List of US Senators, Religion? Options

[Kato]

List of current United States Senators

This page lists the current US Senators in a table. The list includes name, party, term details and so on as one would expect. But the list also prominently includes Religion???

So we learn that one Senator is a Presbyterian, one a Methodist, a few are Mormons etc etc.

Since when were US politicians prominently defined by their views of the Spirit World?

[gomi]

Since when were US politicians prominently defined by their views of the Spirit World?

Piperdown is right, since forever. I remember as a teenager, looking at some list of Presidents and noting that Richard Nixon, of all people, was a Quaker. A "Reform Quaker", if memory serves, which I suppose is the kind of Quaker that can bomb Cambodia, somewhat more pernicious than, say a Reform Jew who loves Angles on Horseback (T-H-L-K-D). Why are there no "Reform Catholics"? I guess they're Atheists. But I digress.

Kato, while it is a perhaps uniquely American habit to judge the religiosity of our politicians, a throwback to our Puritan forebears, surely you haven't forgotten the palaver over whether Tony Blair (T-H-L-K-D) was secretly Catholic? And the "I told you so"s in some circles when, shortly after he stepped down as PM, when he in fact converted to Catholicism. For those who don't follow the minutia of Brit politics, had he been Catholic at his ascendance to Prime Minister or during his term there would have been a major crisis. British PMs must be CoE. How's that for "concern about views of the spirit world"?

[Kato]

Kato, while it is a perhaps uniquely American habit to judge the religiosity of our politicians, a throwback to our Puritan forebears, surely you haven't forgotten the palaver over whether Tony Blair (T-H-L-K-D) was secretly Catholic? And the "I told you so"s in some circles when, shortly after he stepped down as PM, when he in fact converted to Catholicism. For those who don't follow the minutia of Brit politics, had he been Catholic at his ascendance to Prime Minister or during his term there would have been a major crisis. British PMs must be CoE. How's that for "concern about views of the spirit world"?

I don't remember any palaver over whether Blair was secretly a Catholic, to be honest. I could see it would be of interest regarding negotiations in Northern Ireland but can't imagine it creating a big crisis in Britain.

A google search throws up a couple of small articles written over a year after Blair left office, but that's about it.

PMs don't have to be CofE at all. Gordon Brown wasn't. Thatcher wasn't. Nor was Harold Wilson.

Michael Howard, who opposed Blair in the 2005 election was Jewish. Current PM Cameron is a nominal CofE I believe, but says his policies are "not faith-driven". The other party leaders are declared atheists, including deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.