Christian Nationalism and Changing American Demographics
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Christian Nationalism and Changing American Demographics
Christian nationalism exists within a United States undergoing substantial demographic, religious, and cultural change. The research collected here examines Christian nationalism alongside the declining share of Americans identifying as Christian, growth of the religiously unaffiliated, increasing racial and ethnic diversity, immigration, generational replacement, and changing understandings of national belonging.
These developments do not establish a simple cause-and-effect relationship between demographic change and Christian nationalism. Instead, the research describes several overlapping processes. Surveys document differences in Christian-nationalist attitudes according to religious tradition, race, age, education, geography, and political identity. Experimental and social-science research separately examines whether perceptions of demographic change or declining group status can influence attitudes about religion, national identity, immigration, race, and political authority.
The evidence also shows that Christian nationalism should not be understood as a completely uniform movement. Similar responses to survey questions can carry different historical, theological, and political meanings among white, Black, Hispanic, and other Americans. Religious traditions, experiences with discrimination, ideas about national belonging, and relationships to political institutions can all shape how Christian language about the nation is understood.
A Changing Religious Landscape
One of the most important long-term changes in the United States has been the decline in Christian identification and the growth of the religiously unaffiliated.
For much of the twentieth century, Christian affiliation was overwhelmingly common in the United States. More recent surveys show a considerably more religiously diverse society. The proportion of Americans identifying as Christian has declined, while the percentage identifying as atheist, agnostic, or having no particular religion has increased.
Religious switching is an important part of this transformation. Many people raised in Christian traditions no longer identify with those traditions as adults. Younger generations are generally less likely than older Americans to identify with Christianity, attend religious services, or belong to religious institutions.
Immigration, fertility, intermarriage, generational replacement, and changing patterns of religious retention also influence the country's religious composition. Researchers therefore caution against treating demographic projections as predetermined outcomes. The future religious landscape depends on multiple social and demographic processes that can change over time.
Christian Nationalism Across Religious Groups
Support for Christian-nationalist ideas varies substantially among religious traditions.
Survey research has found especially high levels among white evangelical Protestants and substantial levels among some Hispanic Protestant populations. Other Christian traditions show different patterns, while non-Christian religious groups and religiously unaffiliated Americans generally report lower levels of support.
Religious participation also matters. Americans who regularly attend religious services, pray frequently, or engage regularly with religious texts tend to express Christian-nationalist attitudes more often than Americans with little or no religious participation.
These findings demonstrate an important distinction between Christianity in general and Christian nationalism specifically. Christian identity encompasses numerous theological traditions and political perspectives. Many Christians reject Christian-nationalist ideas, while other Christians interpret the relationship between Christianity and the United States in different ways.
Race, Ethnicity, and Christian Nationalism
Race is an important but complex part of the research on Christian nationalism.
Early public discussions sometimes described Christian nationalism primarily as a white phenomenon. More recent research shows that Christian-nationalist survey statements can also receive support from some Black and Hispanic Christians. However, scholars caution that identical answers to survey questions do not necessarily represent identical political or historical understandings.
Black Christianity, for example, developed partly within a history of slavery, segregation, civil-rights activism, and struggles for equal citizenship. Religious claims about America's divine purpose can therefore have meanings substantially different from those associated with movements seeking to preserve an established racial or political hierarchy.
Hispanic Christians are also internally diverse. Protestant and Catholic traditions, immigration histories, national origins, generations in the United States, and political identities can affect responses to questions concerning Christianity and American identity.
Research examining Asian Americans provides another dimension. Studies of Christian nationalism and national belonging investigate whether ideas connecting Christianity with authentic American identity can contribute to perceptions that some racial or religious minorities are less fully American.
Together, these findings suggest that Christian nationalism cannot be analyzed adequately through race alone. Race interacts with religion, theology, immigration history, political affiliation, geography, and understandings of citizenship.
Demographic Change and Perceived Status Threat
A substantial body of social-science research examines how Americans respond to information about changing racial demographics.
Experiments have tested whether informing white Americans about projected changes in the country's racial composition affects political attitudes, perceptions of discrimination, racial categorization, or feelings about group status. Some studies have found that demographic projections can increase perceptions of threat or concern among certain respondents.
Other research emphasizes that reactions depend heavily on prior political beliefs, racial identification, and the way demographic information is presented. Demographic change therefore does not produce a single predictable political reaction.
Research specifically connecting demographic change to Christian nationalism investigates whether perceptions that traditionally dominant racial, cultural, or religious groups are losing social influence can strengthen attachment to an idealized Christian national identity.
Within this literature, "status threat" generally refers to a perceived decline in a group's relative cultural, political, or social position. It should be distinguished from direct economic hardship. Researchers continue to debate the relative importance of economic conditions, racial attitudes, religion, partisan identity, cultural conflict, and perceived group status in explaining political behavior.
Immigration and National Belonging
Immigration occupies an important place in debates surrounding Christian nationalism because it raises broader questions about who belongs within the national community.
The United States has become increasingly diverse through immigration as well as demographic change among its existing population. Census projections and population estimates show that immigration can significantly affect population growth, age structure, workforce composition, and racial and ethnic diversity.
Christian-nationalist attitudes are frequently studied alongside views about immigration, refugees, citizenship, border enforcement, and cultural assimilation. Some survey research finds associations between stronger Christian-nationalist beliefs and more restrictive attitudes toward immigration.
