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

by Philip S. Gorski

If self-identified evangelicals respond to Trump’s semi-secularized version of white Christian nationalism, then this is in part because the evangelical label itself has become semi-secularized as well. Political scientist Ryan Burge has shown that an increasing number of Americans outside of evangelical Protestant traditions (such as Catholics, Mormons, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Jews, and even Muslims and Hindus) are now identifying as “evangelical or born-again Christians.” He shows that this is largely driven by the merging of Republican and evangelical identities, so that when Americans are asked whether they’re “evangelical,” they increasingly read this not as a question about their theological beliefs, but whether they identify with the Republican Party.