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Hello everyone, today we will talk
about religion in the US.

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I'll use numbers and research from
the Pew Center and scholars in

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history and religion from the
University of Boston University

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and the University of Pennsylvania.

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Despite the founding fathers' intent
for the US to be a secular country,

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religion, specifically Christianity,
which roughly 70% of the population

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identifies with, plays a very prominent
role in society and is at the center

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of the culture wars that divide
the nation.

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By now, several generations have
grown up without public school

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prayer and it's easy to take
church-state separation for granted.

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Thomas Jefferson, in his famous
1802 letter to the Baptists of Danbury,

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Connecticut, described his view
that the First Amendment created,

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I quote, a wall of separation between
church and state, end quote.

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But the firm wall Jefferson envisioned
didn't materialize in his lifetime.

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Jefferson lost.

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Jefferson's idea that religion
should be private, that there should

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be a wall of separation between
church and state, that was never

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the dominant idea.

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Religion has been deeply implicated
in American politics since the

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founding, whether through the prayers
of the Continental Congress or

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the 1956 Declaration of In God
We Trust as the national motto,

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which you can read on American
bent notes.

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In fact, it wasn't until the middle
of the 20th century that the Supreme

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Court officially confirmed the
First Amendment as creating that wall,

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a watershed moment that paved the
way for later decisions,

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including the banning of
school-sponsored prayer.

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Although Christianity is often
associated with the right,

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there are significant numbers of
Christians who identify with the

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Democratic Party.

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Catholics, for example,
are roughly evenly split on party

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affiliation.

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There are traditional tendency
to vote Democrat, having declined

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over the years, largely due to
the party's stance on abortion.

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That said, the Republican base
is subtly Christian, and the party

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relies on the powerful Christian
right voting bloc for its electoral

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victories.

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Perhaps surprisingly,
this group has coalesced around

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Donald Trump as their champion
and largely continues to support him,

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even after his election loss and
the attack on the Capitol in January

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2021.

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Although the Constitution clearly
states in the First Amendment that

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Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion or

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prohibiting the free exercise thereof,
conflicts continue between various

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religious groups and the irreligious.

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The U.S.

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thus has a clear constitutionally
mandated separation between church

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and state, and yet it is heavily
influenced by Christianity,

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despite its spaces in Enlightenment
thought.

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Examples of this seeming contradiction
include the existence of blue laws,

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the phrase under God added to the
Pledge of Allegiance in 1954,

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the official motto of the U.S.

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since 1956 in God We Trust,
the fact that many politicians

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are sworn into office on a Bible,
the fact that today the president

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takes the oath of office by concluding,
so help me God, and the fact that

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presidents frequently invoke a daily,
for example, God bless America.

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Every president of the United States
has, at least extensively,

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been a Christian, with only two
Catholics among them,

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Kennedy and Biden, the rest having
been Protestant.

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Although the earliest settlers
from England arrived to make a profit,

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many that followed were seeking
religious freedom, notably the

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Puritans.

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Given that the U.S.

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began as various English colonies,
it is unsurprising that it has

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always maintained a Protestant
majority.

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Throughout American history,
the population has experienced

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a series of great awakenings,
revivals and revitalizations of

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the Protestant faith,
which have shaped the culture and

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politics of the country.

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The most recent such event took
place in the late 20th century,

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creating the aforementioned Christian
right voting bloc that influences

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elections nationwide.

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Evangelical Protestantism has taken
on many forms, such as the prosperity

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gospel, the mixing of religion
and nationalism, and creationism.

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Such is the power of this train
of Christianity that candidates

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in the 2016 Republican primary
refuse to answer the question of

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evolution directly for fear of
alienating their base.

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Due to the changing religious landscape
of the country, the rise of secularism

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and atheism, and the arrival of
other faiths, many evangelicals

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feel under attack, despite the
power that they still hold.

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This movement achieved its greatest
victory and long-time goal in 2022

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when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v.

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Wade and its federal protection
for abortion.

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Abortion has been one of the focal
points of the culture wars in the

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United States since 1973,
motivating voters in both camps.

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While Christians live in every
part of the country,

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they are most concentrated in the
region known as the Bible Belt,

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a very conservative,
protestant-dominated area that

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covers the entirety of the South
and overlaps with Republican-dominated

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states.

