Half the Country Understands That Christian Nationalism is a Serious Threat

[NeoGreen]

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2019/04/03/half-the-country-understands-that-christian-nationalism-is-a-serious-threat/

Half the Country Understands That Christian Nationalism is a Serious Threat
By Hemant Mehta, April 3, 2019

The good news is that a new Morning Consult poll finds that nearly half of all Americans see Christian nationalism as a looming threat to our country.

The bad news is that, Jesus H. Christ, more than half the country is okay with that.

Christian nationalism is the idea that the U.S. should be a Christian nation when it comes to social and political policies. Imagine a government in which the Religious Right has more power and that’s what more than half the country wants… for some reason. More “In God We Trust.” More Muslims travel bans. More invocations. More anti-LGBTQ laws.

But take all this information with one huge caveat: The poll didn’t define the term for participants. Which means it’s possible many of those people don’t actually know what it means. Perhaps they heard “Christian” and (wrongly) thought it must be a good thing. I would think that if the poll included examples of what the term leads to, fewer people would support it.

[greymattermom]

1. They need a history lesson

Many people have died because they espoused a different version of Christianity than the government demanded. Christian doesn't mean that the national religion would even be the thing they think of as Christian.

[The Genealogist]

2. This is what I like to point out

People who like the idea of mixing religion and government don't seem to get it that the mix may well not favor them, leaving them branded as heretics.

[Mariana]

4. Most of them don't really believe that, though.

God's on their side, after all.

[JayhawkSD]

3. Most of those people do not know what "Christian Nationalism" is.

It's a phrase that sounds horrible. I certainly would tend to believe that it's a bad thing, based only on the unexplained phrase. But I would check the box that says, "What the f**k are you talking about?" because I am an intelligent, rational, thinking human being and this is the first time I have ever heard the phrase "Christian Nationalism."

It's hardly in the mainstream conversation. I Googled it under "news" and found references in Morning Consult, LGBTQ Nation, Rewire News, Christian Post, AlterNet, High Plains Reader and, of course, Politico.

The average voter would check the "critical threat" box or the "important threat" box, because the poll includes two choices to label it a threat and only one choice to label it not a threat, and the two choices labeling it a threat come first. The non-threat choice is worded in a highly certain manner, admitting to no uncertainty in the answer, and the poll does not, of course, define what "Christian Nationalism" is, but repeats the phrase twice. That's how pollsters create polls to generate the results that are desired by the people who are paying them to create the polls.

Edit: I should say it's certainly not big in the mainstream conversation. Can't say it's not there at all, but...