As far as terms go, Christian nationalism may be a relatively new one, but it defines a political phenomenon that has deep historical roots. Though nationalism and religious identity often go hand-in-hand, Christian nationalism specifically refers to the ideological belief that the faith should play a central role in government policy.
In the United States, the phrase has gained traction in recent years, especially amid right-wing backlash to COVID-19 lockdown policies. In a new paper at the Social Forces journal, Joshua B. Grubbs and Samuel L. Perry argue that Christian nationalism is effectively “the religion of White identity politics.”
Citing previous work, the authors pointed out that white Americans who tend to view “their own racial group as ‘prototypical Americans’” are more likely than their nonwhite compatriots to back “anti-minority policies.”
Drawing on that, Grubbs and Perry expanded on existing literature that links white identity and Christian nationalist views among white Americans. White Christian nationalists, they wrote, often support political candidates and policies that “preserve the racial status quo,” along with all its inequities, or ones they feel protect the interests of white people.
When it comes to nonwhite Americans, on the other hand, recent research suggests that Christian nationalism, in fact, tamp down “racial consciousness and solidarity,” Grubbs and Perry explained.
The pair utilized survey data based on a series of questions about religious identity, race, and the relationship between Christianity and the US system of governance. For instance, they asked respondents whether the US was part of “God’s plan,” and whether the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were the products of divine inspiration.
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In the end, the study found that its assumption was correct: Christian nationalism among white Americans is, in effect, a form of white identity politics. The authors explained that, when they feel under threat, white Americans who adhere to Christian nationalism “potentially evoke a sense of racial threat” and could also “support candidates and policies who will better serve” what they view as the interests of white people.
For nonwhite American, however, the authors concluded that “the association was either non-existent, or, in the case of Black Americans, Christian nationalism was negatively associated with their belief that it was important for Black Americans to work together to change laws unfair to Black Americans.”
Grubbs and Perry noted that some iterations of Christian nationalism view themselves as essentially “color blind,” while arguing that it is more accurate to view the ideology among white Americans as an implicit comment on to whom the nation belongs and “whose identity and values” deserve the most attention.
On top of that, Christian nationalism can also serve as a cloak white identity politics, allowing its white adherents to altogether deny that race is a factor in the political ideology.
Future research, they suggested, should probe whether a slump in individual religiosity coincides with “the racialized connotations of Christian nationalism … becom[ing] even more pronounced.”
Top photo: US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a self-described Christian nationalist, speaks at a Turning Point USA event in 2023 (Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons)
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