America’s New Religious Divide Explodes

Washington — The phrase “Christian nationalism” has rapidly moved from academic debate into mainstream American life, reflecting a country increasingly divided over the role of religion in public power.

A new Pew Research Center survey released Thursday found that 59 percent of Americans are now familiar with the term — a dramatic 14-point increase from just two years ago. Yet greater awareness has not translated into broader acceptance. Instead, many Americans appear deeply uneasy about what the movement represents.

According to the survey, 31 percent of respondents who recognized the term said they viewed it negatively, while only 10 percent expressed support.

The findings arrive at a moment of intensifying political and cultural polarization, with religion once again emerging as a volatile force in American public life. Pew reported that 37 percent of Americans now believe religion is gaining influence in the United States — the highest level recorded in nearly a quarter century.

Even so, a majority of Americans, 61 percent, still say religion is losing its influence overall. The contradiction underscores the complicated place faith occupies in a nation simultaneously more secular, more polarized and more anxious about identity than at any point in recent memory.

The divide is especially stark along political lines.

White evangelical Protestants remain among the strongest supporters of religion playing a larger role in government and national identity. Democrats, meanwhile, overwhelmingly reject the blending of church and state, viewing it as a threat to pluralism and democratic norms.

The debate has been further inflamed by President Donald Trump’s aggressive embrace of “religious liberty” policies during his return to the White House. His administration recently launched a Religious Liberty Commission and a federal task force aimed at combating alleged anti-Christian bias — moves celebrated by conservative activists but criticized by opponents as an attempt to privilege Christianity within American civic life.

Public opinion appears conflicted. About 17 percent of Americans now support formally declaring Christianity the nation’s official religion, up modestly from 13 percent last year.

At the same time, resistance to direct religious involvement in electoral politics remains overwhelming. Nearly eight in ten Americans oppose churches endorsing political candidates from the pulpit.

The tensions are expected to intensify further ahead of a major prayer festival scheduled at the National Mall in Washington, where conservative Christian groups are preparing to rally around themes of faith, nationalism and American identity.

Scholars caution that the term “Christian nationalism” is often used loosely, encompassing everything from cultural nostalgia for America’s Christian heritage to more extreme visions of religious supremacy.

Still, the Pew data suggests a broader reality taking hold across the country: Americans are becoming more aware of the growing fusion between religion and politics, even as many remain wary of its consequences.

The debate now cuts to one of the oldest and most unresolved questions in American life — how far religion should shape a nation built on both faith and pluralism.

(Pew Research Center, Christianity Today, Washington Post, OSV News)