Blurring lines between church & state

Is there a separation between church and state? It’s not in the Constitution, but it is in the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This is known as the establishment clause, the opening lines of the First Amendment. Yet “In God We Trust” is minted on our coins, and prayers to God are invoked by political figures. So I feel it’s safe to say we accept some gray in separation of church and state. No one is trying to say it’s “their God” that we’re referring to, after all. Or are they? Let me introduce you to Christian nationalism. Their tenets, beliefs and actions most definitely take aim at undoing the separation of church and state in the name of Christianity.

A group named the Public Religion Research Institute, or PRRI, is an American nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education group that studies groups like Christian nationalists. To measure Christian nationalism, PRRI used a battery of five questions about the relationship between Christianity, American identity and the U.S. government. The questions were first developed for the PRRI/Brookings Christian Nationalism Survey, which was based on data collected in late 2022 and released in a major report in February 2023. Respondents in PRRI’s American Values Atlas were asked whether they completely agree, mostly agree, mostly disagree, or completely disagree with each of the following statements:

• The U.S. government should declare America a Christian nation.

• U.S. laws should be based on Christian values.

• If the U.S. moves away from our Christian foundations, we will not have a country anymore.

• Being Christian is an important part of being truly American.

• God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.

Based on their answers to these five questions, each of the 5,000 respondents were given a composite score on the Christian nationalism scale (with a range of zero to one) and then assigned to one of four groups:

• The Christian Nationalism Adherents (score .75-1) make up 10% of Americans.

• The Christian Nationalism Sympathizers (score .50 - .74) includes 20% of Americans.

The other two groups, Skeptics & Rejectors, make up the remaining approximately 60% of Americans. PRRI further reports that Republicans (55% of respondents) are more than two times as likely as Democrats (16% of the study) to hold Christian nationalist views. Of those with favorable views of Trump, 55% qualify as Christian Nationalists, as opposed to 15% who approve of Biden.

And Christian nationalists are more likely than others in America to see political struggles through the apocalyptic lens of revolution and to support political violence.

Commentators say that Christian-associated support for Right Wing politicians and social policies, such as legislation related to immigration, gun control and poverty, is best understood as Christian nationalism, rather than evangelicalism per se. Some current politicians who either identify or support Christian nationalism are Majorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Ron DeSantis.

In the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the term “Christian nationalism” has become synonymous with white Christian identity politics, a belief system that asserts itself as an integral part of American identity overall. And many Christian nationalist groups support the “seven mountains of culture or prayer,” which are business, arts/entertainment, media, government, family, education and religion. Groups that have had significant influence in these areas include Moms for Liberty, the Utah Parents Coalition and groups that evolved from pandemic “parental rights” groups into book-banning organizations. Examples of these include US Parents Involved in Education (50 chapters), No Left Turn in Education (25) and Parents’ Rights in Education (12).

So pay attention to upcoming elections and candidates’ religious beliefs. Because the separation between church and state is a First Amendment right but is getting thinner by the day. Please vote.

– Tim Thomas, Durango