Taking America Back for God

Christian Nationalism in the United States

Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry

Uses data collected over that past several decades
Includes interviews from Americans of all walks of life
First comprehensive empirical analysis of Christian nationalism

Taking America Back for God

Christian Nationalism in the United States

Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry

Description

Why do so many conservative Christians continue to support Donald Trump despite his many overt moral failings? Why do many Americans advocate so vehemently for xenophobic policies, such as a border wall with Mexico? Why do many Americans seem so unwilling to acknowledge the injustices that ethnic and racial minorities experience in the United States? Why do a sizeable proportion of Americans continue to oppose women's equality in the workplace and in the home?

To answer these questions, 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. Christian ideals and symbols have long played an important role in American public life, but Christian nationalism is about far more than whether the phrase "under God" belongs in the pledge of allegiance. 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.

Taking America Back for God

Christian Nationalism in the United States

Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry

Taking America Back for God

Christian Nationalism in the United States

Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry

Author Information

Andrew Whitehead is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Clemson University and Assistant Director of the Association of Religion Data Archives. He is the author of numerous articles on Christian nationalism and religion in the modern world.

Samuel L. Perry is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He is the author of over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and two books, Addicted to Lust and Growing God's Family.

Taking America Back for God

Christian Nationalism in the United States

Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry

Reviews and Awards

Recipient of the 2021 Award of Merit in Politics and Public Life from Christianity Today
Award of Merit, Christianity Today Book Awards

"Taking America Back for God is the most thorough, empirical treatment of Christian nationalism in the age of Trump.... Like the most important books, Taking America Back for God will shape the conversation regarding religion and politics." -- Andrew R Lewis, University of Cincinnati, Sociology of Religion

"Taking America Back for God is full of helpful insights." -- Journal of Church and State

"Whitehead and Perry map out the extraordinarily diverse and fractured views of Americans on the relationship between Christian nationalism and American government and politics. An essential tool for anyone who wishes to understand the current political moment." -- Katherine Stewart, author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism

"Whitehead and Perry have looked beyond the court prophets who defend Donald Trump on Twitter and TV to understand the culture that made the Trump presidency possible. The distorted moral narrative of Christian nationalism has indelibly shaped public imagination in American life for decades. Taking America Back for God demonstrates both the power of that narrative and the importance of reviving a moral movement to revive the heart of democracy." -- Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, author of Revolution of Values: Reclaiming Public Faith for the Common Good

"There has been much talk of Christian nationalism since the 2016 elections. Whitehead and Perry have given us the first systematic analysis. They present lots of data and also offer plenty of surprises. Essential reading for anyone trying to figure out the role of religion in the politics of the Trump era." -- Philip Gorski, Professor of Sociology, Yale University

"Why do so many evangelicals support Donald Trump? One cannot answer that question without an understanding of Christian nationalism. Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry have written a well-researched and very important book. It should be read by anyone trying to make sense of the relationship between religion and politics today." -- John Fea, author of Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump

"An illuminating and important account of the pervasive spread of Christian Nationalism in recent decades and of its dangerous and powerful impact on both the church and the larger culture." --Todd Edmondson, Englewood Review of Books

"Taking America Back for God illustrates just how infected evangelicalism has become with Christian nationalist ideology. Leaders in these circles need to publicly lament and own the ways their tradition has proliferated white supremacy and patriarchy. Until that day, not much will change in these spaces of worship . . . [An] important book for the moment in which we are living and leading." --Drew Strait, Christianity Today

"Whitehead and Perry provide one of the best perspectives possible on the 2020 race, and the larger forces that will continue to polarize America . . . This is both an extremely timely book and one that's likely to shape our self-understanding as a nation for generations to come." --Paul Rosenberg, Salon