(RNS) — Since the 1950s, Americans have pledged allegiance to the flag and to one nation under God.
But they disagree on which God — or at least which religion — Americans should follow.
About half (46%) of Americans say they prefer a country with a wide variety of faiths. Nineteen percent strongly prefer to live with folks who follow the Christian religion. And the rest (34%) are in the middle, neither strongly agreeing nor strongly disagreeing, according to data from the Washington, D.C.-based Public Religion Research Institute’s American Values Survey.
That divide shows up in a new PRRI report on Christian nationalism, released Tuesday (Feb. 17).
Most (83%) of those who reject Christian nationalism — the idea that America was founded by and belongs to Christians — say they want to live in a pluralistic country. Not surprisingly, those who embrace Christian nationalism, according to PRRI’s measuring index, prefer a nation made up of Christians (73%).
“Who Are More Likely to Support Christian Nationalism, by Religious Affiliation” (Graphic courtesy of PRRI)
The report reveals deep divides about the role that religion should play in the country, said Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI.
“It’s a question of American identity,” said Deckman.
Since 2023, PRRI has tried to measure support for Christian nationalism in the U.S., using a series of five questions. Those questions ask if the government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation, if being Christian is important to being an American, if U.S. law should be based on Christian values, if Christians are called to have domination over American society and if the U.S. will fall apart without its Christian foundations.
About 1 in 10 Americans (11%) are what PRRI calls Christian nationalist adherents, meaning they agree or completely agree with all questions, according to the new report, based on data from September 2025. One in 4 Americans (27%) are “rejectors,” meaning they completely disagree with all five statements. Twenty-one percent of Americans are Christian nationalist sympathizers, according to PRRI, meaning they agree with most of the statements, but don’t completely agree with them. Thirty-seven percent are skeptics and disagree — but not completely — with most of the five statements.
Overall, about a third of Americans — including 56% of Republicans, 67% of white evangelicals and 54% of Hispanic Protestants — fall in the adherent or sympathizer categories. Two-thirds, including 82% of Democrats and 87% of religiously unaffiliated, fall in the skeptic or rejecter categories. White Christians (46%) and Christians of color (39%) are more likely to fall into the first two cat …