Cities on a Hill: American Religious Exceptionalism and White Christian Nationalism

Abstract

Scholarly attention has shifted from a focus on white evangelicals and the Christian Right to the more pressing threat of white Christian nationalism. In The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics, Eric L. McDaniel, Irfan Nooruddin, and Allyson F. Shortle explore the antecedent ideology of American religious exceptionalism. They report that many elements of this ideology are present across the political spectrum, but the strongest believers are distinctive in many ways. American religious exceptionalism can be a basis for a variety of political mobilizations, but it has most recently been used primarily in an effort to deliver Christian nationalist votes to Republican candidates, including Donald Trump.