(LifeSiteNews) — On October 17, 2024, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris made headlines after a campaign stop in Wisconsin. Several attendees called out “Jesus is Lord!” while being escorted out of the event. Without missing a beat, Harris interrupted her own remarks. “Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally,” she said to cheers and applause.

It was a throwaway comment but a revealing one — especially because it was instinctive and off the cuff. In fact, new data reveals that the Democrats are increasingly the party of the godless: Nearly 75% of white Democrats go to church less than once a year, and almost 85% attend less than once a month.” A staggering 55 percent of white Democrats identify as non-religious. As political scientist Ryan Burge summed it up: “For every weekly-attending white Democrat, there are six who attend church less than once year.”

In Burge’s recent analysis titled “Democrats have a religion problem,” Burge detailed how wide the “God Gap” has become. “Eighty percent of the people who voted for Donald Trump identify as some type of Christian. It was 48% for Harris voters in 2024,” he noted. “Just 17% of Trump voters identified as atheist, agnostic, or ‘nothing in particular.’ Nearly half of Democrats in 2024 (45%) were non-religious.” This has created a thorny issue for Dems because, as Burge observed, any appeals to faith values now have the potential to turn off as many voters as it attracts.

“But here’s what makes things even tougher for modern Democrats: Their “religion problem” is deeply entangled with race,” Burge wrote. “Essentially, the party now has a large cohort of non-religious white voters alongside a diverse coalition of voters of color who remain deeply religious.” This means that white liberals want socially liberal policies and non-white Democrats … not so much:

For example, 6% of white non-religious Democrats support banning abortion pills by mail, compared with 32% of religious Democrats of color. On whether teachers should obtain parental consent to use new pronouns for children, 27% of white secular Democrats agreed versus 51% of non-white religious Democrats. There’s a 15-point gap on banning out-of-state abortions and a massive 34-point difference on supporting school voucher programs.

Secularization came later to America than other Western countries, and by the numbers at least, it is not yet definitively post-Christian. In the 1970s, Burge observed, over 90% of Americans identified as Christian; today, it is around 60%. As Ross Douthat noted recently, the American trend towards secularization appears to have leveled off. In short, the Democrats need religious Americans to win — but the “God Gap” is increasingly dividing their electoral base.

“It is increasingly difficult to avoid the conclusion that the Democratic Party is the party of ardent secularism,” wrote Andrew Walker, professor of ethics and theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. “If I were an inquisitive Christian who voted for Democrats, it would lead me to ask some important questions, such as: What am I not seeing that so many secularists are?”

“Why are so many of my co-religionists seeing things the exact opposite of me? Am I failing to connect the principles of discipleship to the ethics that inform my voting?”

Walker is right. These numbers highlight the fact that the Democratic Party has long since ceased to be an ethical option for Americans who care about the sanctity of life, the primacy of the natural family, and religious freedom. They also highlight why it is so important for Christians to influence the Republican Party. If the GOP abandons the pro-life movement, there is simply no other available political vehicle to protect pre-born children in the womb. For better or for worse, choice is between a godless party and a divided one.