Based on a substantial survey of 22,000 adults from across the country, new polling from the Public Religion Research Institute on Christian nationalism confirms that Christian nationalism is strongly linked to voting for Republicans, higher church attendance and white evangelical Protestant affiliation. But not for everybody. The poll finds that a substantial percentage of Black and Hispanic Americans are Christian nationalists. It also finds that Black people who identify as Christian nationalists diverge politically from their white and Hispanic counterparts.
Black people who identify as Christian nationalists diverge politically from their white and Hispanic counterparts.
Christian nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that seeks to merge American and Christian identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy. Many, but certainly not all, people who espouse Christian nationalist beliefs often believe that America was founded as a Christian nation, that it is a providential nation in history and, most important, that Christianity should have a prominent, if not pre-eminent, place in American life. Christian nationalism, in many ways, is an instantiation of state religion.
The PRRI poll breaks down the intensity of Christian nationalist beliefs by defining those with such leanings as either “sympathizers” or “adherents.” The poll finds that roughly 3 in 10 white Americans (20% Sympathizers, 10% Adherents), roughly 3 in 10 Black Americans (21% Sympathizers, 12% adherents), roughly 3 in 10 Hispanic Americans (20% Sympathizers, 9% adherents ) and roughly 3 in 10 multiracial Americans (19% Sympathizers, 8% adherents) qualify as Christian nationalists.
While there is not much deviation among these groups’ support of Christian nationalism, PRRI’s polling shows us two divergent political stories about Black Americans vs. Hispanic and white people with regard to Christian nationalism. White Americans…
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