In recent days, there's been another round of heated dialogue within the Left about perceived slights against both religious and nonreligious liberals.

Hopefully, this round will lead to additional understanding, since we need a strong religious-nonreligious coalition to best stand up to the fringe fundamentalists of the conservative movement.

Forging that coalition is something I discussed in Wait! Don't Move To Canada!, as a way to defuse charges that liberals are hostile to religion.

But I also wrote:

...there are an equal amount of voters who attend services at least weekly as there are voters who seldom or never go. It is true that regular churchgoers trend Republican and the "seldom of never" group trends Democratic, but that means you could just as easily say Republicans have a "secular problem."

That was written before the 2006 midterm elections.

Now, the GOP "secular problem" is far more severe.

Eschaton recently called attention to the Pew exit poll from the midterms.

Which found that the Democrats' lead has widened to massive proportions among those who attend church seldom (now at 60%-38%) or never (67%-30%).

While the Republican lead weakened among those who attend services weekly (now just 53%-46%).

(Democrats also opened up a big lead among the little discussed swing group, those who attend church monthly.)

Republicans are failing to be competitive among the secular (defined broadly), while Democrats are being competitive among the religious.

In turn, the Republicans have a secular problem.

As noted earlier on the LiberalOasis Wire in the right-hand column, Frameshop warns that:

Republican consultants ... are again telling their clients to attack Democrats as "anti-religious" ... preparing to launch smear after smear to sell the idea that religious folks in America are under attack.

The improved 2006 poll numbers should not make Dems let down their guard. Poll numbers can always change.

A prominent religious-nonreligious coalition -- based on shared principles, not phony pandering or craven capitulation -- is still needed to neutralize those expected attacks.

But those attacks will do nothing to solve the Republicans' secular problem, and may very well make it worse.