Christian-nation idea fuels U.S. conservative causes, but historians say it misreads founders’ intent
The U.S. Constitution doesn’t mention Christianity or any specific religion. The Declaration of Independence famously proclaims that people’s rights come from a “Creator” and “Nature’s God” — but doesn’t specify who that is.
Yet large numbers of Americans believe the founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation, and many believe it should be one.
Such views are especially strong among Republicans and their white evangelical base. Already such views are being voiced by supporters of Donald Trump amid his bid to recapture the presidency.
The idea of a Christian America means different things to different people. Pollsters have found a wide circle of Americans who hold general God-andcountry sentiments.
But within that is a smaller, hardcore group who also check other boxes in surveys — such as that the U.S. Constitution was inspired by God and that the federal government should declare the U.S. a
Christian nation, advocate Christian values or stop enforcing the separation of church and state.
For those embracing that package of beliefs, it’s more likely they’ll have unfavorable views toward immigrants, dismiss or downplay the impact of anti-black discrimination and believe Trump was a good or great president, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey.
This latter group reflects a movement widely called Christian nationalism, which fuses American and Christian values, symbols and identity and seeks to privilege Christianity in public life.
The idea of Christian nationhood fills Americans’ need for an origin story, a belief that “we’ve come here for something special, and that we’re here for God’s work,” said Eric Mcdaniel, an associate professor of government at the University of Texas.
It creates a sense of “national innocence,” so adherents resist confronting uglier parts of U.S. history, he said.
The belief connects to other beliefs past and present, from the Manifest Destiny
doctrine that justified continental conquest to Trump’s America First and Make America Great Again slogans, said Mcdaniel, a co-author of “The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics.”
Trump has echoed some of these ideas, vowing to bar immigrants who “don’t like our religion.”
Many conservatives and Republicans embrace the idea of Christian national origins, even as many reject the “Christian nationalist” label.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has proclaimed that America is and was founded as a Christian nation and that Thomas Jefferson was “divinely inspired” in his writing of the Declaration of Independence, according to a 2015 sermon that drew wider attention with his recent election as speaker.
Wallbuilders, an organization Johnson credits for its “profound influence” on him, has spread materials claiming that “revisionist” historians have downplayed America’s Christian origins, but the group has been widely criticized for historically dubious claims.
A lawsuit on its behalf is challenging the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s refusal to run its bus ads touting the purported beliefs of founders.
Vocal supporters of Trump have described current politics as spiritual warfare for the destiny of a country that former Trump aide Steve Bannon described as the “New Jerusalem” and conservative activist Charlie Kirk said was founded by “courageous Bible believing Christians.”
Recent Texas, Oklahoma and Kentucky Republican Party platforms proclaim the country was founded on “Judeo-christian” principles.
The Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, said he doesn’t identify as a Christian nationalist, but does believe America was founded as a Christian nation.
“I’m not claiming that all of our founders were Christians,” he said in an interview. “Some were deists, some were atheists, but the majority were Christians. I’m also not saying that non-christians shouldn’t have the same rights as Christians in our country.”