The 2020 US Census, released late last year, shows religion is taking a beating in the middle of the country. Comparing the number of religious adherents in 2020 and 2010 reveals an interesting pattern that illustrates the political significance of the changing religious landscape: Democrats are gaining ground in areas where religion is fading (according to the population not listed by any religious organization in that area). district), and Republicans are increasing their share of the vote in places where houses of worship are gaining new members.

When people think of where religion is in decline, they are most likely pointing to regions like the Pacific Northwest or New England. But the fall in adherents in these parts of the country is rather modest compared to other parts of the United States.

In the industrial Midwest, former Rust Belt states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania that are absolutely essential to the Democratic firewall in 2024 have good news for the party—each of these states is far less religious today than it was just 10 years ago. . many years ago.

For example, out of Michigan’s 83 counties, 65 saw a decline in the number of religious adherents between 2010 and 2020. In densely populated Oakland County, which covers Detroit’s northernmost suburbs, the share of people affiliated with a religious congregation has dropped by two percent in the previous decade. . This drop in share coincided with a rise in Democratic wealth: President Joe Biden won the district with 108,000 votes, more than double Barack Obama’s lead eight years earlier. Oakland County points to a future where Democrats have an easier path to victory as churches, synagogues and mosques continue to empty.

Another example is Bucks County in suburban Philadelphia. The fourth most populous county in Pennsylvania, it can often be seen like a leader for national political currents. In 2012, Obama captured Bucks County by a narrow margin of just one percentage point. In 2020, Biden won by 5 points. The proportion of the county affiliated with a religious congregation fell nearly 18 percentage points between 2010 and 2020—by far the largest drop among a populous county in the state.

But that doesn’t mean Republicans have no reason to hope for a religious census.

There are 67 counties in Florida, and in forty-nine of them the number of believers has grown. One of the real shocks on Election Night 2020 was how poorly Biden performed in Miami-Dade, which Clinton won by a wide margin in 2016. Just four years after Clinton beat Trump by nearly 30 percentage points, Biden ended up just seven points better than Trump. . The religious census gives an idea of ​​why this happened. In 2010, about 40 percent of Miami-Dade County residents were affiliated with a religious group. In 2020, it was 52 percent.

Miami-Dade is something out of the ordinary. There are 16 counties in the United States with a population of at least two million people. Eleven of them were less religious in 2020 than ten years ago. In only one city did religion increase by at least 10 percent—Miami-Dade. The possibility of Democrats gaining ground in Florida in the 2024 election seems like a pipe dream when you consider how full meetinghouses in Miami are now compared to just a decade ago.

Another shift in American religion that could work against the Democrats has taken place in the state of Texas. While pundits have long believed that Texas will turn blue in the next decade, the census of religions throws cold water on such an assumption.

In many counties close to the Mexican border, religion has made great strides between 2010 and 2020. captured national headlines in 2020, Zapata County was predominantly Hispanic. Clinton scored 44 points in 2016 while Biden only outscored Trump by 11 points in 2020. The religious census shows that the proportion of Zapata County that was part of a congregation was 31 percent in 2010. Just 10 years later, she has grown up. to 65 percent – the number of adherents of religion has doubled in less than a decade. Other border counties, such as Maverick and Starr, have also more than doubled in religiosity by 2020. Nearly 90 percent of Starr County residents voted for Obama in 2012. In 2020, Biden only managed to score 52 percent.

It goes without saying that the surge in religiosity in many counties in Florida and Texas is closely related to the increase in the number of Hispanic immigrants in these parts of the country. Democrats showed real weakness with Hispanic voting in the last few election cycles, especially in areas where religion has a huge impact. Survey data shows that recent immigrants to the United States report very high levels of religious attendance and prayer frequency, which predisposes this group to cultural conservatism.

Messages about transgender rights and expanded access to abortion do not resonate with such voters. Walkthrough six-week abortion ban and Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill could be a strategic GOP move that would not only make Florida and Texas even more red states, but could infiltrate Arizona, a state that was critical to Biden’s 2020 victory. Adherence to the religion has grown in four of the five most populous counties in the state, including Phoenix’s Maricopa County, which saw more than 300,000 new adherents of the religion between 2010 and 2020.

