Americans who affirm Christian nationalism are most likely to live in the South, Midwest and the Great Plains, according to a new survey that defined the term with five specific statements and found that 10 percent of Americans are adherents.
The survey of 22,000 adults by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) also found that 30 percent of white evangelical Protestants are adherents and 36 percent sympathize with it.
The subject of Christian nationalism has been debated often within mainstream media, even though the phrase does not have an established definition.
For the PRRI survey, a person was deemed a Christian nationalist adherent if they believed in five statements:
- “The U.S. government should declare America a Christian nation.
- “U.S. laws should be based on Christian values.
- “If the U.S. moves away from our Christian foundations, we will not have a country anymore.
- “Being Christian is an important part of being truly American.
- “God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.”
PRRI found that 10 percent of Americans are adherents and “overwhelmingly either agree or completely agree with all five statements,” while 20 percent are sympathizers and “agree with most statements in the scale, but they are less likely than Adherents to completely agree.”
Five states have more than 45 percent of residents who are either an adherent or sympathizer: North Dakota (50 percent), Mississippi (50 percent), Alabama (47 percent), West Virginia (47 percent) and Louisiana (46 percent).
“Support for Christian nationalism is strongly correlated with voting for former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election,” an analysis said.
Among Americans who hold favorable views of Trump, 21 percent are adherents and 34 percent are sympathizers. But among those who hold favorable views of President Biden, 4 percent are adherents and 11 percent are sympathizers.
Meanwhile, Christian nationalists are more likely than those who reject it to hold “theological beliefs that are markers of some charismatic strands of Christianity: beliefs about modern-day prophecy, spiritual healing, and the prosperity gospel,” the analysis said.
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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
