Report: Almost Half of Americans Say The US Should Be A “Christian Nation”

According to the results of a new survey published Thursday by the Pew Research Center, forty-five percent of American adults believe the United States should be a “Christian nation.”

Those who supported the idea “see a Christian nation as one where people are more broadly guided by Christian values or a belief in God, even if its laws are not explicitly Christian and its leaders can have a variety of faiths or no faith at all,” Pew researchers Gregory Smith, Michael Rotolo and Patricia Tevington wrote in a summary of their findings.

Source: CBS

But Pew respondents had varying opinions on what exactly the term “Christian nation” means. Those who supported the idea “see a Christian nation as one where people are more broadly guided by Christian values or a belief in God, even if its laws are not explicitly Christian and its leaders can have a variety of faiths or no faith at all,” Pew researchers Gregory Smith, Michael Rotolo and Patricia Tevington wrote in a summary of their findings.

Pew found that most people who support the idea of a “Christian nation” also reject specific ideas behind Christian nationalism, such as that of the federal government declaring Christianity the country’s official religion or advocating Christian religious values.

A majority of all respondents also wanted to keep churches out of politics and believed Supreme Court Justices should not allow their religious beliefs to influence their decision-making.

When asked if any of the survey questions were linked to a possible implication on Jews, a Pew spokesperson told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the survey didn’t include any questions about Jews and therefore couldn’t offer insight into what its implications toward Jews would be.

This being said, the concept of a “Christian nation” is a dangerous one for Jews. Christian nationalism, which holds that the United States should base its laws and identity around Christianity and discourage or reject other religious beliefs outright, has a strong historic overlap with antisemitism, and its most vocal modern-day adherents also spout antisemitic beliefs.