Christian America? Secularized Evangelical Discourse and the Boundaries of National Belonging

Delehanty, Jack; Edgell, Penny; Stewart, Evan

doi:10.1093/sf/soy080

Cited by 72 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…The strong association between gender traditionalism and Christian nationalism demonstrated here despite controlling for the influence of private religiosity provides further support for the importance of measuring Americans’ views toward the public expression of religion (Delehanty et al. ; Stewart et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

“…This is further an evidence of the diffusion of Christian nationalist discourse across American culture (Braunstein and Taylor ; Delehanty et al. ). While the unaffiliated generally score much lower on the Christian nationalism scale, those unaffiliated Americans who score near or even slightly above the mid‐point of the scale—suggesting perhaps an ambivalence toward Christian nationalism rather than outright disapproval— still espouse a more traditional gender ideology .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Second, it establishes that this relationship holds within certain religious and even nonreligious groups usually identified as both opposed to Christian nationalism and generally more egalitarian. This finding highlights the usefulness of Christian nationalism as a measure of public expressions of religion, which are not merely proxies for private religiosity (Braunstein and Taylor ; Delehanty, Edgell, and Stewart ; Stewart et al. ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Because recent research suggests that the “Christian nation” narrative is held by non‐evangelical Americans as well (Braunstein and Taylor ; Delehanty et al. ), it is important to discover if variation in Christian nationalist ideology is predictive for individuals in other religious traditions who also traditionally hold patriarchal views of family and gender (e.g., Catholics) as well as those who are more egalitarian (e.g., Mainline Protestants and the unaffiliated). Based on our arguments about how Christian nationalism may be meaningfully related to Americans’ gender ideology, we anticipate that the association between the two will transcend religious tradition.…”

Section: Theorizing the Link Between Christian Nationalism And Traditmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is a “Christian America” a More Patriarchal America? Religion, Politics, and Traditionalist Gender Ideology

Whitehead

Perry

2019

Canadian Review of Sociology

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Recent research shows that Americans who adhere to Christian nationalism—an ideology that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity and American civic life—tend to hold authoritarian and exclusionary attitudes, particularly regarding ethno‐racial minorities and nontraditional family forms. Such findings suggest a fundamental connection between Christian nationalism and rigid symbolic boundaries, which would likely extend to Americans’ understanding of gender roles. Drawing on notions connecting religious nationalism with defenses of patriarchal norms and utilizing a recent national, random sample of American adults, the current study examines the link between contemporary Christian nationalism and traditionalist gender ideologies. Our analyses reveal that Christian nationalism is the strongest predictor of holding a more traditionalist gender ideology, even after taking into account a host of political and religious characteristics. Moreover, the relationship between Christian nationalism and gender traditionalism holds across religious traditions, including more gender‐egalitarian groups like Mainline Protestants and even the unaffiliated. We conclude by highlighting the implications of these findings for understanding contemporary populist support for Donald Trump, which previous studies have shown is undergirded by both Christian nationalism and sexism.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

mentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Theorizing the Link Between Christian Nationalism And Traditmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is a “Christian America” a More Patriarchal America? Religion, Politics, and Traditionalist Gender Ideology

Whitehead

Perry

2019

Canadian Review of Sociology

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“…The liberal/conservative categorization remains an apt way to conceptualize White Protestantism in the United States; even moderates, who neither fully embrace nor reject evangelical discourse, tend to lean toward either liberalism or conservatism, rather than to occupy a neutral middle ground (Delehanty, Edgell, and Stewart ). Furthermore, the prevalent social issues of the 1980s and 1990s, including sexuality and abortion, remain salient in 21st century politics, and White conservative protestants continue to identify as politically conservative and as Republican (Wilde and Glassman :411).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liberal Churches and Social Justice Movements: Analyzing the Limits of Inclusivity

Krull

2020

Scientific Study of Religion

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Conservative Protestants have been successful in communicating their religious voice in the public sphere, while liberal Protestants have struggled to articulate a distinctly liberal, religious voice. In this article, I show that a major component of liberal Protestant identity—inclusivity—itself constitutes a fundamental barrier to developing that voice. Drawing on 26 interviews and a year of participant observation at a liberal Protestant congregation in the southeast, I first show that congregants construct their identity of inclusivity in response to cultural associations of Christianity with conservatism and exclusivism. I then analyze three discursive strategies that congregants use to make sense of individuals’ involvement in Moral Mondays, a left‐leaning local social movement. By connecting Moral Mondays to social justice, to religious beliefs, and to individual commitments, congregants depoliticize involvement in Moral Mondays and maintain their commitment to inclusivity. I argue that inclusivity does not limit their participation, but rather limits their ability to connect that participation to their liberal religious voice. This research has important implications for understanding barriers to liberal Protestants’ articulation of a distinctly liberal and religious voice in the public sphere.

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Christian and Political Conservatism Predict Opposition to Sexual and Gender Minority Rights through Support for Christian Hegemony

Todd

Blevins

et al. 2020

American J of Comm Psychol

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Christian America? Secularized Evangelical Discourse and the Boundaries of National Belonging

Cited by 72 publications

References 57 publications

Is a “Christian America” a More Patriarchal America? Religion, Politics, and Traditionalist Gender Ideology

Is a “Christian America” a More Patriarchal America? Religion, Politics, and Traditionalist Gender Ideology

Liberal Churches and Social Justice Movements: Analyzing the Limits of Inclusivity

Christian and Political Conservatism Predict Opposition to Sexual and Gender Minority Rights through Support for Christian Hegemony

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