At the same time, Christianity itself is being reshaped by immigration. Hispanic Protestants, Hispanic Catholics, Asian American Christians, African immigrants, and Christians from other parts of the world contribute to an increasingly diverse American Christian population.
This creates a significant tension within discussions of Christian national identity. Christianity may remain influential even while the racial, ethnic, denominational, and cultural composition of American Christianity becomes increasingly diverse.
Generational Change
Generational replacement is another major demographic force affecting both religion and national identity.
Younger Americans are more racially diverse than older Americans and are generally less likely to identify with organized religion. Religious non-affiliation is particularly common among younger generations.
Older generations grew up when white Christians represented a much larger share of the population and when formal religious participation was more widespread. Younger Americans have come of age in a society characterized by greater racial diversity, greater religious pluralism, more interfaith families, and a larger population identifying with no religion.
These generational differences contribute to changing debates over the meaning of American identity. Questions that once centered primarily on differences among Christian denominations increasingly include debates over whether Christianity itself should have a privileged relationship with government or national identity.
Generational change does not guarantee a particular political outcome. Younger Americans themselves hold diverse religious and political views, and religious identities can change over the course of a person's life.
Secularization and Institutional Religious Decline
The changing religious landscape involves not only religious identity but also participation in religious institutions.
Long-term surveys document declines in church membership and attendance. The proportion of Americans belonging to a church, synagogue, mosque, or other religious congregation has fallen substantially compared with earlier generations.
Religious-service attendance has also declined across many religious traditions. These trends indicate that institutional religious change is broader than the fortunes of any single denomination.
At the same time, declining institutional participation does not necessarily mean religion has disappeared from public life. Religious language, religious identities, and disputes about religion's political role remain prominent even as formal affiliation decreases.
This creates an apparent paradox: institutional religious participation can decline while political conflicts involving religious identity remain highly visible.
White Evangelical Christianity and Demographic Change
White evangelical Protestants have received particular attention because of their historical, religious, demographic, and political role in the United States.
As a proportion of the overall population, white evangelical Protestants represent a smaller share of Americans than in earlier decades. Generational replacement contributes to this change because younger Americans are more racially diverse and less likely to identify with evangelical Protestantism.
Nevertheless, population share and political influence are not the same thing. A religious group can represent a declining percentage of the national population while remaining highly organized and politically active.
Research on Christian nationalism consequently examines not only population size but also institutional networks, religious participation, geographic concentration, political engagement, and relationships between religious identity and national identity.
Latino Christianity and a More Diverse Christian America
The growth and diversification of Latino Christianity complicates any simple narrative in which demographic change necessarily produces a decline in Christian political identity.
Latinos include Catholics, evangelical Protestants, other Christians, members of non-Christian religions, and religiously unaffiliated people. Their political views are similarly diverse.
Research indicating Christian-nationalist attitudes among some Hispanic Protestants demonstrates that Christian nationalism cannot be understood solely as an effort by white Christians to maintain demographic dominance.
At the same time, scholars find differences between white, Black, and Hispanic respondents in how Christian-nationalist beliefs relate to immigration, political affiliation, racial identity, and national belonging.
The growth of Latino Christianity may therefore reshape American Christian politics rather than simply weaken it.
Religion, Race, and Competing Visions of America
Underlying many of these demographic developments is a broader disagreement about American national identity.
One vision emphasizes Christianity as historically central to the country's institutions, culture, and national character. Within this perspective, demographic and religious changes can raise questions about whether an established cultural identity is being lost.
Another vision emphasizes constitutional religious liberty, pluralism, racial and religious diversity, and citizenship that does not depend on adherence to a particular religion.
There are also positions between these poles. Many Americans regard Christianity as an important cultural or historical influence while rejecting government preference for Christianity. Others identify strongly as Christians while opposing Christian nationalism. Some Americans identify with Christian-nationalist survey statements for theological or historical reasons that differ from the meanings commonly associated with white Christian nationalism.
These competing interpretations demonstrate why definitions are important. Christianity, political conservatism, patriotism, evangelicalism, racial identity, and Christian nationalism overlap in some populations but are not interchangeable concepts.
Geography and Regional Differences
Christian-nationalist attitudes are not distributed evenly across the United States.
Survey research identifies substantial differences among states and regions. Support tends to be higher in several Southern and Midwestern states and lower in many coastal states.
These geographic differences overlap with variations in religious affiliation, race, education, age, urbanization, political identity, and historical patterns of religious culture.
Regional analysis therefore illustrates the difficulty of identifying a single explanation for Christian nationalism. Religious traditions, political institutions, demographic composition, local history, and migration patterns all contribute to geographic variation.
Demographic Projections and Their Limits
Population projections are frequently invoked in discussions about America's demographic future, but projections should not be confused with predictions that must occur.
Future racial, ethnic, and religious composition depends on immigration, fertility, mortality, intermarriage, racial identification, religious switching, and other social processes.
The category boundaries themselves can also change. Multiracial identification has grown, religious identities can shift during a person's lifetime, and concepts such as race and ethnicity reflect social as well as demographic classifications.
For these reasons, statements about a future "majority-minority" America can oversimplify a population in which identities are increasingly complex and overlapping.
