A report from a recent Pew Research Center poll found that two-thirds (66%) of Republicans believe in God “with absolute certainty,” compared to only 41% of Democrats. Further, 48% of Republicans also said that religion is “very important” in their lives, and 52% that they pray daily. On the Democrat side, 28% described religion as “very important” and 35% said that they pray daily. That’s quite a contrast (You can read more about this at: https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/12/07/data-republicans-two-times-more-likely-be-religious-than-democrats/). Commenting on this, Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for Biblical Worldview at the Family Research Council, said, “There’s no doubt that political beliefs shape religious beliefs.”
That’s an interesting take, but the truth is actually exactly the opposite. A person’s religious beliefs shape their political beliefs, not the other way around. A person’s most basic beliefs are their worldview beliefs – which are inherently based on faith. Their political beliefs emerge out of that.
A worldview is defined as the assumptions people make about the nature of reality. There are some very important implications that emerge out of this definition.
The first implication has to do with the fact that a worldview is a set of “assumptions.” An assumption is a belief, not a verifiable empirical fact. That is, it is a faith position (or put another way, a religious belief). Beyond that, it is a set of beliefs that are, for most people, completely unconscious – they are assumed to be true without the felt need to even have empirical verification.
The second important implication is that a person’s worldview defines the way they understand the structure of reality – what is real vs. what is fantasy. There is a way reality is actually structured, and it is not structured any other way. In fact, beliefs about reality that are not true are, literally, a fantasy. It is for that reason, for most people, their worldview beliefs are assumptions. And it is completely unimaginable to take something seriously that you consider to be a fantasy.
With that understanding, it is now possible to more fully evaluate the findings of the Pew Research polling. Why is it that there is such a divide between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to belief in God?
As it turns out, the platforms of the two parties are based on two entirely different worldview (belief) foundations. The platform of the Republican party is based on Christian Theism (biblical beliefs), while that of the Democrats is based on Naturalism (atheistic beliefs). This does not mean that all Republicans necessarily consider themselves Christians, nor that all Democrats consider themselves Atheists. We are not talking here about religious self-identification, but rather about the worldview beliefs that are foundational to the party platforms. It is quite possible, even common, for many Republicans to follow some faith other than Christianity, and for many Democrats to self-identify as Christian – all this, while at a worldview level affirming a political party platform that is inconsistent with their religious self-identification. And that’s exactly what the polling shows.
The particular Christian sourced beliefs that Republicans tend to identify with include:
- Priority of the individual
- Freedom of conscience
- An objectively real basis for law
- An objective basis for morality
- God deeming human life as holding ultimate value
- Equality of opportunity
- An impartial judiciary
- Equal justice under the law
The particular Naturalism sourced beliefs that Democrats tend to identify with include:
- Priority of the collective
- Implementation of “the greater good” in society over the individual
- Law based on people’s opinion concerning contemporary circumstances
- Morality based on relativism
- Human life being naturally evolved, and being no more important than any other life form
- Equality of outcome
- A judiciary guided by political considerations
- Justice guided by “the greater good”
So just what do we see here? What we see are two different political philosophies that are based on two different worldview foundations. And since the worldview foundations are faith positions, it makes perfect sense that the majority of people who identify with the different political parties would have different views of God. Again, that is exactly what the polling shows.
The truth is, naturalistic worldview beliefs simply do not reflect reality. Naturalism can be defined as the belief that the natural universe, operating by natural laws, is all that exists – that is, it is atheistic. To begin with, there is no science able to back that up. It is a religious belief. And the values that naturally flow from it are the ones listed above that guide Democrat political policy.
Ultimately, non-real (fantasy) beliefs result in false values and political policies that end with the destruction of the individual and society. It is only when true beliefs are the foundation of individuals and society that order and prosperity are possible.