Hey fam, dropping in to share some data. Something we (@jt_davis14@JoshuaGrubbsPhD) found in PDES data shows up in Pew. Among WHITE adults who think govt should support religion, 70% think voting is a privilege, not a right. BUT, it's a WHITE #ChristianNationalism thing... 1/4
Notice when we look at Black Americans, even among those who think govt should support religion, ~70% still believe voting is a protected right, not a privilege. It's not even close to where white Christian nationalists end on on voting rights. But what about Hispanics? 2/4
Hispanics look more like Black Americans than whites. Notice nearly 60% who think government should support religion still think voting is a right that shouldn't be restricted, not a privilege. What's it mean? 1/4
For white Americans in particular, believing the govt should support religious values & beliefs (#ChristianNationalism) is a strong indicator they see voting as a privilege we can limit. Gotta earn it. Minorities w/CN beliefs are more likely to see voting as protected right. 4/4
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🧵 Trump supporters often act like his norm-breaking rhetoric over his political career was harmless. Here's four studies documenting that Trump's Tweets and rhetoric increased anti-vaxx attitudes, hate crimes, religious and racial prejudice, & suspicions of voter fraud. 1/5
This study shows that when Trump supporters were exposed to Trump's anti-vaxx Tweets, they became more suspicious of vaccines in general. Hardly a harmless effect leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp…
This study demonstrates that Trump's Tweets predicted an increase in xenophobic Tweets from his followers as well as rising hate crimes. aeaweb.org/articles?id=10…
Just dropped on Amazon Sept 5th. A “How-To” #ChristianNationalism book written by the right-wing, anti-Semitic founder of Gab. Ranked #15 on Amazon this morning and already has 160 reviews. Blurb on the back cover by Doug Wilson. These people aren’t hiding their goals.
Whatever the Founders thought about church & state may help inform us. But honestly I care so much less about what Madison meant in the establishment clause or what Jefferson meant by "wall of separation," than what is right for us now & going forward. (And I think they'd agree.)
It actually plays into a weird Christian nationalist game with CN assumptions to throw quotes from the Founders at each other like they're Bible verses. ("If we could only get down to what Madison REALLY meant, we'd just do that forever.") Times change. He & TJ understood that.
I'm not in any way suggesting the Constitution/Declaration aren't important. We have foundational creeds & rights. But I'm saying the documents aren't Scripture, originalism is dumb, and we should care the most about what's right now given our reality & change what doesn't work.
🧵 In the thick of book-writing, I've been thinking a lot about how non-social scientists intuitively define "religious." I think average folk get closer to the heart of what religion is: sacralized us-ness, demonstrated more by proven loyalty than rituals, doctrines, morals. 1/4
Here's an example. March 2021, Pew asked Americans how religious are Donald Trump & Joe Biden. By traditional criteria, Biden is quite religious. Trump not religious at all. But as Americans affirm #ChristianNationalism, they're WAY more likely to say Trump is religious. Why? 2/4
Most obviously because folks who strongly affirm CN genuinely believe Trump demonstrates fidelity to "our group." Joe Biden hasn't. Whether Trump attends church, prays, affirms orthodox doctrine, or demonstrates Christ-like behavior means nothing.
Clearly being conservative is correlated with opposing abortion. But is it correlated w/actually having abortions? Data from Regnerus's 2014 RIA survey. As women swing more conservative, they oppose abortion. But conservative women are hardly any less likely to have had one. 1/3
Same story when we're looking at the average number of abortions women report. Across political ideology, women in the survey reported between .37 & .49 abortions (zeroes bring avg down). But again conservativism more associated with opposing abortion in theory than practice. 2/3
Disclaimer: I can't tell what came first. Maybe conservative women had abortions in their past, became conservative, felt bad, & then opposed them. Regardless, conservatism tells us little about women's personal experience w/abortion. Just their views. thearda.com/Archive/Files/… 3/3
🧵It's #LovingDay. Interracial families are what initially got me interested in white #ChristianNationalism. Our first study. We found this weird pattern: even though CN questions never mention race, whites higher on CN were more likely to oppose interracial marriage. Why? 1/6
Curious, we found the same pattern regarding transracial adoption. Whites higher on #ChristianNationalism were less supportive of people adopting children of a different race. Why?
These patterns indicate CN: 1) is racialized. 2) sacralizes rigid boundaries & social order. 2/6
For whites, we've shown indicators of #ChristianNationalism are read through the lens of white experiences & myths. Talk of "Christian nation/heritage" is heard as "our nation/heritage." In other words, CN questions have implied ethno-racial content: "our kind of Christian." 3/6