The general message that emerges from the census of religions is that Democrats will continue to gain ground in white-dominated suburban areas where religion is losing its size and importance. In so-called “Blue Wall” states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, Republicans will have a harder time winning over voters in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Detroit, or Philadelphia by spreading the word about a six-week abortion ban. On the other hand, shifts in the religious landscape increase the likelihood that the Republican Party will be able to contain the Democratic advance in important states like Texas and Florida. As more Hispanic immigrants arrive in areas that are deeply religious and culturally conservative, Democratic pronouncements on social issues will not appeal to such voices.

It is difficult to overestimate this moment. In 1990, only seven percent of Americans were non-religious—30 years later, the number of “non-religious” quadrupled. another new data indicates that nearly half of Generation Z has no religious affiliation. In 2020, 46 percent votes cast for Biden came from non-religious voters. That could easily make up half of his base in a re-election bid. Both sides have been slow to respond to this changing religious landscape. Where the remaining religious Americans live and vote is a key issue for the election map in 2024 and beyond. Both sides ignore this changing dynamic at their peril.

Here are the meanings of the least found words used in recent Times articles:

1. carioca – version of samba, or music for it:

Wireless connection carioca, or baile funk, a flamboyant rhythm that emerged in the 1980s in Rio de Janeiro’s predominantly black working-class neighborhoods, is the soundtrack of choice at these gatherings, where sound systems often play the genre’s signature tamborzão beat. — Can the Brazilian pop star enter the US market? Anita says yes. (April 7, 2022)

2. callaloo – A Stewed Caribbean dish from greens, tomatoes, onions and salt:

This collection of recipes establishes a more comprehensive legacy of American cuisine that can be recognizable to all: America of jollof rice and ata din din; cheese grits, callaloo and greens; with Jerk spices, curry powder and ginger-garlic puree. — Best Cookbooks of 2022 (December 13, 2022)

3. avocet – a long-legged bird with an inverted beak:

My grandmother, a passionate ornithologist, passed on her love to me. meeting Avocets and stilts were a marvelous mystery for the first time. — I’m haunted by what I saw in the Great Salt Lake (March 25, 2023)

4. loggia – covered outdoor gallery or room:

The site in Trastevere identified as the oldest synagogue in Rome is a modest brick house with a small arched vault. loggia on the narrow cobbled street Vicolo dell’Athlete, 14 – not classical, but medieval.” — Rome, sacred land for almost 3,000 years and it continues (May 1, 2023)

5. cloaca – an opening at the end of the digestive tract, found in many animals:

This cloaca: a multifunctional outlet, named after the Latin word for “sewer”, through which certain animals, including a whole menagerie of modern birds, reptiles, amphibians and even some mammals, can defecate, urinate, copulate and/or discard their offspring or eggs. — Finally in 3-D: the universal dinosaur hole (January 19, 2021)

6. lobolly – fast growing pine, growing in the southeastern United States and often used to make cardboard:

Worse, the crash had spectacular visuals – McIlroy with a mop deep in the spiny forest, so far from the 10th fairway that the broadcast cameras could hardly find him in the maze. lobolly pines. — Rory McIlroy confident ahead of Masters likely to miss final (April 7, 2023)

7. cirri — thin cloud or antennae on an animal:

Later, I learned that even shells contain an edible piece, which can be obtained by biting off the leathery stem of the animal and plucking out the feathered part. cirri from inside the stone-hard shell of the shell.— Wet Climbing Green Wonderland (June 2, 2005)

8th. secular – secular:

If only two subcultures (Christian-Democratic and Communist) participated in the competition, Italian politics would be highly polarized. The existence of a thirdsecularbelonging to neither the Catholic nor the Marxist faith and embodied in half a dozen smaller parties, acts as an indispensable bridge or balancer. — Politics as Spettacolo (November 8, 1987)

9. raffia – a kind of palm tree or its fibers, from which baskets or clothes can be made:

Among them were 30 wicker chairs – mostly antique, with delicately spaced legs and spindly backs – that were decorated by the brand’s creative director Jonathan Anderson in collaboration with several artisans. One was covered with lilac-green felt, the other with loops raffia in Funfetti shades. — Top 10 things we saw at Salone del Mobile (April 27, 2023)

10 bacilli – rod-shaped bacteria:

“The CIA’s plan was to sprinkle the inside of the suit with a fungus that causes Madura’s foot, a disabling and chronic skin disease, and infection of the suit with tuberculosis. bacilli in breathing apparatus,” the document says. — Assassin’s Toolkit: When Guns Aren’t Enough (March 17, 2018)

And a list of the easiest words of the week: