• 491 of the 535 members of Congress say they’re Christian.
• A majority of Americans approve of “faith-based” initiatives, but only 38% would allow tax money to go to mosques or Buddhist temples.
• Since 2003, the number of Americans who feel that President Bush “mentions faith and prayer too much” has doubled.
• In 1999, then-governor of Texas George W. Bush protested Wiccan soldiers worshipping at Fort Hood, saying, “I don’t think witchcraft is a religion.”
• After a Hindu priest offered an invocation in the House of Representatives in 2000, the Family Research Council protested that religious freedom “was never intended to exalt other religions to the level that Christianity holds in our country’s heritage.”
• Somali taxicab drivers were fined $219 when they stepped out of their cars to pray toward Mecca at the Cleveland airport.
• Earlier this year, residents of Southampton, New York, sued a Hasidic family living next to a Catholic church for violating zoning laws with their religious gatherings.
• In 2003, then-secretary of education Rod Paige said that “[A]ll things being equal, I would prefer to have a child in a school where there’s a strong appreciation for values, the kind of values that I think are associated with the Christian communities.”
• In 1989, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger warned Catholics against mistaking yoga’s “pleasing sensations” for “spiritual well-being.”
• The Texas Constitution forbids religious tests for public officeholders, so long as they “acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being.”
• In 2000, Texas governor Bush declared June 10 “Jesus Day” in the state.
