Counting - and Countering - Christian Nationalism: Dr. Robert P. Jones and Amanda Tyler

Americans may have defeated Christian nationalist candidates at the ballot box this past November, but the ideology’s influence still pervades our public life. That was the main takeaway from new survey data released last week, the most comprehensive poll to date on support for Christian nationalism across the nation. This week on State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, we will dive into the new report and discuss the stakes for the future of religion and democracy in America.

A newly-released report from the Public Religion Research Institute, A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture, provides some disturbing findings about the influence that Christian nationalism continues to hold over our politics. For instance, nearly two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants qualify as either Christian nationalism adherents (29%) or sympathizers (35%). Meanwhile, 10% of all Americans can be categorized as avowed Christian nationalists, and an additional 19% are sympathetic to its ideals. Who better to walk us through these findings than Dr. Robert P. Jones, Founding CEO of PRRI, and Amanda Tyler, Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Freedom which launched Christians Against Christian Nationalism to address this pressing issue. They’ll be joining Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, host of State of Belief, to analyze the new data and discuss the long road ahead in combating this dangerous, anti-democratic ideology.

In 2017, Rev. Elizabeth Edman and Rev. Marian Edmonds-Allen teamed up for Glitter Ash Wednesday, a way to observe the start of the pre-Easter season of Lent in a visibly inclusive way. The practice has spread every year since then, with more than 150 churches nationwide taking part today. Liz, an activist and political strategist who spent two decades in the struggle to become an openly queer priest in the Episcopal Church, and Marian, an ordained minister and the executive director of Parity, will join Paul ahead of Ash Wednesday, March 22, 2023, to discuss the practice and its relevance in an age of growing institutionalized bigotry against LGBTQI+ identities and lives.

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