Religion in Public Life

Polarization has become a watchword. But a recent Pew survey of the role of religion in public life (“8 in 10 Americans Say Religion is Losing Influence in Public Life”) indicates that Americans agree about at least one thing: Religion is, indeed, losing influence. It does not matter whether you are Christian or atheist, a Protestant or None, Democrat or Republican: A super-majority of those surveyed (80 percent) say that the social influence of religion is waning. Public discourse in America is being secularized.

The Pew researchers are delicate. They use the term “religion.” But in view of American reality, “religion” means Christianity. True, the term “Judeo-Christian” gained popularity in the 1950s, but it was adopted as an inclusive gesture, not a sociological observation. There can be no dispute that Christianity, especially Protestantism, has shaped American society. It is this legacy of influence over America’s laws, mores, and sentiments that is waning, as we all recognize.

What are we to make of the recession of Christianity from public life? Here, a great divide opens up. Those who identify as Christian are overwhelmingly likely to regard the trend as a bad one. Those who are not Christian hold the opposite view. They see Christianity’s diminished influence as a good development.

Readers will not be surprised to learn that the divide is a partisan one. Sixty-eight percent of Republicans (and those leaning Republican) regret religion’s declining influence, while only 33 percent of Democrats (and those leaning Democrat) do so. The divide is also generational. Younger respondents are far more likely to cheer Christianity’s decline than are older respondents.

The two sides don’t just disagree; they fear each other. The Pew researchers formulate a pointed contrast. One category, conservative Christians, combines those who identify as Christian with those who describe themselves as politically conservative. The other category, the secular liberals, combines the religiously unaffiliated with the politically liberal. Among conservative Christians, 73 percent say that secular liberals are too active and too influential in public affairs, especially in debates about public schools. Eighty-eight percent of secular liberals say the same thing about conservative Christians.

In the Pew survey, 27 percent of respondents fall into the conservative Christian category. That’s more than one quarter of all American adults. By contrast, only 12 percent are secular liberals. But as James Davison Hunter, Aaron Renn, and many others have noted, numbers do not translate into influence. Secular liberals may represent only one-eighth of the country, but they control our influential, mainstream institutions. Secular liberals determine what counts as “responsible” and what must be dismissed as “extremist.” For this reason, we live in what Renn calls a “Negative World,” one in which the most powerful people in society regard Christianity as an unfortunate legacy that must be suppressed.

The Pew survey also asked respondents about Christian nationalism. Pew reports that more than half of them have never heard of Christian nationalism. This group includes 60 percent of those who identify as Christian. Additionally, in the Christian cohort, only 5 percent report having heard “a great deal” about the topic. Put simply, Christians are not talking about Christian nationalism. The religious unaffiliated were more likely than Christians to have heard of Christian nationalism, and they were twice as likely to have heard “a great deal” about it (10 percent as compared to 5 percent). These results vindicate Kenneth Woodward’s assessment in this issue (“The Myth of White Christian Nationalism”): The ruckus over Christian nationalism has been astroturfed by the left. This made-up controversy keeps liberals in a state of frenzied anxiety about a looming theocratic takeover.