Ryan Burge 📊

Some personal news. Starting August 1, I will be joining the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at WashU (@CtrRelPol) as a Professor of Practice. I think it's a perfect step for my career as Senator Danforth envisioned the Center to be a place for public engagement around religion and politics. That's where I see myself headed in the next stage of my career.

The least religious state in the United States is Maine - 55% of people claim no religious affiliation. However, there are six European countries who are more secular: Netherlands Sweden Norway Belgium United Kingdom Iceland

On questions about the Confederate Flag and Civil War Reenactments The gap between white respondents and black respondents is...large.

There's a reason we call that most of the South is referred to as the Bible Belt. The states with the highest concentration of evangelicals are Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas. Very few evangelicals in the Upper Midwest and New England.

Are views of confederate symbols shaped by religious tradition, age, region, or something else? A new free post today. graphsaboutreligion.com/p/the-confeder…

Are Civil War Reenactments a symbol of racism or Southern Pride? I was really surprised to see that strong majorities of every religious group (including atheist/agnostics) thought they were Southern Pride. Most groups are also fine with the Confederate Flag, too.

When Baby Boomers were in early adulthood (18-30 years old): 25% were weekly attenders 14% said that they never attended religious services Among Gen Z now: 19% attend weekly 38% never attend religious services

In 1988: 63% of Americans said, "I know God really exists and I have no doubts about it." 1.6% said, "I don't believe in God." In 2024: 52% of Americans said, "I know God really exists and I have no doubts about it." 5.8% said, "I don't believe in God."

@ryanburge Flawed poll as I don’t see zero weeks as an option.

People were asked at what point in gestation should a woman be allowed to have an abortion. 72% of atheists said it should be permitted after 20 weeks. Only 11% of Southern Baptists agreed with that time frame.

During the earliest days of the pandemic, Pew surveyed Americans about how they were feeling. The group that was the least likely to feel depressed, lonely or anxious: Conservatives who were typically weekly church attenders.

Has greater of acceptance of transgender people been a change for the better or worse? 65% of evangelical say it's been a change for the worse 56% of LDS say the same. There are four groups who say it's been a change for the better: Jews Nones Buddhists Hindus

@AndyYoung46 English is hard. Fixed now.

@ryanburge Very or extremely?

58% of evangelicals and Black Protestants say that the Bible is "extremely important" in their life. It's 48% of Latter-day Saints. Less than 20% of mainline Protestants and Catholics say that they Bible is extremely important to them.

Among people born before 1950: 65% favor the federal government declaring the U.S. a Christian nation. Among people born in the early 2000s: 32% favor the federal government declaring the U.S. a Christian nation.

73% of atheists say that they are ideologically liberal. That's fifteen points higher than any other group. The most ideologically conservative groups consist of Baptists, non-denominationals and members of the Assemblies of God.

The Protestant denomination that loved Donald Trump the most in 2024? Easily the Assemblies of God. He received 88% of their votes. There was only one majority white denomination that clearly favored Kamala Harris: Episcopalians.

The share of Americans who are "cradle Catholics" was 24% in 1972. It was 20% in 2024. In 1972, 2.1% of Americans were people who converted to Catholicism as adults. It was 1.7% in 2024. For comparison, Jews are 1.7% of Americans.

I find it fascinating at what age Republican voters started outnumbering Democrat voters among white people. In 2012, it was around 38 years old. In 2016, it was about 37. In 2020, it was 42 years old. In 2024, it was 40 years old.

What's the issue that really motivates people to cast a ballot for Donald Trump? Is it abortion? Or, is it immigration? graphsaboutreligion.com/p/what-pulls-c…

Among white evangelicals who voted for Kamala Harris: 76% of them favor access to abortion if a woman wants one for any reason. Among white evangelicals who voted for Donald Trump: 27% favor making abortion illegal in all circumstances.