The research is most useful when demographic projections are treated as scenarios that illuminate possible trends rather than fixed descriptions of America's future.
Christian Nationalism in an Increasingly Pluralistic Society
The demographic context surrounding Christian nationalism is ultimately a story of increasing pluralism.
The United States includes Christians from numerous racial and denominational backgrounds, members of many non-Christian religions, and a large population with no religious affiliation. Immigration continues to influence both religious and racial diversity, while generational replacement changes the composition of the population.
Christian nationalism represents one response to questions about Christianity, citizenship, political authority, and national identity within this changing environment. Other Christian movements explicitly reject Christian nationalism, and non-Christian and secular Americans offer additional understandings of national belonging.
Research therefore increasingly treats American religious politics as a competition among multiple interpretations of religion and citizenship rather than as a simple conflict between religious and nonreligious Americans.
Conclusion
Changing American demographics provide essential context for understanding contemporary Christian nationalism, but demographic change by itself does not explain the phenomenon.
The United States has experienced a long-term decline in the proportion of people identifying as Christian, growth of religious non-affiliation, increasing racial and ethnic diversity, significant immigration, and substantial generational change. At the same time, Christianity remains a major part of American society, and some Christian populations are themselves becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse.
Research on Christian nationalism shows that attitudes vary across religion, race, age, education, geography, and political identity. Studies of demographic threat further suggest that perceptions of changing group status can influence political and social attitudes among some Americans, although responses differ considerably among individuals and populations.
The resulting picture is therefore more complicated than a straightforward conflict between a shrinking Christian population and a growing non-Christian population. Contemporary debates involve changing forms of Christianity, different racial and religious experiences, competing interpretations of national history, immigration, generational turnover, secularization, and disagreements over what characteristics — if any beyond citizenship — should define who is considered fully American.
Understanding Christian nationalism in this demographic context requires distinguishing Christianity from Christian nationalism, separating population trends from assumptions about political behavior, and recognizing the substantial diversity that exists within racial, religious, and political groups.
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Christian Nationalism, Race, Religion, and Demographic Change
1. Progressive Christian Mobilization and the Discourse of White Christian Nationalism [Progressive Christian Mobilization and the Discourse of White Christian Nationalism | Lauren Horn Griffin, Charles McCrary, and Jelani Ince | Public Religion Research Institute | August 3, 2026] Examines how progressive Christian organizations respond to white Christian nationalism and how competing Christian identities are developing within an increasingly pluralistic country.
2. What Is America? Immigration, National Identity, and Belonging [What Is America? Immigration, National Identity, and Belonging | E. Kyle Romero | Public Religion Research Institute | June 23, 2026] Studies how Americans define national belonging in a country reshaped by immigration and racial, ethnic, and religious diversification.
3. Competing Visions of America at 250: Politics, Religion, and American Identity [Competing Visions of America at 250: Politics, Religion, and American Identity | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | June 17, 2026] Surveys competing understandings of American identity, including disagreements over Christianity, immigration, pluralism, race, and what characteristics make someone “truly American.”
4. How Americans’ Views of the Term Christian Nationalism Are Shaped [How Americans’ Views of the Term Christian Nationalism Are Shaped | Charles McCrary | Public Religion Research Institute | May 15, 2026] Explores what Americans understand by the term Christian nationalism and how religious, political, historical, and social identities influence their reactions to it.
5. How Americans Feel About Religion’s Influence in Government and Public Life [How Americans Feel About Religion’s Influence in Government and Public Life | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | May 14, 2026] Measures public attitudes toward religion in government and Christian nationalism while documenting substantial differences among religious, partisan, and demographic groups.
6. How Christian Nationalism Affects Views on Immigration [How Christian Nationalism Affects Views on Immigration | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | March 30, 2026] Examines relationships between Christian nationalism and attitudes toward immigrants, including important differences among white, Black, and Hispanic Americans who express Christian nationalist beliefs.
7. Mapping Christian Nationalism Across the 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2025 American Values Atlas [Mapping Christian Nationalism Across the 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2025 American Values Atlas | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 17, 2026] Uses more than 22,000 interviews to map Christian nationalism across states and demographic groups, examining differences by race, religious affiliation, age, education, geography, and political identity.
8. Fact Sheet: A Closer Look at Christian Nationalism in Nine States [Fact Sheet: A Closer Look at Christian Nationalism in Nine States | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 17, 2026] Provides state-level demographic profiles showing how Christian nationalist attitudes vary according to religion, race, education, age, and political affiliation.
9. How Christian Nationalist Rhetoric Can Influence Elections Across Race [How Christian Nationalist Rhetoric Can Influence Elections Across Race | Allyson Shortle and Michael R. Fisher Jr. | Public Religion Research Institute | August 12, 2025] Discusses research on how Christian nationalist messages may be received differently by white, Black, and Hispanic Americans rather than operating identically across racial groups.
10. Understanding Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism by Race [Understanding Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism by Race | Michael R. Fisher Jr. | Public Religion Research Institute | June 18, 2025] Compares the relationship between Christian nationalism and authoritarian attitudes among Americans of different racial backgrounds.
