Fill the Earth and Subdue It: Christian Nationalism, Ethno‐Religious Threat, and Nationalist Pronatalism

Abstract

What fuels both enthusiasm for increasing "American" birth rates and fears about their decline? Citing the prevalence of fertility campaigns in authoritarian regimes characterized by ethnonationalist Christianity, we theorize that, in addition to patriarchal attitudes, perceived ethnocultural threat and desire for ethno-cultural dominance substantially drive "nationalist pronatalism" (promoting fertility to strengthen "the nation" and avoid national decline). We expect pronatalist ideology focused on American births is associated with (1) belief that dominant cultural group members (Whites, Christians, men) are threatened and (2) White Christian nationalism-an ideology that looks to conform American identity and values to those of a traditionalist, ethnicized Christianity. Recent, nationally-representative data reveal Christian nationalist ideology is the second strongest predictor of support for nationalist pronatalism, second only behind patriarchal attitudes. This association is stronger for men and virtually nonexistent among Blacks. The belief that Whites or Christians face "the most discrimination" as opposed to various minorities also predicts nationalist pronatalism. Contemporary support for pronatalist ideology focused on American births is thus undergirded not only by attitudes that subordinate women but (1) an ethno-racially contingent ideology that insists the United States should reflect and institutionalize traditionalist Christian culture and (2) perceptions that Christians and Whites are persecuted.

Understanding fertility behavior of the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals in Bangladesh: A qualitative study

“…The long history of persecution, domination, and oppression over the Rohingya [32,33] further rationalized, strengthened, and promoted the high fertility behavior, with religio-political motivations to 'expand the Rohingya community' or 'to increase Muslim soldiers' [34]. Such religio-political pronatalist ideologies had been commonly singled out to account for the persistently high fertility levels among Palestinians [28], "hyper-fertile" Muslims in Ladakh, India [35], Jewish women in Israel [36], and Christian pronatalism in the USA [37]. Apart from perceived religious restriction and fear of side effects, overall community pressure against contraception, grounded on these religiopolitical motivations, further strengthened and sustained the reality of the low contraceptive prevalence rate among the Rohingya population.…”

The 8 billion milestone: Risk perceptions of global population growth among UK and US residents

“…Second, both nations share some cultural similarities (e.g., Western, English‐speaking, industrialized, democratic political systems) and have experienced similar demographic trends in recent decades (the populations of both the United Kingdom and United States have continuously grown, but the growth rate is currently slowing down, and the two populations are aging: Office for National Statistics, 2022; Epstein & Lofquist, 2021; Jones, 2020). However, evidence suggests that the topic of population growth and related issues (e.g., family planning, abortion) has generally been more politicized in the United States than in the United Kingdom, with some US social, political, and religious groups promoting pronatalist ideologies and arguing that the risks posed by GPG have been wildly exaggerated (Bernstein, 2005; King & Elliott, 1997; Kuhlemann, 2019; Mora, 2014; Perry et al., 2022). By contrast, GPG has largely been ignored in UK political discourse.…”