Christian nationalism, not denomination, now predicts Americans’ politics

Evidence

Evangelicals and mainline Protestants who are Ambassadors are much more alike politically than are Ambassadors and Resisters who are both mainline Protestants. … Christian nationalism is not bound to any particular religious group. Such findings suggest to us that Christian nationalism is at least one axis upon which the restructuring of American religion has taken place. — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 454

In the 1980s, Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow proposed that American religion had experienced a “restructuring.” One of the main axes upon which the shift took place concerned the public expression of religion, especially the intersection of Christianity and American identity and civic life. Now Americans of different religious traditions and even political persuasions could be organized by how much they support ideologies like Christian nationalism. Simply put, knowing you are an Ambassador or Rejecter of Christian nationalism can now tell us far more about your social and political views than knowing what denomination you affiliate with, how often you attend church, and even whether you identify as Democrat or Republican. — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 173

Categorization

• XREF: Feeds the account of how American religion is restructuring along political rather than denominational lines. — connects to: Personal religious practice and Christian nationalism predict opposite political attitudes — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 458; Christian nationalism predicts outgroup attitudes better than conservatism does — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 72; Religious ideological orientation now predicts political views better than denomination or party — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 173 (+10 more)
• DEFINE: Forces a reminder that Christian nationalism is a distinct ideological orientation, not shorthand for white evangelicals, which matters when testing who bears Cooper’s social-conservative coalition.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 454; Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 173

Broader Connections

• Religious ideological orientation now predicts political views better than denomination or party #corroborates (0.85) — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 173
• Christian nationalism predicts outgroup attitudes better than conservatism does #corroborates (0.75) — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 72