11. Why Black Americans Identify as Christian Nationalists: Religiosity, Theology, and History Matter [Why Black Americans Identify as Christian Nationalists: Religiosity, Theology, and History Matter | Ansley Quiros | Public Religion Research Institute | May 14, 2025] Argues that Black identification with Christian nationalist survey statements must be interpreted in light of distinctive religious traditions, theology, history, and understandings of the nation.
12. Christian Nationalism and Hispanic Americans: Unpacking the Data [Christian Nationalism and Hispanic Americans: Unpacking the Data | Anita Huízar-Hernández | Public Religion Research Institute | March 17, 2025] Examines why Christian nationalism cannot be treated simply as a white phenomenon and discusses variations among Hispanic Americans based on religion and other characteristics.
13. Mapping Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2024 American Values Atlas [Mapping Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States: Insights from PRRI’s 2024 American Values Atlas | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 4, 2025] Maps Christian nationalism geographically and demographically, helping show how state populations, religious traditions, education, race, and political identities intersect.
14. One Leader Under God: The Connection Between Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism in America [One Leader Under God: The Connection Between Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism in America | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | September 10, 2024] Examines correlations among Christian nationalism, authoritarian attitudes, religious identity, race, education, and political affiliation.
15. 2023 PRRI Census of American Religion: County-Level Data on Religious Identity and Diversity [2023 PRRI Census of American Religion: County-Level Data on Religious Identity and Diversity | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | August 29, 2024] Maps the changing religious composition of the United States at county level, including Christian groups, non-Christian faiths, and the religiously unaffiliated.
16. Understanding Differences Between Black and White Christian Nationalism Adherents and Sympathizers [Understanding Differences Between Black and White Christian Nationalism Adherents and Sympathizers | Michael R. Fisher Jr. | Public Religion Research Institute | July 3, 2024] Shows why similar answers to Christian nationalism questions can carry different political and historical meanings for Black and white respondents.
17. Views of Christian Nationalism, Christianity’s Place in Politics [Views of Christian Nationalism, Christianity’s Place in Politics | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | March 15, 2024] Surveys Americans about Christianity and government, showing substantial variation according to age, party, religious tradition, and level of religious commitment.
18. A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture [A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 8, 2023] Provides an extensive demographic profile of support for Christian nationalist ideas and compares attitudes concerning race, immigration, religious pluralism, and political institutions.
19. 2020 Census of American Religion: County-Level Data on Religious Identity and Diversity [2020 Census of American Religion: County-Level Data on Religious Identity and Diversity | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | July 8, 2021] Provides detailed geographic evidence of changing American religious demographics, including the shrinking white Christian share and regional growth of religious diversity.
20. America’s Changing Religious Identity [America’s Changing Religious Identity | Robert P. Jones | Public Religion Research Institute | September 6, 2017] Documents the declining proportion of white Christians and growing religious and racial diversity that provide important demographic context for later debates about Christian nationalism.
Christian Nationalism, Demographic Change, and Status Threat
21. Christian Nationalism as a Social Identity | Brooklyn Walker and Donald P. Haider-Markel | Public Opinion Quarterly | July 4, 2026 Examines Christian nationalism as both an ideological worldview and a social identity, helping clarify how group membership and perceived social boundaries shape its political meaning.
22. The Weakness of Anti-Christian Nationalism: When Religiously Inclusive Orientations Can't Increase Tolerance | Paul A. Djupe and Brooklyn Walker | Politics and Religion | March 26, 2026 Examines efforts to counter Christian nationalism and tests whether more religiously inclusive orientations consistently increase tolerance toward religious, racial, and political out-groups.
23. Validating Whites' Reactions to the "Racial Shift" | Andrew M. Engelhardt, Nicole Huffman, and Veronica Oelerich | Journal of Experimental Political Science | March 12, 2025 Reexamines influential experiments concerning white Americans' responses to forecasts of changing racial composition.
24. The Faces of God's Country: Christian Nationalism in the United States and the Implicit Association of Asian Faces with Foreignness | Christopher H. Seto | Sociology of Religion | January 20, 2025 Investigates whether Christian nationalism is associated with perceptions of Asian Americans as less fully American or more foreign.
25. Faith over Fear? Christian Nationalism and Cultural Fears in the United States | Joseph O. Baker and Andrew L. Whitehead | Nations and Nationalism | November 17, 2024 Examines connections between Christian nationalism and fears involving immigration, Muslims, racial replacement, communism, and perceived losses of individual autonomy.
26. Christian Nationalism and Violence Against Religious Minorities in the United States: A Quantitative Analysis | Nilay Saiya and Stuti Manchanda | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | September 2, 2024 Uses state-level data to examine whether political expressions of Christian nationalism correlate with attacks against religious minorities.
27. Demographic Change Threat, Preference for Nondemocratic Governance, and Support for Political Violence | James A. Piazza | Social Science Quarterly | June 5, 2024 Studies whether white Americans who perceive increasing racial diversity as threatening are more supportive of nondemocratic governance and political violence.
28. Fear and Loathing: How Demographic Change Affects Support for Christian Nationalism | Brooklyn Walker and Donald P. Haider-Markel | Public Opinion Quarterly | 2024 Examines experimentally whether information about changing U.S. racial demographics influences white Americans' support for Christian nationalism.
29. In God We Distrust: Christian Nationalism and Anti-Atheist Attitude | Fanhao Nie | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | November 6, 2023 Examines attitudes toward atheists and finds that the relationship between Christian nationalism and religious exclusion varies across racial and religious populations.
