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After Democrats lost yet another election last month this one in a House race near Atlanta the historian Daniel Williams urged the party to confront its religion problem.

That problem centers on a generational and racial divide between a largely secular group of young, white party activists and an older electorate that is more religious and more socially conservative, Williams wrote. Put simply, outside of a few progressive districts, secular-minded young activists in the party are unable to win voters trust.

In yesterdays Times, the historians Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter Onuf offered a surprising suggestion for where Democrats can find a solution to their religion problem: Thomas Jefferson.

To be clear, Gordon-Reed and Onuf arent claiming to be offering political advice; theyre talking instead about broader civic values. But I was struck by the connection between the Jeffersonian values they describe and the Democrats modern-day religion struggles.

Jefferson infused his political philosophy with Christian values, even though he was not a deeply religious man in the traditional sense.

See more here:
Jefferson's Lesson for Democrats - New York Times