God’s ‘report card’: Just half of Congress votes in line with Bible
The article discusses a newly launched “Biblical Business Index,” a report card that measures how often members of the U.S. congress vote in alignment with biblical principles. Created by the Christian Employers Alliance (CEA) in collaboration with the Institute for Legislative Analysis (ILA), this tool evaluates lawmakers’ voting records on a zero-to-100 scale based on their adherence to scripture-based values. The index reveals that roughly half of congress scores 50% or higher in biblical alignment, with Republican lawmakers generally ranking higher and Democrats frequently enough scoring lower, including 16 members with a 0% rating.
The index connects modern legislation to biblical teachings, using examples such as the Liberty in Laundry Act, linked to themes of freedom derived from Galatians 5:1. Margaret Iuculano, president of CEA, emphasizes that faith should guide lawmaking and leadership, providing clarity on complex policy issues related to justice, freedom, and human dignity. The tool merges expertise from theologians and policy analysts to navigate the complexity of legislation and its moral implications.
The index also ranks states based on their congressional delegations’ scores, with Wyoming placing first and Vermont last, highlighting significant regional differences. The creators hope the index will influence political processes like redistricting by illustrating where the public’s beliefs and their representatives’ voting records align or diverge. The initiative aims to expand to assess state legislatures in the future.
God’s ‘report card’: Just half of Congress votes in line with Bible
A new “report card” created to chart how often House and Senate members side with God shows that just half of Congress votes with biblical principles sometimes in mind.
The new voter tool from the Christian Employers Alliance, created by the Institute for Legislative Analysis, found that Republicans dominate the top positions in the “Biblical Business Index” and that Democrats overwhelmingly fill out the bottom slots, including 16 with a 0% rating.
“CEA is proud to equip Christian business leaders with a tool built on the ultimate truth — the Word of God,” Margaret Iuculano, the president of the Christian-based business group, told Washington Secrets.
“Our faith is the foundation of how we live and lead, and lawmakers need that same compass as they face complex policies. That’s why we launched the Biblical Business Index — a first-of-its-kind tool bringing together theologians and policy experts to connect Scripture with today’s legislation. Even when the issue is something like regulations, biblical truth provides guidance to discern what upholds justice, freedom, and human dignity,” added Iuculano, whose board includes business leaders from Hobby Lobby and Regent Bank.
The new index identified congressional votes that could be tied to biblical principles.
Take the recently passed Liberty in Laundry Act as an example. The law pulled back Biden-era energy conservation regulations on washing machines. The Bible passage it was linked to focused on freedom, a common theme in the Biblical Business Index. It cited Galatians 5:1 — “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
The index also scored each lawmaker on a zero-to-100 scale based on their alignment with biblical principles and calculated state rankings based on the scores of their delegation. Five Republicans had 100% scores, and among the state rankings, Wyoming was No. 1, with Vermont at No. 50.
Overall, half of the 535 members of Congress scored 50% or better.
CEA’s Center for Biblical Business worked with ILA to develop the new index that will eventually be expanded to cover state legislatures. ILA has its own Limited Government Index that ranks lawmakers based on their support for conservative issues.
Fred McGrath, a senior policy adviser to CEA and ILA’s president, said policy experts and theologians were called on to develop the new report card.
“Oftentimes, the moral and faith-aligned position on bills can be tricky to identify due to the enormous complexity of public policy. That is why CEA launched the Biblical Business Index. Essentially, build the first of its kind system to bring together both policy experts and theologians to help decipher the complex policies and identify the biblically aligned position,” he said.
Referencing the Liberty in Laundry Act, McGrath added, “While of course the Bible doesn’t talk about modern-day issues like washing machine regulations, it does serve as the moral compass on how public policy issues should be approached. Plus, as is evident by the Biblical Business Index, when scripture is examined very closely, a number of modern-day policy issues can be directly linked to specific verses of scripture.”
SEE THE LATEST POLITICAL NEWS AND BUZZ FROM WASHINGTON SECRETS
Iuculano said she hopes the new index will play a role in the widening redistricting effort by state legislatures to redraw House maps.
“Each state sends to Washington representatives who reflect the beliefs of its people. That’s why these rankings provide one of the most accurate pictures of where America stands,” she said. “The contrast is dramatic — over 90% of votes cast by Wyoming lawmakers aligned with biblical principles, compared to less than 1% from Vermont’s delegation. These results underscore why redistricting battles are so critical to the future of our nation,” she added.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