30. The Threat of a Majority-Minority U.S. Alters White Americans' Perception of Race | Amy R. Krosch, Suzy J. Park, Jesse Walker, and Ari R. Lisner | Journal of Experimental Social Psychology | March 2022 Tests whether perceived demographic threat affects how white respondents categorize multiracial faces and understand racial-group boundaries.
31. Christian Nationalism and Political Violence: Victimhood, Racial Identity, Conspiracy, and Support for the Capitol Attacks | Miles T. Armaly, David T. Buckley, and Adam M. Enders | Political Behavior | January 4, 2022 Examines how Christian nationalism interacts with white identity, perceived victimhood, conspiracy beliefs, and attitudes toward political violence.
32. Political Ideology Moderates White Americans' Reactions to Racial Demographic Change | Xanni Brown, Julian M. Rucker, and Jennifer A. Richeson | Group Processes & Intergroup Relations | November 10, 2021 Finds that reactions to racial demographic projections vary considerably according to preexisting political ideology and perceptions of group status.
33. White and Minority Demographic Shifts, Intergroup Threat, and Right-Wing Extremism | Hui Bai and Christopher M. Federico | Journal of Experimental Social Psychology | 2021 Investigates relationships among perceived population change, intergroup threat, declining white population share, and extremist attitudes.
34. Assessing the Political Distinctiveness of White Millennials: How Race and Generation Shape Racial and Political Attitudes in a Changing America | Deborah J. Schildkraut and Satia A. Marotta | RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences | August 2018 Examines whether younger white Americans react differently from older cohorts to racial diversification and declining white population share.
35. Status Threat, Not Economic Hardship, Explains the 2016 Presidential Vote | Diana C. Mutz | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | April 23, 2018 Uses panel data to compare economic explanations with perceived status concerns involving race, Christianity, gender, and America's international position.
36. Information About the US Racial Demographic Shift Triggers Concerns About Anti-White Discrimination Among the Prospective White "Minority" | Maureen A. Craig and Jennifer A. Richeson | PLOS ONE | September 27, 2017 Experimental research examines whether making projected demographic change salient increases expectations of future discrimination against white Americans.
37. The Threat of Increasing Diversity: Why Many White Americans Support Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election | Brenda Major, Alison Blodorn, and Gregory Major Blascovich | Group Processes & Intergroup Relations | October 20, 2016 An experimental study examines whether reminders of increasing racial diversity affect political attitudes among white Americans with strong ethnic identification.
38. More Diverse Yet Less Tolerant? How the Increasingly Diverse Racial Landscape Affects White Americans' Racial Attitudes | Maureen A. Craig and Jennifer A. Richeson | Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin | March 13, 2014 Tests how information about increasing national racial diversity affects explicit and implicit racial attitudes among white Americans.
39. On the Precipice of a "Majority-Minority" America: Perceived Status Threat From the Racial Demographic Shift Affects White Americans' Political Ideology | Maureen A. Craig and Jennifer A. Richeson | Psychological Science | 2014 Experimental research examines whether awareness of projected racial demographic change produces perceptions of threatened social status and changes in political attitudes among white Americans.
40. Feeling Threatened About the Future: Whites' Emotional Reactions to Anticipated Ethnic Demographic Changes | H. Robert Outten, Michael T. Schmitt, Daniel A. Miller, and Amber L. Garcia | Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin | August 15, 2011 Examines emotional reactions among white Americans exposed to projections showing declining white numerical dominance.
Christian Nationalism, Identity, and Religious Change
41. Feeling at Home in Christian Nationalism: Sexuality and White Evangelicalism in the United States | Sophie Bjork-James | The Cambridge Handbook for the Anthropology of Race and Ethnicity | April 22, 2026 Examines links among whiteness, evangelical identity, family norms, assimilation, sexuality, and contemporary Christian nationalism.
42. 2025 PRRI Census of American Religion | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | April 15, 2026 Updates the changing religious composition of the United States, including white evangelical, mainline Protestant, Catholic, non-Christian, and unaffiliated populations.
43. Mapping Support for LGBTQ Rights Across the 50 States: Insights from PRRI's 2025 American Values Atlas | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | March 19, 2026 Updates state and national demographic patterns involving age, religious affiliation, LGBTQ identity, and cultural divisions relevant to Christian nationalism.
44. Americans' Views on Immigration Enforcement, ICE, and Civil Liberties in the Second Trump Administration | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2026 Compares immigration attitudes across Christian nationalism categories while also examining differences by race, age, education, and religious tradition.
45. 2024 PRRI Census of American Religion | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | May 5, 2025 Finds continuing long-term decline in the white Christian share of the population while Christians of color remain comparatively stable and religiously unaffiliated Americans increase.
46. LGBTQ Rights Across All 50 States: Key Insights from PRRI's 2024 American Values Atlas | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | March 4, 2025 Tracks generational and religious differences in LGBTQ identity and attitudes and their relationship to Christian nationalist beliefs.
47. Resistance to Christian Nationalism in All 50 States: A PRRI-Meanings of Democracy Lab Report | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | October 30, 2024 Profiles Americans who reject or remain skeptical of Christian nationalism, including differences by age, religion, education, and state.
