Myth of the Moral Majority

[peristaltor]

Something I've mentioned before has, it seems, been further clarified by Mother Jones:

The emperor's-new-clothes flimsiness of these widely accepted exaggerated numbers says much about the cold calculation of far-right religious leaders. Moral Majority and Focus on the Family have happily staked their clout on coreligionists who never knew they were being counted—often twice or three times—among the faithful for political ends. "The idea that evangelicals are taking over America is one of the greatest publicity scams in history," Wicker concludes, "a perfect coup accomplished by savvy politicos and religious leaders, who understand media weaknesses and exploit them brilliantly."

. . . Part of the problem is that the national-level journalists who control the discourse tend not to be, nor have they ever been, committed religionists as adults. Newsrooms are determinedly secular, and self-consciously so. Afraid of being tagged as godless liberals, most journalists would never dream of calling BS on believers. (Emphasis mine)

Yes, folks, there aren't nearly as many in the God Squad as they would like you to believe. Let's see that graph I posted once again:



Ah. Pretty.

Addendum, June 4, 2008: Looks like this info is going mainstream!

Thanks to richie73.