Christian nationalists gain influence over US politics -- even as their numbers shrink: analysis

Republican candidates have openly embraced Christian nationalism, but the actual number of Americans who agree with their viewpoint has decreased in the last five years.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has declared herself a Christian nationalist, and Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano claims the U.S. is a Christian nation and that church and state should not be separate, while right-wing activists like Michael Flynn and ReAwaken America tour organizer Clay Clark promote those same ideas -- and research shows their influence is growing even as their numbers shrink, reported the Washington Post.

A pair of sociologists, Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry, examined the percentage of American who agree the federal government should declare the United States a Christian nation, and they found that number grew from 2007 to 2017 from 27 percent to 29 percent, but that number declined over the last five years to about 19 percent.

"Five years isn’t long enough to determine if there’s been a real and lasting opinion shift," wrote the researchers, who co-authored the 2020 book, Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States. "But there’s also no indication that Christian nationalism is exploding in mass appeal."

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Although fewer Americans agree with that core Christian nationalist tenet, possibly in reaction to Donald Trump's polarizing presidency, the authors say its influence on politics may be expanding, especially among older Americans who are more likely to embrace those views -- and show up at the polls.

"Recent experimental research shows when Christian Americans are told their numbers are declining, they respond with a greater commitment to Christian nationalism and Trump support," wrote Whitehead and Perry. "In other words, learning that they are or may soon be a minority pushes them toward extremist beliefs."

In fact, according to political scientists Stella Rouse and Shibley Telhami, most Republicans support declaring the U.S. a Christian nation, and Christian nationalists are running for national, statewide and local offices all over the country, and at least some of them will likely win.

"Though the numbers of those who claim Christian nationalist beliefs may decline," Whitehead and Perry note, "Christian nationalism’s influence in public life only continues to grow."