Aloha Oy! or Whatever happened to separation of church and state?

I just know that each and every one of you has been on pins and needles until you know the religious affiliation of each and every one of the 435 members of the U.S. Congress. I can feel it in my bones. Well, you need not wonder any longer, bloggers, thanks to the people at BuzzFeed! They have produced a fascinating array of information consisting of 15 maps and a list that will provide you with what you’ve been longing for.

Okay, so it isn’t exactly Four Weddings and a Funeral, but it’s something.

The maps answer the burning question, “What Religion Does Your Member of Congress Identify With?”

I have never in my life asked myself the question, “What Religion Does My Member of Congress Identify With?” Have you?

The first map contains 14 colors that represent 14 “religions”:

1. Anglican/Episcopalian
2. Baptist
3. Buddhist
4. Catholic
5. Hindu
6. Jewish
7. Lutheran
8. Methodist
9. Mormon
10. Muslim
11. Other Christian (more on this category below)
12. Presbyterian
13. Unitarian
14. Unspecified/None

Following the kaleidoscopic map are 14 other maps showing each of the 14 categories separately against a grey background.

Oh, joy! Oh, delight! Not.

More like “Yawn.”

If you can’t get enough of semi-interesting trivia, though, after the fifteenth map is a list showing the names of all members of the current (113th) U.S. House of Representatives by religious affiliation religious preference religious political expediency religious delusion religion. The broad category “Other Christian” from the maps is further broken down in the list into:

1. Assemblies of God
2. Christian
3. Christian Reformed
4. Christian Scientist
5. Congregationalist
6. Churches of Christ
7. Church of God
8. Disciples of Christ
9. Eastern Orthodox
10. Evangelical Free Church
11. Fellowship of Evangelical Churches 12. Nazarene
13. Non-denominational Christian
14. Pentecostal
15. Protestant
16. Quaker
17. Seventh-day Adventist
18. United Brethren
19. Unspecified Christian

According to BuzzFeed, “There are 31 religions represented in the House, including 26 different sects of Christianity. Catholics make up the largest group with 136 members, followed by Baptists with 66 members, Methodists with 45 members, Anglicans/Episcopalians with 35 members, Presbyterians with 28 members, and Jews with 22 members. There is only one atheist.”

/sarcasm ON/

It’s good to know that BuzzFeed is looking after our interests, isn’t it?

/sarcasm OFF/

Here are the maps and the list.

You may peruse or ignore the link as you choose. If you are curious about the information, it’s there. If you couldn’t care less, you can pass it by. If you like to look at various colors in odd patterns, be my guest. Are you wondering, though, as I am, why BuzzFeed didn’t bother with the U.S. Senate?

My own feeling is that since there are only 100 Senators in all (two from each state) and only a third of the Senate seats are up for grabs every two years, BuzzFeed couldn’t be bothered. But all 435 representatives are elected every two years, and the people behind BuzzFeed want to inform stir up as much of the populace as possible so that they will vote to throw their particular rascal out based on a reason that should not matter.

The BuzzFeed people should read Article VI, paragraph 3 of the U.S. Constitution immediately.

This just in, complete with individual photographs: Religious affiliation in the United States Senate.