Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) last summer proudly proclaimed, “I am a Christian and I say it proudly, we should be Christian nationalists.” Now a new study shows the majority of Republicans agree with her extremist view – while less than three in ten Americans overall support that belief.
The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), “a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public policy,” and the Brookings Institution surveyed over 6000 Americans, asking them their thoughts on these five critical statements:
“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.”
“Researchers found that more than half of Republicans believe the country should be a strictly Christian nation, either adhering to the ideals of Christian nationalism (21%) or sympathizing with those views (33%),” NPR says, reporting on PRRI’s survey.
But overall, just 29% of Americans hold Christian nationalist beliefs.
NPR explains that “only 10% of Americans view themselves as adherents of Christian nationalism and about 19% of Americans said they sympathize with these views.”
For those wanting to dismiss the results as just some fringe elements of the GOP, PRRI’s massive report is titled, “A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture.”
PRRI warns that the “rising influence of Christian nationalism in some segments of American politics poses a major threat to the health of our democracy.”
In Congress, it’s not just Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Freedom From Religion Foundation compiled a list of dozens of Members of Congress and eight U.S. Senators it says are Christian nationalists or hold Christian nationalist sentiments who voted not to certify the 2020 presidential election, and detailed some of their statements supporting the belief. Barely weeks after the January 6, 2021 insurrection FFRF published a press release stating the organization “believes it is also important to call to account the Christian Nationalist views of most of the 147 disruptors inside Congress who voted later that night to deny the will of the voters.”
PRRI’s survey also “examines how Christian nationalist views intersect with white identity, anti-Black sentiment, support of patriarchy, antisemitism, anti-Muslim sentiments, anti-immigrant attitudes, authoritarianism, and support for violence.”
RELATED: Texas GOP Rep. Hires Christian Nationalist Who Wants to Execute Drag Show Attendees
In a webinar last week (below), PRRI and Brookings delved into the report, at one point noting that Christian nationalists were the most likely to say they would resort to violence “in order to save our country.” As this screenshot shows, 40% of Christian nationalists completely or mostly agree, compared to just 16% of the entire nation.
PRRI has also published a lengthy video explaining the survey, and posted some graphics to social media. See them above and below, or at this link.
Image via Shuttterstock