PRRI
Nonprofit, nonpartisan org. conducting research at the intersection of religion, values & public life
09/24/2026
A new national survey released today by PRRI and the Meanings of Democracy Lab of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University uses data from the 2025 PRRI American Values Atlas to examine the religious, political, and demographic makeup of the nearly two-thirds of Americans who qualify as Christian nationalism Rejecters (27%) or Skeptics (37%).
Key findings:
▪️ Large majorities of Democrats (82%) and independents (72%) resist Christian nationalist beliefs, compared with 40% of Republicans.
▪️ Majorities of several Christian groups qualify as Rejecters or Skeptics, including Hispanic Catholics (71%), white Catholics (62%), white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (61%), and Orthodox Christians (60%).
▪️ Resistance to Christian nationalism varies widely across the 50 states, ranging from a low of 42% in Arkansas to a high of 80% in Massachusetts.
▪️ At the state level, resistance to Christian nationalism is strongly correlated with Democratic representation in state legislatures and with religious diversity.
▪️ Large majorities of Americans under 50 and those with college and postgraduate degrees resist Christian nationalist beliefs, compared with smaller shares of Americans ages 50 and older and those with a high school education or less.
▪️ Overwhelming majorities of Christian nationalism Rejecters (92%) and Skeptics (80%) say America is best understood as a nation built on the idea that all people have equal rights and freedoms compared with fewer Sympathizers (69%) and Adherents (65%).
Read the full report: https://prri.org/research/resistance-to-christian-nationalism-in-all-50-states-2/
09/24/2026
"A new joint survey report from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Meanings of Democracy Lab of the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University finds that nearly two-thirds of Americans reject this worldview. That could be important come November, when voters get their first chance to weigh in on Trump's second term performance, including the many overtures he's made to Christian nationalists while in office."
New op-ed from Melissa Deckman, PRRI CEO, and Ruth Braunstein, Director of the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University ⬇️
Resistance to Christian nationalism could help decide midterms | Opinion "Backlash to Trump’s appeals to Christian nationalism may be spurred by the rising prominence of progressive religious voices."
09/23/2026
Tomorrow at 11:00 AM ET on Substack Live, join Ruth Braunstein, sociologist and Director of the SNF Agora Institute, and Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI, as they discuss a new survey report examining the religious, political, and demographic makeup of Americans who resist Christian nationalist ideology.
Tune in: https://open.substack.com/live-stream/374992
09/21/2026
“This has been very quickly transposed from an economic or political issue to a moral issue,” Robert P. Jones explains. The issue of AI has united denominations and faith traditions that often disagree in political debates. Read more:
What would Jesus do about data centers? Pastors take the debate to pulpits Some pastors have embraced AI, but others worry that the giant data centers powering the computing boom could unleash harm on the environment and their communities.
09/18/2026
Most Americans (73%) agree that mandatory vaccines for children should be legal in all or most cases; only one in four disagree (24%).
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave the keynote address at an anti-vaccine conference, telling attendees that they had a friend in Trump’s White House.
Kennedy tells anti-vaccine activists they have a friend in Trump's White House Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tells anti-vaccine activists from an organization he once chaired that they have a friend in the White House.
09/18/2026
"White mainline Protestants make up about 13 percent of Americans, roughly the same share as white evangelical Protestants...
By May of this year, white mainline Protestants were evenly divided between seeing Trump as a strong leader who should be given the power he needs and seeing him as a potentially dangerous dictator whose power should be limited."
PRRI data cited in a new op-ed at The Hill
Move over, evangelicals: Mainline Christians are the 2026 swing voter This fall, keep an eye on the Christians everyone assumed had already made up their minds.
09/18/2026
"With compelling prose, Robert P. Jones gives us sharp, clear analysis of where we are, what’s at stake for our democracy—and the conviction that we can be better than we are."
— Jemar Tisby, New York Times bestselling author of The Spirit of Justice
Order your copy of BACKSLIDE today:
Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy “Bracing—Jones presents a vision of America as “fallen into... apostasy.” But he remains hopeful, noting that “backsliding is not irreversible,” as “repentance is possible... with confession” and the “acknowledging of difficult truths.” It’s a potent reckoning."—Publishers We...
09/17/2026
"Declining faith goes beyond partisanship and reflects a more fundamental question about this group’s sense of belonging," explains PRRI Director of Research Diana Orcès.
In a new op-ed for The Conversation, Orcès examines why Hispanic Americans of all parties are losing faith in the American Dream. PRRI finds that just 40% of Hispanic Americans say that the American Dream, the idea that if you work hard, you’ll get ahead, holds true today, down from 52% just two years ago.
"Hispanic Americans – Republican, Democrat and independent – are experiencing a growing sense of isolation, feeling less safe, less welcome and more like strangers in their own country."
Read more at The Conversation US:
Why Hispanic Americans are losing faith in the American Dream A public opinion researcher explains why this group’s declining faith goes beyond partisanship and reflects a fundamental question about its sense of belonging.
09/16/2026
At Word and Way, Brian Kaylor covers Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s remarks at the Pentagon observance ceremony on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
PRRI finds that a solid majority of Americans are more likely to agree with the statement “I would prefer the U.S. to be a reliable neighbor that cooperates with other nations and only uses military force as a last resort” (70%) than with the statement “I would prefer the U.S. to be known as a mighty nation that does not hesitate to use military force to defend our interests” (27%).
Hegseth Uses 9/11 Pentagon Ceremony to Push Religious War - Word&Way The head of the U.S. military — who has Crusader imagery tattooed on his body and the cover of his Bible — spent the anniversary promising divine violence.
09/16/2026
"When we ask questions like 'the U.S. should declare itself a Christian nation' and 'Christians should exercise dominion over all areas of American society,' what we find is that this worldview, this idea that the country is not a pluralistic democracy, but rather a promised land for Christians of European descent, is supported by two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants.
That's the core of the MAGA movement that now says yes; we are either all in or very sympathetic to that worldview. And it is now 54% of Republicans. So it has now taken a majority hold among one of our two political parties."
- Robert P. Jones on MeidasTouch
Trump’s CULT Movement Just CROSSED A LINE… Ken Harbaugh sits down with Dr. Robert P. Jones, founder and presid...
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