America in the grip of Christian religiosity
By P K Balachandran
Trump, with conservative Christian influencer Charlie Kirk, whose movement has contributed to increased church attendance among younger Americans, particularly following recent political events
Christian religiosity appears to be gaining traction in the United States partly because it is one of the defining features of President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) ideology. Trump himself talks about God and Heaven. In a recent interview with Fox News, he said, “If I can stop wars and bring peace, I think Heaven’s going to look at that very strongly”.
Reflecting on the death of the Christian evangelist and MAGA ally, Charlie Kirk, Trump said that Kirk would make it to Heaven. And Vice President J.D. Vance told a recent “Turning Point USA” gathering that because he was drawn to Christianity, his Hindu wife, Usha, would also be drawn to it eventually.
“Now, most Sundays, Usha will come with me to church. As I’ve told her and I’ve said publicly, and I’ll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends – Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved, the church? Yeah, I honestly do, because I believe in the Christian gospel and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way,” Vance said.
Religious difference was not a problem when Vance married Usha Chilukuri, a Hindu from Andhra Pradesh in South India. While there was no pressure from Vance on Usha to change her religion at that time, she agreed to bring up their three children as Christians. But since the ascendence of MAGA and White-Christian majoritarian politics under Trump’s second Presidency, Vance, like many White Americans, has felt the need to hold up Christianity as a badge of American identity.
And since Vance is hoping to step into the shoes of Trump when the latter finishes his second term in 2028, he must be thinking of playing up his Christian affiliation.
Even as the Indo-American New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani flaunts his Islamic heritage, some other Indian American politicos have embraced Christianity like Nikki Haley and Bobby (Piyush) Jindal Governor of Louisiana, leaving Sikhism and Hinduism respectively.
Non-Christian political hopefuls are asked about their religion with audiences taking the line that non-Christians cannot serve largely Christian America sincerely. When Vivek Ramaswamy, a Hindu contesting for the Ohio Governorship, was harangued by an audience he shot back saying that he was not fighting to be the Pastor of Ohio but its Governor.
PRRI Poll
A recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute covering 5,772 adults in all 50 states, found that 25% believed that God ordained Trump to be the winner of the 2024 election, with 60% of White Evangelical Protestants holding that view.
Those identified as Christian nationalist adherents/sympathisers backed Trump by a large majority, 80%. Nearly the same percentage said they believed in the “QAnon” conspiracy theory. “QAnon” is a far-right American political movement that centres on claims made by anonymous individuals known as “Q”. Their core belief is that a “cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic child molesters in league with the Deep State, operates continuously to weaken America”.
Conversely, 83% of Black Protestant voters, 72% of unaffiliated voters, 67% of non-Christian religions, and 62% of Jews backed Trump’s rival Kamala Harris. However, there was a split among Roman Catholic voters: 59% of White Catholics backed Trump, while 55% of Hispanic Catholics went for Harris.
PEW Poll
A poll by Pew Research Centre came up with similar results. A survey, of a nationally representative sample of 8,937 Americans found that overall, 32% think Trump’s election is part of God’s plan. 51% who identified as White and evangelical, said religion plays a big role in shaping their vote. That is larger than any other religious group by at least 14% points.
The PRRI survey found a correlation between church attendance and support for Trump. In general, White Christian voters who said they attended church weekly were more likely to vote for Trump than former Vice President Kamala Harris. But even among White evangelicals those who said they rarely attended church, 77% said they voted for Trump – also higher than any other group.
Interestingly, this group of voters has remained by Trump’s side through the years, despite the infidelity scandals, accusations of wrongdoing, impeachments, criminal indictments, felony charges and other misconduct allegations against him.
Trump’s ties to religious conservatives appear to be stronger than ever before, with the President occasionally comparing himself to Jesus Christ and using rhetoric that creates an “us-versus-them” mentality.
Trump told a room filled with members of Christian media in February 2024 – “Remember, every Communist regime throughout history has tried to stamp out the churches, just like every fascist regime has tried to co-opt them and control them and, in America, the radical left is trying to do both”.
“They want to tear down crosses where they can and cover them up with social justice flags. But no one will be touching the cross of Christ under the Trump administration, I swear to you”.
For some, Trump’s perceived godliness has only been deepened by his surviving two assassination attempts. At Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in October 2024, his friend, David Rem, painted Trump as a saviour while comparing Trump’s opponent, Harris, to “the devil” and “antichrist”.
Televangelist Paula White claimed that Trump’s surviving an assassination attempt in July 2024 “wasn’t a coincidence” but “God’s sovereign divine miracle”. Paula White leads the White House Faith Office.
Trump had signed an Executive Order establishing an Anti-Christian Bias Task Force in the Department of Justice. The task force will allow churches and houses of worship to endorse political candidates without losing their IRS tax exempt status.
He’s also taken steps to quash progressive policies that religious conservatives have often opposed, such as blocking Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood, an organization vilified for providing abortions, and rolling back transgender rights, especially for minors.
Charlie Kirk Effect
Trump portrayed the late conservative Christian influencer, Charlie Kirk, as a martyr. As a result, White evangelicals have a resounding approval rating of Trump, with 72% approving his current job handling, 69 % believing that his administration’s ethics are excellent or good, and 57% trusting Trump more than previous Presidents. That is far greater than the general public’s 40% approval rating.
According to Newsweek Christianity in the US is seeing notable growth across several sectors, including Bible sales, faith-based app use, and Christian music streams. Circana Bookscan says that annual US Bible sales have increased 41.6 % since 2022.
Downloads of religion and spirituality apps are up 79.5% since 2019, according to SensorTower. In the same period, Luminate’s Music Insights reported that Spotify streams of contemporary Christian music rose 50%, marking a steady increase in public engagement with Christian content.
Some religious leaders have also reported a rise in physical church attendance, particularly among younger Americans. Since the assassination of “Turning Point USA” founder Charlie Kirk on September 10, several faith leaders have said they have seen noticeable increases in church turnout.
Matt Zerrusen, co-founder of Newman Ministry, a Catholic nonprofit that operates at more than 250 college campuses, told the Catholic News Agency that in the days after Kirk’s death, “every faith leader he spoke to told him they’ve seen bigger crowds” at Mass and that there were “many people they’ve never
seen before.” The trend was dubbed by some as the “Charlie Kirk Effect.”
Christianity or Spirituality?
However, Bill Reddinger writing for the Center for Christian Thought & Action says that America may be becoming more spiritual rather than more Christian.
“An increase in spirituality may indicate, not an increase in orthodox Christian profession and practice, but instead an increase in spirituality and enchantment.”
A Pew study shows a significant majority of American adults believe “In God or a universal spirit” or that “There is something spiritual beyond the natural world” — statements that contain no distinctively Christian content but, of course, are compatible with Christian belief.
Another study (last conducted in 2022) called the “State of Theology” from Ligonier Ministries suggests that many people who self-identify as Christians may nevertheless profess beliefs that depart significantly from orthodox Christianity.
“For example, a shocking number of American evangelicals believe that gender identity is a matter of choice (37%), God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (56%), Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God” (43%), and “Everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God” (65%)” Reddinger points out.
Daily Mirror
