New analysis shows strong correlation between belief in democratic ideals and rejection of Christian nationalism.

WASHINGTON (September 24, 2026) — A new national survey released today by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Meanings of Democracy Lab of the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University uses data from the 2025 PRRI American Values Atlas to examine the religious, political, and demographic makeup of the nearly two-thirds of Americans who qualify as Christian nationalism Rejecters (27%) or Skeptics (37%).

The new PRRI-Meanings of Democracy Lab report, “Resistance to Christian Nationalism in All 50 States,” finds that large majorities of Democrats (82%) and independents (72%) resist Christian nationalist beliefs, compared with 40% of Republicans.

Resistance to Christian nationalism is strongest among non-Christians, but majorities of numerous Christian traditions also resist it. Majorities of several Christian groups qualify as Rejecters or Skeptics, including Hispanic Catholics (71%), white Catholics (62%), white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (61%), and Orthodox Christians (60%). Black Protestants (52%) and Latter-day Saints (49%) are more divided, while Hispanic Protestants (42%), Jehovah’s Witnesses (42%), and white evangelical Protestants (30%) are the least likely to resist. 

“We assume Christian nationalism’s biggest opponents are secular Americans. In fact, most people of faith reject it,” said Melissa Deckman, Ph.D., CEO of PRRI. “The fight against Christian nationalism’s goal to embed a conservative version of Christianity within our democracy isn’t a fight between the religious and the secular. It’s a fight between a majority of Americans who want democracy to answer to all of us, and a minority of those who want to enshrine one faith’s dominance in law.”

Resistance to Christian nationalism varies widely across the 50 states, ranging from a low of 42% in Arkansas to a high of 80% in Massachusetts. Resistance to Christian nationalism is strongest in Western states such as Washington (77%), California (74%), Oregon (73%), and Nevada (70%), as well as Northeastern states such as Massachusetts (80%), New Jersey (74%), and New York (73%). Alternatively, the smallest shares of Christian nationalism resisters are concentrated in the Midwest and South: Arkansas (42%), Mississippi (43%), and West Virginia (46%) sit at the bottom of the ranking, with Oklahoma (49%) also falling below the majority threshold.

At the state level, resistance to Christian nationalism is strongly correlated with Democratic representation in state legislatures and with religious diversity. Christian nationalism resisters are concentrated in states where Democrats hold larger majorities in their state legislatures. States like Massachusetts, Washington, California, and New York, all with substantial Democratic majorities, post the highest average Christian Nationalism resistance scores, while states with heavily Republican legislatures, like Arkansas, post the lowest.

States where no single religious group dominates, and religious traditions are more evenly represented, show the strongest resistance to Christian nationalism. New Jersey, New York, California, and Massachusetts all rank among the most religiously diverse states and post some of the nation’s highest Christian nationalism resistance scores. Arkansas, by contrast, ranks low on both religious diversity and resistance.

“Resistance to Christian nationalism tracks strongly with religious diversity,” explained Ruth Braunstein, Ph.D., Director of the SNF Agora Institute. “States like New Jersey, New York, California, and Massachusetts, where no single faith dominates the culture, show the nation’s highest resistance scores, while Arkansas, with far less religious diversity, shows among the lowest. Where people grow up around religious difference, Christian nationalism has less pull.”

Christian nationalism resisters overwhelmingly embrace religious and racial pluralism and hold welcoming views of immigrants. Rejecters and Skeptics of Christian nationalism embrace religious and cultural pluralism far more than Sympathizers and Adherents do. Nearly all Rejecters (94%) and most Skeptics (77%) want the U.S. to include a wide variety of religions, compared with fewer than half of Sympathizers and Adherents. Rejecters and Skeptics are also far more likely to see immigrants as strengthening American society rather than “replacing” its culture, and large majorities support immigrants’ due process rights and birthright citizenship — views far less common among Sympathizers and Adherents.

Christian nationalism resisters strongly oppose efforts to erode democratic norms and remain the least likely Americans to support political violence. While support for political violence among Rejecters increased in December 2025 to reach the same level as Skeptics (17% each), both groups remain far less likely than Sympathizers (25%) and Adherents (28%) to agree that true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country. Overwhelming majorities of Rejecters (92%) and Skeptics (80%) say America is best understood as a nation built on the idea that all people have equal rights and freedoms compared with fewer Sympathizers (69%) and Adherents (65%)

Other notable findings:

• Most Rejecters and Skeptics agree that immigrants, regardless of legal status, should have the right to challenge their deportation in court (87% and 62%, respectively) and favor birthright citizenship (88% and 69%, respectively).
• Resistance decreases with age and increases with education. Large majorities of Americans under 50 and those with college and postgraduate degrees resist Christian nationalist beliefs, compared with smaller shares of Americans ages 50 and older and those with a high school education or less.
• Nearly all Rejecters (93%) and two-thirds of Skeptics (66%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with far fewer Sympathizers (37%) and Adherents (22%).
• Large majorities of Rejecters (87%) and Skeptics (72%) disagree that President Donald Trump should postpone the 2026 midterm elections if states cannot get voter fraud under control, compared with Sympathizers (60%) and Adherents (44%).
• Rejecters (70%) are the most likely to oppose policies that encourage more Americans to have children, compared with Skeptics (52%), Sympathizers (50%), and Adherents (48%), who are more divided.

Methodology

The survey was designed and conducted by PRRI. The survey was made possible through the generous support of the Wilbur & Hilda Glenn Family Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock.

The survey was carried out among a random representative sample of 22,111 adults (age 18 and up) living in all 50 states in the United States. Among those, 20,771 are part of Ipsos’s KnowledgePanel and an additional 1,340 were recruited by Ipsos using opt-in survey panels to increase the sample sizes in smaller states. Interviews were conducted online between February 28 and December 8, 2025. The margin of error for the national survey is +/- 0.87 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence, including the design effect for the survey of 1.7. In addition to sampling error, surveys may also be subject to error or bias due to question wording, context, and order effects. Additional details about the KnowledgePanel can be found on the Ipsos website: https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/solution/knowledgepanel

About PRRI

PRRI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public policy.

#            #            #