Search

Prior research found that Christian nationalism, a belief that integrates Christian identity with American national identity, was associated with more negative views toward marginalized groups, such as religious minorities. Relatively less known is the relationship between Christian nationalism and attitudes toward atheists. Specifically, even less is known about whether or not Christian nationalism that is above individuals at the macro, geographic level may influence individual views of atheists. Using nationally representative multilevel data, this study found that higher individual Christian nationalism was associated with more negative views toward atheists. No robust state‐level Christian nationalism influence was found for anti‐atheist attitude. However, Blacks, relative to Whites, were less likely to view atheists negatively in states where Christian nationalism was higher. Meanwhile, in states where Christian nationalism was higher, Black Protestants were less prejudiced against atheists compared to Evangelical Protestants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to the internationalization of survey methodology by discussing a case from a totalitarian state, the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2020, GAMAAN (The Group for Measuring and Analyzing Attitudes in Iran) conducted an online survey on religion. The survey had 50,000 participants, around 90 percent of whom lived in Iran. This article discusses the result that, after weighting, 8 percent identified as Zoroastrian—many times the number of Zoroastrians as recorded by scholarship on Iranian Zoroastrianism. We dub this phenomenon "Survey Zoroastrianism" and offer an explanation for this finding. After describing the position of Zoroastrianism in modern Iran and adding two further online surveys conducted by GAMAAN in 2022, we discuss the Survey Zoroastrians' demographics and their religious and political views. The analysis shows that participating in surveys beyond the government's control provided affordances for performing alternative identity aspirations tied to notions of nationalism and civilizational heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While posited as a unified ideology, Christian Nationalism (CN) actually contains two distinct views of what it means to be a "Christian Nation"—one which envisions a Christian civil society separate from the profanities of politics, what we call "Religious Traditionalism." The other envisions a Christian federal government where power is wielded exclusively by ethno‐religious insiders, or "Christian Statism." Multiple waves of two national surveys confirm that current measures of CN contain these two factors, which have become increasingly divergent in the past 20 years. In addition, we find that Christian Statism predicts nativism, Islamophobia, anti‐Semitism, and racial distrust while Religious Traditionalism, in most instances, predicts the opposite. Historically, Religious Traditionalists have always sought to influence civil society and focused mainly on family/sexual issues. But a different brand of CN has emerged, wherein all federal and state authority should rightfully and exclusively belong to Christian Statists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent debates about whether educators should teach America's racist history have sparked activism and legislation to ensure students are taught American history in such a way that promotes "patriotism," amplifying cherished national myths, emphasizing American exceptionalism, and erasing negative historical facts. Building on insights from both social dominance theory and Christian nationalism research, we propose Christian nationalism combines legitimizing myths that whitewash America's past with authoritarian impulses and thus seeks to enforce "patriotic" content in public school classrooms. We also theorize this connection varies across racial, partisan, and ideological identities. Data from a nationally‐representative survey of Americans affirm Christian nationalism is by far the leading predictor Americans believe "We should require public school teachers to teach history in a way that promotes patriotism." This association is consistent across race (possibly due to divergent meanings of both "Christian nationalism" and "patriotism" across groups), but varies by partisanship and ideological identity for whites. Specifically, Christian nationalism brings whites who identify with the ideological and political left into complete alignment with their conservative counterparts who are already more likely to support mandatory patriotic education. Our findings provide critical context for ongoing battles over public‐school curricula and education's role in perpetuating social privilege. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious right leaders often promulgate views of Christianity's historical preeminence, privilege, and persecution in the United States that are factually incorrect, suggesting credulity, ignorance, or perhaps, a form of ideologically motivated ignorance on the part of their audience. This study examines whether Christian nationalism predicts explicit misconceptions regarding religion in American political history and explores theories about the connection. Analyzing nationally representative panel data containing true/false statements about religion's place in America's founding documents, policies, and court decisions, Christian nationalism is the strongest predictor that Americans fail to affirm factually correct answers. This association is stronger among whites compared to black Americans and religiosity actually predicts selecting factually correct answers once we account for Christian nationalism. Analyses of "do not know" response patterns find more confident correct answers from Americans who reject Christian nationalism and more confident incorrect answers from Americans who embrace Christian nationalism. We theorize that, much like conservative Christians have been shown to incorrectly answer science questions that are "religiously contested," Christian nationalism inclines Americans to affirm factually incorrect views about religion in American political history, likely through their exposure to certain disseminators of such misinformation, but also through their allegiance to a particular political‐cultural narrative they wish to privilege. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article lists editors of the periodical along with information on membership, copyright and photocopying, and table of contents.

Employees of the Norwegian Church Abroad (NCA) avoid discussing politics. Understanding why increases sociological understanding of how everyday and nonextreme forms of religion may contribute to everyday and nonextreme forms of national feeling. This article leverages insights from studying the NCA in order to contribute to the sociological literature on everyday nationalism and religion. It does this by illustrating how the microsociological strategies of silence and avoidance contribute to imagined sameness. This increases our understanding of how everyday belonging draws resources from both nation and religion. Furthermore, it highlights the interactions between religion and nation as both resources for belonging and grounds for difference. The findings are based on interviews with 32 employees in six churches in the United States, and supporting observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]