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Religions other than Protestant
Christianity have often been viewed

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with apprehensions in the United
States.

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For example, Jews and Catholics
were commonly subjected to

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discrimination before being assimilated
into mainstream society during

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the 20th century.

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Both groups have since become extremely
influential in American culture

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and politics, with Muslims also
having made their mark,

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though they are friendly a target
of discrimination.

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Catholicism has existed in
English-speaking North America

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since the colonial period,
but it really gained prominence

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with the arrival of large waves
of European immigrants from countries

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such as Germany, Italy,
Ireland, and Poland in the 19th

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and early 20th centuries.

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Anticatholic bigotry showed itself
on both occasions at a Catholic

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run as the nominee for a major
party in the 20th century,

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Al Smith in 1920 and JFK in 1960,
with some questioning whether they

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would serve the interests of the
Vatican rather than those of the U.S.

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As a testament to how far Catholicism
has come in the United States,

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President Biden, only the second
Catholic to hold the office,

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barely had his beliefs mentioned
during his presidential campaign

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and never in a negative light.

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The Catholic Church has seen declining
membership, but more recently

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immigrants from Latin America have
increased its numbers.

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How did we transform from a nation
that could look past Jefferson's

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criticisms of religion and elect
him president to one that wouldn't

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tolerate them?

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Religion, which has long been an
indispensable part of American

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public life, is perhaps more central
to American politics than ever before.

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Recent polling shows that the fastest
growing religious groups are

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non-believers and those who identify
as spiritual but not religious.

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Religion is taking anything but
a backseat in presidential elections.

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In 2012, for example,
unease about Mitt Romney's persisted

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among liberals and conservatives alike,
and in 2008, controversial liberation

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theology sermons by Reverend Jeremiah
Wright threatened to undermine

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Barack Obama's candidacy,
while a small minority of Americans

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doubted whether Obama was even
a Christian.

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When Jefferson was running for
president, elections were very

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different from what they are today.

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Voting was heavily restricted,
largely to wealthy white males,

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and political parties were not
as established as they are now.

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You don't have candidates going
around the country making speeches,

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so personal statements of faith
are really not a part of political

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campaigns.

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One issue that nudged candidates'
personal faith further into the

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electoral limelight was immigration.

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Another issue would be the opposition
to the secularism of the 60s to

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abortion and to measures that
established a clearer separation

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between church and state,
such as the banning of school-sponsored

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prayer galvanized the religious right.

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Evangelicals would boost the campaigns
of Republicans like Ronald Reagan,

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George H.W.

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Bush, George W.

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Bush, and later Donald Trump.

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Now the role of evangelical protestants
is so strong that it shapes the

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entire presidential selection process.

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Let's note that culture war politics
is very successful on the right

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for state and local elections,
but it's not successful at the

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national level.

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Voicing opposition to issues such
as abortion and gay marriage in

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the primaries might fire up some
GOP members, GOP you remember,

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the Republican Party,
but can make hopefuls look like

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fringe candidates to others.

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The boost that the culture war
gave right-leaning politicians

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after the 1970s contributed to
the partisan politicking we see today.

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The stern individualistic morality
and black-and-white worldview of

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right-wing evangelicals like Jerry
Falwell proved more appealing than

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the nuanced perspective of evangelicals
who focused on social justice issues

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and on the ambiguities and pitfalls
of partisan politics.

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Over time, both parties politicized
more issues, from history and education

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to the environment and foreign policy.

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Today, being researchers,
we play out these culture wars

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not just in terms of abortion and
in terms of same-sex marriage,

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but in all these fields.

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Christians of both parties believe
in the idea of America as a special,

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promised land, an idea dating back
as early as the settlements of

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the pilgrims and the Puritans.

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But this sometimes part ways on
what it means to be a chosen people

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and on the rhetoric for talking
about it.

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Republicans emphasize pride in the U.S.

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as the greatest country in the world,
wanting to see the U.S.

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demonstrate moral superiority,
one reason negotiating with Iran

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over its nuclear capabilities was
such a point of contention.

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Democrats, however, commonly speak
in a prophetic mode about how the

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nation needs to do better at living
up to its ideals of equality,

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justice, and so forth.