Christian nationalists get so much attention that it’s important to focus on the majority of Americans who completely or partially disavow the ideology, sociologist Ruth Brunstein said.
“The Trump administration has made both symbolic and institutional gestures toward enshrining a vision of society that the network of organizations promoting Christian nationalism seek,” said Brunstein, professor of sociology at John Hopkins University and author of Religion and Progressive Activism: New Stories About Faith and Politics. She spoke during a webinar hosted by Public Religion Research Institute.
Ruth Brunstein
Brunstein was the guest of PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman for a conversation about the organization’s new study, “Resistance to Christian Nationalism in All 50 States,” released Sept. 24.
Brunstein said it is crucial that people working to counter Christian nationalism nationally and in local settings know they are not alone and actually are in the majority of Americans who want to live in a pluralistic democracy.
Signs of that trend include a number of progressive Christian political candidates, like Democratic U.S. Senate candidates James Talarico of Texas and Adam Hamilton of Kansas, who are forcefully condemning Christian nationalism in their campaigns, she said. “We can get a sense of what kinds of coalitions can be brought together around more moderate ways of expressing faith in the public sphere that say it’s great to bring faith into a conversation about what kind of a society I want, but it is not OK to say that my faith is the only one that is right or appropriate and can be used as a way to dominate others.”
PRRI has been tracking Christian nationalism since 2022 by regularly polling Americans on their views of the relationship between faith, government and national identity, Deckman said.
Respondents are considered to be Christian nationalists if they believe the government should declare America a Christian nation, believe laws should be based on Christian values, believe the nation will be lost if it strays from Christian values and believe God has called Christians to exert dominion over all facets of American life.
Christian nationalism as embodied by President Donald Trump is such a winner-take-all, mean-spirited expression of faith that it has come to increasingly alienate Americans, including some conservative Christians, Brunstein said.
“For some white Christians who are not Christian nationalists, it’s something that is really off-putting, not to mention the dire threats it poses to liberal democracy.”
PRRI’s research found in 2025, 27% of Americans described themselves as rejecters of Christian nationalism, meaning they passionately disagree with every sentiment of the movement. Another 37% came in as Christian nationalism skeptics, meaning they mostly disagree with its tenants but with less intensity than rejectors, Deckman explained.
That compared to 11% identified as adherents of the movement and 21% who described themselves as sympathizers of Christian nationalism.
Other highlights of the latest study:
- The share of Americans rejecting Christian nationalism dropped three points since 2022 while the share of sympathizers ticked up two percentage points. However, this movement is statistically insignificant.
- Among religious people, non-Christians are the most likely to be rejecters or skeptics of the ideology.
- Majorities of Christians either reject or are skeptical of Christian nationalism. Up to 71% of Hispanic Catholics, 62% of white Catholics, 61% of white Mainline Protestants and 60% of Orthodox Christians reject or are skeptical of Christian nationalism.
- 82% of Democrats and 72% of independents self-report as Christian nationalism rejecters, compared to 40% of Republicans — a group much more likely to identify as adherents or sympathizers, at 56%.
- 89% of political liberals and 79% of moderates reject Christian nationalist values, versus 43% of conservatives, most of whom (54%) identify as adherents or sympathizers.
- “The younger you are, the more resistant you are to Christian nationalism, and the higher your education level, the more resistant you are to Christian nationalism,” Deckman said.
- Christian nationalism rejecters make up majorities in all but four states: Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
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