The Nones, the Nons and the Buts

The current Congress has more "nones" than ever before; the Church, on the other hand, has more "buts."

When members of the 113th Congress took their seats last January, they became the most ecumenical gathering of that body since its beginning. It includes the first Buddhist to serve in the Senate, the first Hindu to serve in either chamber and the first member to officially and publicly describe her religious affiliation as "none." Ten other members of the 113th Congress did not specify a religious affiliation, up from six members of the previous Congress. Religion-wise, those 10 plus the one who said "none" all fall into a category demographers label the "nones."

The Pew Forum, which tracks these things, says that for the most part, the religious diversity of the Congress roughly mirrors trends in the country as a whole. The congressional nones, however, are an exception. They comprise only 2 percent of Congress, and that's low compared to the general population, where the religiously unaffiliated, lumped with nonbelievers, comprise about 20 percent of the population.

As a category,...