48. Religious Change in America | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | March 27, 2024 Documents religious switching, disaffiliation, church attendance, charismatic Christianity, and the gradual decline in the share of Americans identifying as white Christians.
49. Views on LGBTQ Rights in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI's 2023 American Values Atlas | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | March 12, 2024 Includes analysis connecting Christian nationalism with LGBTQ attitudes while documenting the unusually young and religiously unaffiliated demographic profile of LGBTQ Americans.
50. Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI's 2023 American Values Atlas | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 28, 2024 Provides state-level estimates and demographic comparisons involving religion, race, age, education, party identification, and support for Christian nationalism.
51. More Acceptance but Growing Polarization on LGBTQ Rights: Findings From the 2022 American Values Atlas | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | March 23, 2023 Provides generational, religious, partisan, and demographic data relevant to broader conflicts over Christian identity and changing American social values.
52. Defensive Racism and Christian Righteousness in the Time of Trump | Author Study | Women's Studies International Forum | 2023 Uses ethnographic research with white conservative evangelicals to examine relationships among race, moral identity, Christianity, and perceptions of racial inequality.
53. Modeling the Future of Religion in America | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | September 13, 2022 Models how religious switching, generational replacement, fertility, migration, and retention could reshape the future religious composition of the United States.
54. How U.S. Religious Composition Has Changed in Recent Decades | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | September 13, 2022 Reviews the decline in Christian identification and growth of the religiously unaffiliated population, providing demographic context for disputes over Christian national identity.
55. Projecting U.S. Religious Groups' Population Shares by 2070 | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | September 13, 2022 Models multiple possible futures for Christianity and religious disaffiliation rather than treating any single demographic projection as inevitable.
56. Introduction: Eruption | Philip S. Gorski, Samuel L. Perry, and Jemar Tisby | The Flag and the Cross | April 21, 2022 Introduces white Christian nationalism as a historical narrative about national identity involving Christianity, race, immigration, hierarchy, and ideas about who properly belongs in the United States.
57. Four Americans | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Taking America Back for God | March 19, 2020 Profiles different orientations toward Christian nationalism and compares them by age, education, region, religion, income, and other demographic characteristics.
58. Power | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Taking America Back for God | March 19, 2020 Examines how Christian nationalism relates to public attitudes concerning immigration, refugees, national symbols, firearms, and other cultural controversies.
59. Introduction: A House Dividing | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Taking America Back for God | March 19, 2020 Defines Christian nationalism and distinguishes it analytically from religious practice, general conservatism, racism, and other related attitudes.
60. Conclusion: One Nation Under What? | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Taking America Back for God | March 19, 2020 Reviews competing orientations toward Christian nationalism and their implications for religious identity, pluralism, and American civil society.
Generational Change, Secularization, and Religious Diversity
61. Americans' Religious Engagement Holds at Lower Levels | Megan Brenan | Gallup | March 3, 2026 Tracks religious-service attendance and personal religiosity after decades of declining participation.
62. How Parents Are Raising Their Children, Religiously | Becka A. Alper, Patricia Tevington, Asta Kallo, and Jeff Diamant | Pew Research Center | December 15, 2025 Examines intergenerational transmission of religion and how parental choices may affect the future religious composition of the country.
63. Drop in U.S. Religiosity Among Largest in World | Benedict Vigers and Julie Ray | Gallup | November 13, 2025 Places the long-term American decline in religiosity within an international comparative context.
64. More Americans See Religion Increasing Its Influence in U.S. | Jeffrey M. Jones | Gallup | June 11, 2025 Examines perceptions of religion's public influence at a time when personal religious participation remains lower than in previous decades.
65. Religious Preferences Largely Stable in U.S. Since 2020 | Jeffrey M. Jones | Gallup | April 17, 2025 Finds short-term stabilization after decades of declining Christian identification, while substantial generational differences persist.
66. Around the World, Many People Are Leaving Their Childhood Religions | Kirsten Lesage, Kelsey Jo Starr, and William Miner | Pew Research Center | March 26, 2025 Places American religious switching and disaffiliation within a broader international demographic context.
67. Christianity: Switching Into and Out of the Religion in 27 Countries | Kirsten Lesage, Kelsey Jo Starr, and William Miner | Pew Research Center | March 26, 2025 Compares entry into and departure from Christianity across countries and provides context for the distinctive trajectory of U.S. Christian affiliation.
68. How Americans Change, Keep Their Religious Identities Over Their Lives | Gregory A. Smith et al. | Pew Research Center | February 26, 2025 Examines religious switching by age and background and shows how generational replacement contributes to changes in American religious composition.
69. Identifying With a Religion Because of Culture, Ethnicity or Family Background | Gregory A. Smith et al. | Pew Research Center | February 26, 2025 Explores the distinction between religious belief and religious identification rooted in family, ethnic, cultural, or ancestral identity.
70. Comparing Levels of Religious Nationalism Around the World | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | January 28, 2025 Places American religious nationalism in international perspective by comparing relationships among majority religion, national identity, and citizenship.
71. The Religious Composition of the World's Migrants | Stephanie Kramer and Yunping Tong | Pew Research Center | August 19, 2024 Documents the religious identities of international migrants and helps explain how immigration contributes to the changing religious diversity of the United States.
