who shared his faith. Catholics were a significant portion of the New Deal coalition, but now they are mostly ignored by the Democratic elite. Today, a majority of Catholics identify with the Republican Party, including 61 percent of White Catholics and 35 percent of Hispanic Catholics. Even then, Hispanic Catholics are shifting right as well.

The few religious groups that do support Democrats are a result of more complex reasons. Black Protestants support Democrats because of historic outreach to the Black community, Muslims shifted left after 9/11, and American Jewish voters tend to be more socially liberal. It’s worth noting, though, that Orthodox Jewish voters are overwhelmingly Republican.

For the Democratic Party to reclaim the faithful after decades of eroded trust, it must first rediscover a sense of moral purpose. This means being more welcoming to those who oppose abortion, think men don’t belong in women’s sports, and believe religion should shape how people live their lives. Democrats must recognize that church is more than a social club and that Christianity is not an archaic belief system. Rather than decrying every appeal to faith as an example of “Christian Nationalism” or “blurring the line between church and state,” they should try to understand why people want their faith to influence public policy.

If Democrats improve their ability to discuss faith, it will encourage Republicans to do the same. The GOP has become content with being the default choice for many Christians, leading to weaknesses that could be easily exploited by liberals with good standing among the faithful. Some examples include the White House’s embrace of prosperity gospel televangelist Paula White, the frequent hypocrisy of conservative politicians, and Republicans’ tendency to cherry-pick which issues on which they appeal to scripture.

The United States has always been a majority-Christian nation. Even as churchgoing rates and public expressions of faith have declined, most Americans still feel some connection to religion. Isolating Christian voters was a political misstep by the Democratic Party, and one that cannot be reversed by empty platitudes or promises. Faith remains a powerful political force, and if Democrats wish to appeal to Christians, they need to be more welcoming of their beliefs.

The post Are Democrats Losing Gen Z Over Faith? appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

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