Belief that America is a Christian nation fell sharply from 2012 to 2017

Evidence

In 2012, a survey asked Americans to choose among four responses regarding whether they think the United States is a Christian nation. Two out of five Americans (40 percent) reported believing that “America has always been and is currently a Christian nation.” Only five years later, one out of four Americans (26 percent) chose this same response. In 2012, two out of five (40 percent) agreed that “America was a Christian nation in the past, but is not now.” Half a decade later just 32 percent of Americans answered similarly. Back in 2012, 15 percent of Americans reportedly believed that “America has never been a Christian nation” and only five percent were undecided. By 2017, 20 percent of Americans claimed the United States has never been a Christian nation, and over 21 percent said they were undecided. … It is important to note that from 2012 to 2017 the percentage of Americans who did not affiliate with a religious tradition increased from 20 percent to 22 percent. However, during this same time period the percent of Americans who affiliated with a Christian religious tradition also increased a slight amount, from 69 percent to 71 percent. These data, taken over a five-year span rather than 10 years, suggest a similar story with Christian nationalism. The proportion of Americans who believe the United States ever was or still is a Christian nation is declining. More Americans now believe that America has never been a Christian nation. And somewhat surprisingly, there has been a dramatic increase in the proportion of Americans who do not know what they believe about the Christian heritage of the United States. — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 182

Categorization

• XREF: Provides quantitative trend data that can serve as baseline for the reader’s empirical work on Christian nationalism. — connects to: American Christian affiliation declined from 77 to 71 percent between 2007 and 2017. — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 176; About 60 percent of Americans believe the US was ever a Christian nation — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 49; Strong Christian nationalist identification in America has measurably declined since 2007 — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 172

Broader Connections

• About 60 percent of Americans believe the US was ever a Christian nation #expands (0.75) — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 49