72. Church Attendance Has Declined in Most U.S. Religious Groups | Jeffrey M. Jones | Gallup | March 25, 2024 Shows that falling service attendance extends across numerous religious traditions rather than being confined to a single denomination.
73. Religious "Nones" in America: Who They Are and What They Believe | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | January 24, 2024 Profiles atheists, agnostics, and Americans identifying with no particular religion, a population central to the changing religious balance of the United States.
74. Voting Patterns in the 2022 Elections | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | July 12, 2023 Documents differences in electoral participation and voting among white evangelicals, Catholics, religiously unaffiliated Americans, racial groups, generations, and educational groups.
75. About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | December 14, 2021 Documents growth of religious disaffiliation alongside declines in evangelical and non-evangelical Protestant shares since 2007.
76. U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time | Jeffrey M. Jones | Gallup | March 29, 2021 Documents the historic decline in formal church, synagogue, and mosque membership and strong generational differences underlying that change.
77. Race in the Religious Lives of Black Americans | Besheer Mohamed, Kiana Cox, Jeff Diamant, and Claire Gecewicz | Pew Research Center | February 16, 2021 Examines the intersection of Christianity, race, congregational life, discrimination, and political identity among Black Americans.
78. Religious Affiliation Among American Adolescents | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | September 10, 2020 Examines the religious identities of teenagers by race and ethnicity, providing evidence about the generation that will increasingly shape America's future religious landscape.
79. In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | October 17, 2019 Documents a period of substantial decline in Christian affiliation and growth of the religiously unaffiliated population, particularly among younger adults.
80. U.S. Church Membership Down Sharply in Past Two Decades | Jeffrey M. Jones | Gallup | 2019 Documents long-term changes in institutional religious affiliation and church membership across generations.
Population Change, Immigration, Race, and Generations
81. Vintage 2025 Population Estimates by Age, Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | June 25, 2026 Provides the latest detailed federal estimates for age, race, sex, and Hispanic-origin population change across the United States.
82. National Population by Characteristics: 2020–2025 | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | June 2026 Supplies detailed estimates by age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, and components of population change.
83. Census Bureau Releases New 2025 U.S. Population Estimates by Age and Sex | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | April 9, 2026 Provides current federal age and sex estimates useful for understanding generational turnover in American society.
84. U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | January 27, 2026 Reports that U.S. population growth slowed between 2024 and 2025, largely because net international migration fell substantially.
85. New Population Estimates Show Historic Decline in Net International Migration | Population Estimates Program Staff | U.S. Census Bureau | January 27, 2026 Provides additional demographic analysis of recent changes in immigration and emigration and their effects on U.S. population growth.
86. Decreases in Net International Migration Slowed Population Growth Across the Country | George M. Hayward and Luke T. Rogers | U.S. Census Bureau | January 27, 2026 Examines how lower international migration affected states differently depending on domestic migration, births, deaths, and regional demographic patterns.
87. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: United States | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | 2026 Provides current national figures for population, age, race, Hispanic origin, foreign-born status, and other demographic indicators.
88. America Is Turning 250. Here's How Immigration May Shape Its Future | William H. Frey | Brookings Institution | 2026 Examines immigration's role in population growth, workforce renewal, aging, and the future racial and ethnic composition of the United States.
89. Growing Diverse and Immigrant Populations Drove the Nation's Post-Pandemic Demographic Rebound, New Census Data Show | William H. Frey | Brookings Institution | 2025 Analyzes Census data showing the importance of immigrant and racially diverse populations to recent U.S. population growth.
90. By 2060, Less Than 60% of Non-Hispanic White Population and About 65% of Non-Hispanic Multiracial Population Will Be Working Age | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | July 2024 Examines the interaction of aging, immigration, race, Hispanic origin, and workforce demographics under alternative future migration scenarios.
91. New Estimates Highlight Differences in Growth Between U.S. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Populations | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | June 27, 2024 Documents differences in population growth by Hispanic origin, race, age, and other characteristics.
92. 2023 Population Projections for the Nation by Age, Sex, Race, Hispanic Origin and Nativity | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | November 9, 2023 Provides federal projections showing how aging, fertility, immigration, race, Hispanic origin, and nativity could reshape the national population.
93. U.S. Population Projected to Begin Declining in Second Half of Century | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | November 9, 2023 Describes projected slowing and eventual decline of population growth and emphasizes immigration's increasingly important demographic role.
94. America Is Getting Older | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | June 22, 2023 Tracks the aging of the national population, an important demographic divide because older and younger Americans also differ substantially in religious identification.
95. U.S. Church Attendance Still Lower Than Pre-Pandemic | Jeffrey M. Jones | Gallup | June 2023 Examines post-pandemic worship patterns and their relationship to broader declines in institutional religious participation.
96. New Census Projections Show Immigration Is Essential to the Growth and Vitality of a More Diverse U.S. Population | William H. Frey | Brookings Institution | 2023 Uses Census projections to show how different immigration levels would affect population size, age structure, and racial and ethnic diversity.
97. In U.S., Childhood Churchgoing Habits Fade in Adulthood | Jeffrey M. Jones | Gallup | December 2022 Shows substantial attrition between childhood religious participation and adult worship attendance, especially among younger generations.
