The US Constitution does not mention Christianity or any specific religion. The Declaration of Independence proclaims that people’s rights come from a “Creator” and “Nature’s God” – but does not specify who that is.
Yet a large number of Americans believe the Founders intended the United States to be a Christian nation, and many believe it should be one.
Such views are particularly strong among Republicans and their white evangelical base. Such views are already being expressed by Donald Trump’s supporters as part of his bid to win back the presidency.
The idea of a Christian America means different things to different people. Pollsters have found a broad circle of Americans who share general sentiments in favor of God and country.
But within that group is a smaller, hardcore group that also checks other boxes in polls — like that the U.S. Constitution was inspired by God and that the federal government should declare the United States a Christian nation, advocate Christian values or stop imposing the separation of churches. and the state.
For those who hold this set of beliefs, it is more likely that they will hold unfavorable views of immigrants, reject or downplay the impact of anti-Black discrimination, and think that Trump was a good or great president , according to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey.
The latter group reflects a movement broadly called Christian nationalism, which merges American and Christian values, symbols, and identity and seeks to privilege Christianity in public life.
The idea of a Christian nation addresses Americans’ need for an origin story, a belief that “we came here for something special and that we are here for God’s work,” said Eric McDaniel, associate professor of government at the University. from Texas.
This creates a sense of “national innocence,” so adherents resist confronting the uglier aspects of American history, he said.
This belief is linked to other beliefs past and present, from the doctrine of Manifest Destiny that justified continental conquest to Trump’s slogans America First and Make America Great Again, said McDaniel, co-author of “The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics.”
Trump echoed some of these ideas, promising to ban immigrants who “don’t like our religion.”
Many conservatives and Republicans adhere to the idea of Christian national origins, although many reject the label “Christian nationalist.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson proclaimed that America is and was founded as a Christian nation and that Thomas Jefferson was “divinely inspired” in writing the Declaration of Independence, according to a sermon from 2015 who gained wider attention with his recent election to the presidency. .
WallBuilders, an organization that Johnson credits with having a “profound influence” on him, released documents claiming that “revisionist” historians had downplayed America’s Christian origins, but the group was widely criticized for its historically questionable claims.
A lawsuit on his behalf challenges the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s refusal to air its on-bus ads touting its founders’ purported beliefs.
Trump supporters have described the current policy as a spiritual war for the destiny of a country that former Trump aide Steve Bannon described as the “New Jerusalem” and that conservative activist Charlie Kirk said was founded by “courageous, Bible-believing Christians.”
Recent Republican Party platforms in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky proclaim that the country was founded on “Judeo-Christian” principles.
The Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, said he does not identify as a Christian nationalist, but believes 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, others 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.”
But he added “there is a case to be made that the Judeo-Christian faith was the foundation of our laws and many of our principles.” He cited founder John Jay — the Supreme Court’s first chief justice — saying it was the duty of Americans “in our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their leaders.”
Jeffress said he does not believe America is favored by God but, as with any nation, “God will continue to bless America as we follow Him.”
Anthea Butler, chair of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said history precludes any idea of a Christian nation.
“That’s not to say that Christians weren’t involved in the founding of this nation,” said Butler, a historian of African American and American religions. “What that means is that if you believe that America is a Christian nation and you subscribe to Christian nationalism within that framework, you are buying into a myth.”
This idea of America as a Christian nation is “a trope of exclusion,” she said, centering American history on white Anglo-Saxon Protestants as “those who want and should lead the country to both then and today.”
This justifies viewing others as “heathens,” including enslaved Black people and Native Americans whose lands were taken.
Those who argue for a Christian America are generally not historians and don’t really talk about history — they talk about politics, said John Fea, author of the 2011 book “Has America Been founded as a Christian nation?
“They are appealing to a false view of the founding, or at least a partial view of the founding, to advance the political agendas of the present,” said Fea, a history professor at Messiah University, a Christian university in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. “These programs have a very weak historical foundation. »
Belief in America’s Christian origins is dominant.
Six in 10 American adults said the Founders wanted America to be a Christian nation, according to a 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center. About 45% believe the United States should be a Christian nation. Four in five white evangelical Protestants agreed with each statement.
In some ways, Democratic President Joe Biden could be placed in this category, citing the importance of his Catholic faith and calling for God’s blessings on America and its troops – but also invoking shared values ”whether you are a Christian, that you are Jewish.” , Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist or any other faith, or no faith at all. »
A third of American adults surveyed in 2023 said God wanted America to be a promised land for European Christians to set an example for the world, according to a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI)/Brookings report.
Such investigations revealed that this was a smaller and more ardent group of believers in the Christian nation. In another survey, PRRI identified about 10 percent of Americans as the most engaged members.
The Constitution prohibits any religious test for holding office, and its First Amendment prohibits the establishment of any religion by Congress, while guaranteeing the free exercise of religion.
Christian nation advocates may point out that several of the original 13 states originally funded Protestant churches, although within a few decades all had followed Virginia’s lead in ending the practice. They may cite the Christian rhetoric of some founders, such as John Jay, Patrick Henry, and Samuel Adams.
But several key founders will never pass the test of orthodoxy. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin considered Jesus a great teacher but not God.
“Could you find any material in which John Adams talks about religion as the foundation of the republic, as George Washington said in his farewell address? Fea asked. “Are there states where Christianity has been favored? Yes, you can find all these things. You can also find evidence that the Constitution wants to keep religion and government separate.
Some secular activists today hold an opposing view: America’s founders sought to ban religion from public life. Fea said that also went too far: “When it comes to the 18th century, nuance and complexity are key,” he said.
Associated Press religion coverage receives AP support collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
