Christian nationalism is a cultural and political framework that treats the United States as a Christian nation by founding and destiny, and uses public policy to advance that identity. It is distinct from personal religious practice — a person can be devoutly Christian without holding Christian nationalist views, and vice versa.
Sociologists Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry, drawing on national survey data, identify three persistent features: pursuit of political power to enforce Christian primacy, boundary-drawing that codes real Americans as native-born white Christians, and regulation of gender and sexual norms through law. PRRI''s 2023 American Values Atlas found about 30 percent of Americans qualify as Christian nationalist sympathizers or adherents by these measures.
The framework is contested both inside and outside Christianity. Many Christian denominations and clergy explicitly reject the conflation of national identity with religious identity, and the Baptist Joint Committee runs an interfaith campaign called Christians Against Christian Nationalism arguing the position misreads both the First Amendment and Christian theology.
Christian nationalism is the religious wing of contemporary GOP coalition politics, shaping debates over abortion, school curricula, immigration, and election law. Understanding it as a measurable political identity — not just personal faith — clarifies what is actually being argued about when policy fights invoke Judeo-Christian heritage or religious liberty.
People often conflate Christian nationalism with Christianity itself. PRRI data and sociological research show many Christians actively reject the nationalist framework — the disagreement runs through religious communities, not between them and secular Americans.
Christian nationalism is the religious wing of contemporary GOP coalition politics, shaping debates over abortion, school curricula, immigration, and election law. Understanding it as a measurable political identity — not just personal faith — clarifies what is actually being argued about when policy fights invoke Judeo-Christian heritage or religious liberty.
People often conflate Christian nationalism with Christianity itself. PRRI data and sociological research show many Christians actively reject the nationalist framework — the disagreement runs through religious communities, not between them and secular Americans.