Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States

Summary

Taking America Back for God points to the phenomenon of "Christian nationalism," the belief that the United States is—and should be—a Christian nation. At its heart, Christian nationalism demands that we must preserve a particular kind of social order, an order in which everyone—Christians and non-Christians, native-born and immigrants, whites and minorities, men and women—recognizes their "proper" place in society. The first comprehensive empirical analysis of Christian nationalism in the United States, Taking America Back for God illustrates the influence of Christian nationalism on today's most contentious social and political issues.

Drawing on multiple sources of national survey data as well as in-depth interviews, Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry document how Christian nationalism shapes what Americans think about who they are as a people, what their future should look like, and how they should get there. Americans' stance toward Christian nationalism provides powerful insight into what they think about immigration, Islam, gun control, police shootings, atheists, gender roles, and many other political issues—very much including who they want in the White House. Taking America Back for God is a guide to one of the most important—and least understood—forces shaping American politics.