The majority of Republicans and white evangelicals are sympathetic to Christian nationalism, a new study has found.
The new study offers unprecedented insight into the breadth and depth of Christian nationalism in today’s politics, helping bring clarity to a burgeoning, and growing, movement that has shaped the contemporary Republican Party and raised new questions about religion’s role in today’s politics.
Christian nationalists believe that the U.S. is defined by and should be governed by Christian principles.
The survey was conducted by the Brookings Institute and the Public Religion Research Institute.
It represents the most comprehensive study yet conducted of Christian nationalism.
According to the national survey by the Public Religion Research Institute and Brookings Institution, 29 percent of white evangelical Protestants qualify as Christian nationalism adherents while 35 percent qualify as sympathizers.
More than half of Republicans are classified as adherents, 21 percent, or sympathizers, 33 percent.
About one third of U.S. adults consider themselves Christian nationalists or are largely sympathetic to its tenets.
While a relative minority in today’s politics, the demographic represents a significant share of today’s Republican coalition, with beliefs that have become increasingly present in mainstream conservative rhetoric.
The survey also found that Christian nationalism adherents are nearly seven times more likely than non-adherents – 40 percent versus 16 percent – to agree that “true patriots might have to resort to violence to save our country”.
Among those that support such political violence, 12 percent indicated that they have personally threatened to use or actually used a gun, knife or other weapon on someone in the past few years.
Additionally, half of Christian nationalism adherents and 38% of sympathizers endorse the idea of an authoritarian leader “who is willing to break some rules if that’s what it takes to set things right”.
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