About two-thirds of Americans reject or are skeptical about Christian nationalism despite its rising influence in shaping education, immigration, and healthcare policies, a new survey from the nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found.
Seven of 10 Americans that were surveyed said they reject (30%) or are skeptical (37%) of Christian nationalism.
In California, New York, and Virginia, more than 75% of respondents said they reject or are skeptical of Christian nationalism.
In five deeply red states, at least 45% of respondents said they were adherents or sympathizers of Christian nationalism: North Dakota (50%), Mississippi (50%), Alabama (47%), West Virginia (47%), and Louisiana (46%).
Republicans (55%) are more than twice as likely as independents (25%) and three times more likely than Democrats (16%) to hold Christian nationalist views, the PRRI survey found.
Many Christian nationalists believe the federal government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation, U.S. laws should be based on Christian values, and that God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.
Christian nationalist views have ranged from calls for more religion in public schools to book bans and even suggestions that democracy should die, Axios noted.
"This once-fringe ideology has become prevalent in some deeply red states at a time when the nation overall is increasingly diverse and less religious," Axios notes.
White evangelical Protestants are the most supportive of Christian nationalist views, though they are also popular among Hispanic Protestants and Latter-day Saints, according to the survey, NPR noted.
Christian nationalists are likely to applaud a recent decision of the Alabama Supreme Court, which ruled that frozen embryos have the same legal protections as people.
Other policy priorities for Christian nationalists include restrictions on abortion access, LGBTQ rights, and strict immigration limits. PRRI also found they are about twice as likely as other Americans to believe political violence can be justified, NPR noted.
Majorities of two religious groups hold Christian nationalist beliefs: white evangelicals (66%) and Hispanic evangelicals (55%). Both groups are strong supporters of former President Donald Trump, other polls have indicated.
Those who support Christian nationalism have become a defining feature of Trump's political movement, according to Robert P. Jones, PRRI's president and founder and author of the recent book, "The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future."
The PRRI American Values Atlas survey was conducted March 9 to Dec. 7, 2023. The poll is based on a representative sample of 20,799 adults (age 18 and older) living in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., who are part of Ipsos' Knowledge Panel.
The margin of sampling error is plus-0.82 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample.
Peter Malbin ✉
Peter Malbin, a Newsmax writer, covers news and politics. He has 30 years of news experience, including for the New York Times, New York Post and Newsweek.com.
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