What are the core principles of Christian nationalism in the US?
Executive summary
Christian nationalism in the United States is an ideological current that fuses a particular vision of Christianity with American civic identity and seeks to reshape public life so that Christian symbols, values, and leaders hold privileged status; scholars link it to exclusionary, nostalgic narratives about who "belongs" in the nation and to political movements that press for religiously infused policy [1] [2] [3]. Supporters describe it as preserving America's Christian heritage and moral order, while critics — including religious leaders, legal scholars and security analysts — warn it can erode constitutional separation of church and state, elevate one religious expression above others, and harbor anti-democratic tendencies [4] [5] [6].
1. What proponents say: restoring a Christian civic character
Adherents commonly assert that the United States was founded on Christian principles and that public life should reflect that heritage, seeking policies and cultural norms that they view as consistent with biblical morality; sociologists Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry’s survey work is often cited to describe this outlook as favoring a Christian-infused national identity rather than mere private faith [2] [4]. Some organized streams — such as leaders in the New Apostolic Reformation and related networks — articulate spiritual warfare metaphors and political strategies that cast civic engagement as a divine mandate, and certain high-profile religious influencers have openly aligned with contemporary political movements to advance those aims [7] [1].
2. Core content: fusion of religion, identity and power
At its core Christian nationalism links religious identity to civic belonging: it privileges a specific interpretation of Christianity as central to national identity, endorses public policies that reflect that interpretation, and often supports institutional changes to elevate Christianity in schools, law and government, a definition found across reference works and academic summaries [1] [2] [8]. This fusion can range from cultural advocacy — e.g., promoting Christian symbols in the public square — to institutional proposals that would expand the role of Christian leadership or biblical principles in law, with scholars stressing a spectrum from cultural conservatism to proposals that could conflict with the First Amendment [4] [9].
3. Exclusion, nostalgia and the politics of belonging
Research emphasizes that Christian nationalism frequently carries an exclusionary, nostalgic narrative: it imagines a past in which a particular Christian demographic held cultural primacy and seeks to "take back" the nation from perceived threats, including secularization, immigration, and changing social norms, a dynamic linked in some studies to white Christian nationalist currents [3] [1] [10]. Critics argue this framing can delegitimize religious minorities and the nonreligious and may mask sociopolitical aims under the cover of religious language — a concern reflected in public-opinion research and commentary [10] [11].
4. Institutional concerns and alleged anti-democratic impulses
Security analysts and some scholars warn that elements within Christian nationalist thought adopt dominionist theologies that seek power over civil institutions, and that fringe plans for incremental seizure of authority—from local to state levels—have been described in policy analyses as threatening pluralist democracy and religious liberty [6] [12]. These warnings are contested: some religious conservatives reject the label "Christian nationalist" and argue media accounts overstate threats or conflate mainstream religious civic engagement with extremism, a dispute reflected in debates among journalists, theologians and political scientists [6] [11].
5. Variants, ambiguity and measuring belief
Scholars note substantial variation within the phenomenon and stress that the label can be ambiguous; instruments like Paul Djupe’s Christian Nationalism Scale attempt to quantify beliefs along a spectrum, while commentators point out that not everyone who invokes Christianity in politics endorses institutional privileging or anti-democratic measures [1] [4]. Academic and journalistic sources therefore treat Christian nationalism as a heterogeneous set of beliefs and practices — from mainstream civic religiosity to more militant, theocratic strains — and caution against simplistic one-size-fits-all descriptions [13] [11].
6. Where the debate leads: theology, law and civic norms
The argument about Christian nationalism blends theology, constitutional law and cultural politics: defenders frame their aims as moral restoration compatible with the First Amendment, while opponents — including religious leaders who describe the movement as a distortion of the Gospel — call for preserving religious freedom and resisting sacralized politics that cast opponents as enemies [4] [14] [5]. Reporting and research point to an urgent civic question: how to distinguish legitimate religious civic engagement from efforts that would privilege one faith in law and practice, a distinction that remains contested across the sources [2] [10].