According to the "Freedom Forum" website from which the above image has been captured, "there is no clean and tidy definition of Christian nationalism." Nonetheless, the Freedom Forum website suggests that the following factors are all associated with "Christian Nationalism."
- The government should take steps to keep the country’s Christian roots and identity intact.
- The government should advocate Christian values and pass laws and enact policies that reflect those values.
- The separation of church and state is not a formal law that should be followed.
- God’s plan is for the U.S. to be a successful nation based in Christian ideals.
Wikipedia has its own definition of "Christian Nationalism" (without any bullet points), as shown below:
Christian nationalism supports the presence of Christian symbols in the public square, and state patronage for the practice and display of religion, such as Christmas as a national holiday, school prayer, the exhibition of nativity scenes during Christmastide, and the Christian Cross on Good Friday. Christian nationalism draws political support from the broader Christian right, but not exclusively, given the broad support for observing Christmas as a national holiday in many countries.
Those interested in thinking about "Christian Nationalism" might also want to review what PRRI says about this subject. "PRRI" stands for "Public Religion Research Institute," and PRRI has a definition of "Christian Nationalism" that does employ bullet points:
- 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.
You might notice that the definition of "Christian Nationalism" being used by PRRI seems to have a more "totalitarian" flavor than either the Wikipedia or the "Freedom Forum" definitions. Of particular concern (at least to me) is the suggestion that the United States government should "declare America a Christian nation." I also find the idea that "God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society (emphasis added)" to be a rather ominous thought.
Anyone who has done any research into the Bill of Rights will probably remember the very first line of the First Amendment (see below). The United States Constitution would not have been ratified had the Bill of Rights not been incorporated into the Constitution. In other words, we live in the United States of America today only because the First Amendment was made part of the Constitution, and that first line of the First Amendment says this:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof....
For those wondering why I have decided to discuss "Christian Nationalism" in this blog posting, let me say that I am doing so only because one of my Facebook Friends sent me an unexpected note, thanking me for my daily blog postings, which he proclaimed to be "more than relevant" to those interested in "public policy and comparative government." Along with that very nice comment, my Facebook Friend also sent me a link to a 2024 PRRI Report, with the following title: "Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI’s 2023 American Values Atlas." I believe that there is no paywall to prevent you from reading the PRRI survey, which I have just linked. It finds, among other things, that:
- Roughly three in ten Americans qualify as Christian nationalism Adherents or Sympathizers.
- Residents of red states are significantly more likely than those in blue states to hold Christian nationalist beliefs.
- At the national level, Christian nationalism is strongly linked to Republican party affiliation and holding favorable views of Trump.
- Christian nationalism is strongly linked to evangelical/born-again identity and frequent church attendance.
- Christian nationalists are more likely than other Americans to see political struggles through the apocalyptic lens of revolution and to support political violence.
- While there is little variation in support for Christian nationalist beliefs by race or ethnicity alone, Christian nationalist beliefs are refracted through racial and ethnic identity, which produces divergent political outcomes among white, Hispanic, and Black Americans.
There is considerable more detail in the PRRI Report, and it is well worth reviewing. My question, having read the report, is how we can reestablish a consensus that recognizes "religion" as something that is absolutely protected, so that every individual in the United States is freely able to believe and to worship exactly as that individual pleases (or doesn't worship - and let's not forget that).
From the beginning, the United States of America has been founded upon the principle that it is absolutely forbidden to use the mechanisms of democratic self-government to interfere with anyone's religious practices or beliefs, either to "establish" a religion, or to mandate that certain religious practices or beliefs be made either mandatory, or forbidden.
That's a M.A.G.A. thought I fully embrace: Let's hear it for the First Amendment! Let's Make America Great Again!
Te Christian Scientists used to be exempt from vaccine mandates. During Covid, ALL religious exemptions were denied. Christian means a lot of things, nationalism the least of them.
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