White Christian nationalism, not mere distrust, drove evangelical COVID vaccine refusal.

Evidence

These patterns have repeated themselves when it comes to COVID vaccine resistance. Polls taken in late 2020 and early 2021 found that white evangelical Protestants were the group most likely to say they didn’t plan on taking the COVID-19 vaccine when it became available. While most journalists and scholars were quickly able to point out the combination of distrust and ignorance behind these patterns, few recognized the role of white Christian nationalism among the evangelical population. As we show in Figure 1.7, even after we account for other relevant factors in statistical models, in February 2021 only roughly 5% of white Americans who score the lowest on our full Christian nationalism scale indicated that they wouldn’t get vaccinated. That percentage steadily climbs to 50% at the highest levels of Christian nationalism. By contrast, over 85% of white Americans who largely reject Christian nationalism indicated they’d either already been vaccinated by February 2021 or would do so as soon as possible. That percentage declined in a linear fashion to less than 30% among the most ardent supporters of Christian nationalist ideology. — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 142

Categorization

• QUESTION: The exact statistical controls used are only gestured at; worth chasing the underlying model specification to test the causal versus correlational claim.
• SEED: Angle: the dose-response relationship — vaccine refusal climbing linearly with Christian nationalism scores — is a striking empirical hook for an essay on ideology shaping bodily risk behavior.
• XREF: connects to: White Christian nationalists blamed Black Americans rather than social conditions for COVID disparities — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 133; White Christian nationalism shaped which authorities Americans trusted during the pandemic — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 134; White Christian nationalism explains seemingly contradictory Christian political behavior — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 17 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• White Christian nationalism explains seemingly contradictory Christian political behavior #expands (0.85) — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 17
• White Christian nationalism masks racial anxiety behind religious identity claims #corroborates (0.72) — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 121