The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy

by Philip S. Gorski

It’s not that Christian nationalists have a different understanding of American history; it’s that they often have an incorrect understanding. But only if they are white. In one of our surveys, we gave respondents a short quiz that included five true/false statements about religion in American political history. 1. The 1st Amendment says Congress can’t restrict religious liberty, but Congress could make laws privileging Christianity. (False) 2. The U.S. Constitution references our country’s obligations to God several times. (False) 3. The phrase “In God We Trust” did not become the nation’s official motto until after 1950. (True) 4. The phrase “under God” was not added to the pledge of allegiance until after 1950. (True) 5. Supreme Court decisions in the 1960s made it illegal for students to pray or read their Bibles in public schools. (False) Respondents could answer true, false, or don’t know. We then calculated the average percentage Americans got correct on the quiz. Figure 1.3 shows how scores change across adherence to Christian nationalism for both white and Black Americans. Black Americans tend to score lower than whites on the quiz, primarily because they are more likely to simply say they don’t know. But there is no association between their scores on the test and their adherence to Christian nationalism. Not so with whites. The higher they score on Christian nationalism, the lower they score on the test. Why? Not because they don’t give answers but because they ...