Preaching to the Choir? Awareness of "Christian Nationalism" and Implications for Public Sociology

Media attention to “Christian nationalism” has grown in the past few years. Yet given that those initially using the term have largely been academic social scientists and journalists warning about it, it is quite likely that public awareness of the term itself has been concentrated among audiences (and alternatively missing others) who hold theoretically predictable characteristics. Empirically, this study examines what factors predict exposure to the term “Christian nationalism” among the general public in two national surveys. Building on research documenting growing conservative skepticism toward academics (sociologists often the focus) and siloed media consumption, I theorize Americans most familiar with “Christian nationalism” would be those who are more educated, less religious, and on the partisan and ideological left. Drawing on two representative surveys fielded in mid-September and November/December of 2022, findings affirm the strongest predictors of Americans hearing/reading more about “Christian nationalism” were being more liberal, educated, and (in one survey) being non-Christian. Also, in both surveys, interactions show exposure to the term among liberals and Democrats increases substantially with educational attainment. Despite the considerable amount of sociological research that has been conducted on “Christian nationalism,” and even apparent efforts to engage in “public sociology” on the topic, those most aware of the term in late 2022 were secular, educated, liberal, Democrats; that is, the audiences already likely to view it as threatening. I conclude by discussing implications for sociology’s public impact as a discipline.