"Like their congregants, religious leaders have sharply divided themselves along political lines."

"Leaders and congregants of Unitarian and African Methodist Episcopal churches are overwhelmingly Democratic, as are those of Reform and Conservative Jewish synagogues. Those of several Evangelical and Baptist churches are overwhelmingly Republican. If religious denominations were states, almost all of them would be considered 'Safely Democratic' or 'Safely Republican,' with relatively few swing states."

From a NYT piece (with informative graphs) on the party registration of the clerics* in various Christian and Jewish denominations and the corresponding party affiliation of their congregation.

I'd like to see some graphs showing the numbers of people who stay away from organized religion because it's too political or too much like politics. It's horrible to have to sit reverently and passively through a sermon that instructs you on the political issues of the day.

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* The NYT used the word "pastors" to refer generically to the priests, ministers, and rabbis, but that sounds Protestant-centric to me. I chose "clerics," even though that seems to be the go-to word only when speaking of Muslims, who aren't included in the study. The original meaning of "pastor" is shepherd, evoking Christianity. "Cleric" connotes scholarship; "pastor," tending to the flock. There's also "minister," connoting service.