When it comes to God, minority Democrats have more in common with the GOP than with their own party

Chris Field Dep. Managing Editor 

For years, the Republican Party has tried to convince minorities in the U.S. that when it comes to their faith, the GOP is a better fit for them than the Democratic Party.

Research repeatedly has shown that black and Hispanic voters, who skew Democratic in their politics, tend to be far more religious than their white Democratic counterparts. Yet they remain largely loyal to a party that repeatedly stands in opposition to their religious beliefs — a party that even went so far as to boo when its leadership attempted to insert a mention of God into the party platform at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Now, a recent report from the Pew Research Center has confirmed what the GOP has long claimed: Nonwhite Democrats have much more in common with Republicans than Democrats when it comes to the faith they hold so dear.

What did the study say?

As expected, white Democrats were significantly less likely than Republicans to believe in God. While 95 percent of GOPers said they believed in God or a spiritual force, just 78 percent of white Democrats said the same.

However, nonwhite Democrats were just as likely as Republicans to espouse a belief in the Almighty. In fact, nonwhite Democrats were slightly more likely than nonwhite Republicans to say they believed in God as described in the Bible.

And when it comes to denying the existence of God altogether, white Democrats are more than four times more likely than nonwhite Democrats to say they don’t believe in a higher power.

Also, minority Democrats are far more likely to align with the GOP when it comes to views on whether God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving.

Commitment to faith

This data isn’t a huge surprise to poll takers, conservatives, or party leadership. And as Pew pointed out, it’s right in line with other research on the importance of religion and the political parties’ commitment to faith.

A 2014 Pew study found that nonwhite Democrats are about as likely as Republicans — and nearly twice as likely as white Democrats — to attend church at least once a week.

And while a hefty majority of nonwhite Democrats’ pray daily and say religion is very important in their lives — at a rate identical to Republicans — only a third of white Democrats consider religion to be important.