Ideology, not ignorance, drives culture-war knowledge gaps among religious conservatives

Evidence

When scholars assess religious conservatives’ knowledge of many aspects of science (for example, atoms, lasers, viruses, or genes), they score well. It is only when they are asked about hotly contested culture-war topics (for example, evolution or the Big Bang) that they do poorly. This is why white Americans who more strongly affirm that America should be for “people like us” are more likely to answer questions about religion in America’s political history in a way that elevates the preeminence and alleged persecution of Christianity. Not only may they have learned erroneous religious history, but the ideology of white Christian nationalism may incline white Americans to reinterpret their history in ways that elevate their own group as heroes and victims. — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 116

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to confirmation-bias and belief-perseverance findings in Trust — Making and Breaking Cooperative Relations about lay theorists avoiding disconfirmation. — connects to: Higher education amplifies science rejection among politically conservative Americans — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 141; Islamophobia’s political origin explains gaps in empirical knowledge about it. — Erik Bleich, What Is Islamophobia and How Much Is…, 67; Christian nationalism bundles political ideology with cultural religious claims (+2 more)
• SEED: Possible essay angle: knowledge gaps on hot-button topics reveal motivated reasoning rather than true ignorance — a measurable probe for ideological self-construction.

Broader Connections

• Islamophobia’s political origin explains gaps in empirical knowledge about it. #corroborates (0.78) — Erik Bleich, What Is Islamophobia and How Much Is…, 67
• Christian nationalism bundles political ideology with cultural religious claims #expands (0.75)
• Religious ideological orientation now predicts political views better than denomination or party #corroborates (0.72) — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 173
• Religion and nationalism mutually constitute identity and resist clean separation #expands (0.72) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 292