In the minds of some pundits today, Christian nationalists in 2026 are the Communists of the 1950s, infiltrating government, warping the minds of average Americans and insidiously overtaking our every way of life.
Such is the belief in the threat that the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) has mapped the presence of Christian nationalism across the 50 states. The PRRI calls itself a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization that conducts public opinion polls on topics as they relate to religious values.
Before we delve into what the report said about Tennessee, and for those yet unfamiliar with the term, Christian nationalism is the belief the United States should be a Christian theocracy and that the federal government should take actions so that it remains a Christian theocracy in political, cultural and social life.
Our feeling is that the country was much closer to a Christian theocracy with first the presidential election of Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976 and then the election of Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980. Both wins were said to rely on the strength of a Christian voting majority, and both presidents took certain actions in office based on their understanding of the Christian faith.
Candidly, though, we don’t believe the nation was close to Christian nationalism then or now, and, in actuality, is a far more secular nation than it was 45 years ago.