98. The Decline of White Evangelical Protestants | Survey Center Staff | Survey Center on American Life | October 7, 2022 Reviews the shrinking share of Americans who identify as white evangelical Protestants and discusses generational change within the population.
99. Belief in God in U.S. Dips to 81%, a New Low | Jeffrey M. Jones | Gallup | 2022 Shows large generational differences in belief in God and documents another dimension of long-term American religious change.
100. All Recent U.S. Population Growth Comes From People of Color, New Census Estimates Show | William H. Frey | Brookings Institution | June 23, 2021 Examines demographic estimates showing how racial and ethnic minority populations increasingly drive national population growth.
Immigration, Latino Christianity, Evangelicals, and National Identity
101. Christian Nationalism Is Growing Among U.S. Hispanics. Scholars Explain Why | Aleja Hertzler-McCain | Religion News Service | October 18, 2024 Reports research suggesting rising Christian nationalist identification among some Latino Protestants and explores possible religious, racial, and political explanations.
102. Black Church Leaders Brought Religion to Politics in the '60s — but It Was Dramatically Different From Today's White Christian Nationalism | Tobin Miller Shearer | Religion News Service / The Conversation | September 6, 2024 Compares Black church political activism with white Christian nationalism and emphasizes differing histories of race, citizenship, and access to political power.
103. Christian Communities Face Growing Political Divide as Religious Affiliation Declines | Judy Woodruff and Frank Carlson | PBS NewsHour | June 26, 2024 Examines how declining religious affiliation and political polarization are affecting Christian congregations and communities.
104. The Second Coming of Doug Wilson | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | May 31, 2024 Profiles a Christian movement advocating a stronger role for conservative Christianity in American public institutions and examines its growing national visibility.
105. The Peril Radicalizing Some Evangelicals Goes Beyond Christian Nationalism | Matthew D. Taylor | Religion News Service | April 4, 2024 Argues that charismatic and prophetic religious networks deserve separate analysis rather than treating all forms of conservative Christian politics as identical to Christian nationalism.
106. How Younger Voters Will Impact Elections: What Is Happening to the White Evangelical Vote? | E.J. Dionne Jr. and William A. Galston | Brookings Institution | June 27, 2023 Examines generational replacement and the changing size and political role of white evangelical Christians.
107. Latino Faith Leaders to Gather for Summit on Christian Nationalism | Alejandra Molina | The Washington Post | May 17, 2023 Reports Latino Christian leaders' concerns about the spread of Christian nationalist ideas and illustrates how the movement intersects with the growing demographic importance of Latino Christianity.
108. Despite Ample Evidence, Christian Nationalism Mostly Absent From Final Jan. 6 Report | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | December 23, 2022 Discusses disagreement among scholars and investigators about how prominently Christian nationalism should figure in explanations of January 6.
109. Is Christian Republicanism the Best Cure for Christian Nationalism? | Jesse Smith | Religion News Service | September 1, 2022 Presents one Christian scholarly argument for distinguishing democratic Christian civic participation from Christian nationalism.
110. Republicans Keep Mostly Mum on Calls to Make GOP "Party of Christian Nationalism" | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | August 12, 2022 Reports debates within Republican and Christian circles over explicit use of the term Christian nationalism.
111. Scholars, Activists Brief Lawmakers on Role of Christian Nationalism at Insurrection | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | March 18, 2022 Reports congressional briefings concerning Christian nationalist organizations, imagery, rhetoric, and participation surrounding January 6.
112. New Report Details the Influence of Christian Nationalism on the Insurrection | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | February 9, 2022 Reports research into Christian nationalist symbols, organizations, networks, and rhetoric associated with January 6.
113. The Deadly Dogmatism of Christian Nationalism | Samuel L. Perry | Religion News Service | January 28, 2022 Commentary by a Christian nationalism researcher discussing relationships among national identity, racial hierarchy, religious certainty, and political violence.
114. How the Capitol Attacks Helped Spread Christian Nationalism in the Extreme Right | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | January 26, 2022 Examines the adoption of Christian nationalist language and symbols within parts of the post-January 6 extremist milieu.
115. The 2020s Can End America's Generational Divide in Politics | William H. Frey | Brookings Institution | 2020 Examines the political implications of a large demographic divide between older, whiter generations and younger, more racially diverse Americans.
116. U.S. White Population Declines and Generation "Z-Plus" Is Minority White, Census Shows | William H. Frey | Brookings Institution | 2018 Highlights the large racial composition gap between younger Americans and older generations.
117. White Christians Are Now a Minority of the U.S. Population, Survey Says | Rachel Zoll, Associated Press | PBS News | September 6, 2017 Reports survey findings marking the decline of white Christians below half of the U.S. population and the growing racial and religious diversity of younger generations.
118. Will Immigration Spark a White Backlash in America? | Marisa Abrajano | Brookings Institution | July 31, 2014 Discusses scholarship on whether immigration and demographic diversification can reshape racial attitudes and political alignments among white Americans.
119. Ferguson, "Amnesty," and America's New Racial Make-Up | William H. Frey | Brookings Institution | 2014 Discusses how racial diversification and immigration were reshaping American communities and political debates.
120. Race, Immigration and America's Changing Electorate | William H. Frey | Brookings Institution | February 28, 2008 Examines long-term changes in the racial, ethnic, and immigrant composition of the American electorate.
