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Coronavirus Disease 2019
COVID-19 and Christian Nationalism
Understanding religious resistance to certain public health practices.
Posted December 10, 2020 Reviewed by Devon Frye
The other day, my son, who is in high school, got a disturbing message on Instagram from a classmate. It read, in part: “COVID is made up by the media… America is supposed to be a free country and no one should be forced to wear a mask… you should trust Jesus.”
When my son responded by sending him various scientific videos about COVID-19, his classmate dismissed them as "fake" and urged my son to turn to God.
Just at the same time my son was Instagramming with this classmate, a colleague of mine happened to send me a video of a recent town hall meeting in Rapid City, South Dakota, where local residents successfully urged their city council to significantly loosen the restrictions of a proposed mask mandate. Despite South Dakota having one of the worst death rates from COVID-19 in the world, some citizens there argued that they shouldn't have to wear protective masks while frequently citing God and Jesus.
What’s going on? Why is it that some religious people in America appear to be so against measures that are designed to protect the public, including them and the people they love? Most religious faiths preach values such as altruism and compassion, making the resistance to public health measures designed to benefit everyone appear contradictory.
Of course, while many religious believers in America do take COVID-19 seriously, do take necessary health precautions, and are working on the front lines helping the sick and dying, the fact remains that, on average, it is the more ardently religious Americans who are the least likely to favor or adhere to safety measures in the face of the pandemic, while secular Americans are more likely to.
As a recent study undertaken by the University of Chicago Divinity School and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reports: “Adults with a religious affiliation are more likely to support the protests against stay-at-home orders than those without one.” Or as the authors of a recent article in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion summarized, “Polls and rapid‐response studies have… shown that Americans who were more religious or religiously conservative (e.g., evangelicals) were… less likely to social distance, wear masks, or otherwise take recommended precautionary measures, while more secular Americans were more likely to follow these guidelines.”
It is thus likely no mere coincidence that those states that have large secular populations—such as Vermont, Washington, and New York—were the ones that enacted the most aggressive responses to stemming the virus, while those states that have more religious populations—like Oklahoma, Alabama, and Mississippi—were the most dismissive or opened up the fastest.
How do we explain why secular Americans seem, on average, to be taking the virus more seriously—and doing more to limit its harm and the suffering it can cause—than religious Americans? The co-authors of one of the studies cited above have some answers.
According to Samuel Perry (University of Oklahoma), Andrew Whitehead (Indiana University), and Joshua Grubbs (Bowling Green State University), in their article “Culture Wars and COVID‐19 Conduct: Christian Nationalism, Religiosity, and Americans’ Behavior During the Coronavirus Pandemic,” being religious—in and of itself—may not actually be the issue. Rather, it may be related to being a certain kind of religious: a Christian nationalist.
As their research reveals, “Christian nationalism was the leading predictor that Americans engaged in incautious behavior like eating in restaurants, visiting family/friends, or gathering with 10+ persons (though not attending church), and was the second strongest predictor that Americans took fewer precautions like wearing a mask or sanitizing/washing one's hands… Findings document that Christian nationalism, not religious commitment per se, undergirded the far‐right response to COVID‐19 that disregarded precautionary recommendations, thus potentially worsening the pandemic.”
Christian nationalism entails a decidedly conservative orientation that combines the following beliefs: that the United States is a Christian nation specifically favored by God; that the success of the United States is part of God’s divine plan; that God will punish the United States for allowing "sins" like abortion and gay marriage to remain legal; that scientists, health experts, and well-educated elites are not to be trusted; that faith is more reliable than scientific empiricism; and that the news media is corrupt.
Sure enough, Professor Perry and his colleagues found that Americans who strongly embrace Christian nationalism are engaging in more dangerous behaviors during this pandemic, such as eating out at restaurants, visiting with friends, attending gatherings with large numbers of people, and shopping for nonessential items, and they are markedly less likely to engage in safe behaviors like hand‐washing, mask‐wearing, and using hand sanitizer.
And it is just such behavior that is likely largely responsible for the increased sickness and death that's unfolded in the country over the last several months.
Social-psychological insight teaches us that in times of rapid change, uncertainty, instability, economic strain, and cultural turmoil, people tend to turn to movements and ideologies that make them feel special and part of a safe, larger movement. That’s why people tend to become more religious and nationalist during times of hardship. It can be comforting to think that God is looking out for you and yours and that you are a member of the “best” country. Hence, it makes sense that many Americans embrace Christian nationalism. It likely feels good to believe that you are a special favorite of a powerful deity and that your nation is Number One.
But while such ideologies are understandable, that does not make them healthy or helpful—as, perhaps, the Christian nationalist response to this pandemic is revealing.
