70 percent of Americans Say Declaring the U.S. a Christian Nation Is Unconstitutional
-
Updated
Sep 27, 2022
![]()
A new poll found that about 70 percent of Americans believe the U.S. Constitution does not allow for the country to be declared a Christian nation.
According to the University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll, that 70 percent includes 81 percent of Democrats, 73 percent of Independents, and 57 percent of Republicans.
Meanwhile, 61 percent of Republicans said they favor “the United States officially declaring the United States to be a Christian nation.”
“Our new University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll suggests that declaring the United States a Christian nation is a message that could be broadly embraced by Republicans in the midterms and 2024 presidential race,” wrote University of Maryland professors Stella Rouse and Shibley Telhami in an op-ed for Politico.
“But our findings also see limits to its appeal — and over the long-term, Christian nationalism could be a political loser.”
The poll included 2,091 participants and was conducted May 6-16, 2022.
The poll also examined how different religious groups see Christian nationalism. About 46 percent of Baptists said becoming a Christian nation was constitutional, and 54 percent said it was not.
Catholics (69 percent), non-Christians (85 percent) and other Christians (69 percent) surveyed said that declaring the U.S. a Christian nation would not be allowed under the Constitution.
Tehmahi also said that evangelical or born-again Christians were most likely to believe the U.S. could officially become a Christian nation. Among Republicans, more than three-fourths (78 percent) of those who identified as evangelical or born-again said the same.
“As our findings demonstrate, there is strong opposition to declaring the U.S. a Christian nation among younger Americans, and even younger Republicans. For that reason, the GOP may want to tread carefully or risk alienating rising generations.”
Previously, a 2021 Pew Research survey found that 69 percent of Americans said the government “should never declare any religion as the official religion of the U.S.” However, 15 percent said the government should officially make the U.S. a Christian nation.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Photovs
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
