Recent research found that U.S. Christians who believe that God is benevolent, angry, and engaged tend to express stronger religious nationalism. In turn, stronger religious nationalism was associated with greater conspiracy mentality and higher levels of xenophobia. The paper was published in Political Psychology.
Religious views often play a significant role in shaping national identity. They influence cultural traditions, values, and historical narratives. In many countries, dominant religions are deeply intertwined with national symbols, holidays, and public life. In some nations, such as Iran or Israel, religion is a foundational component of the state itself. In others, like the United States or India, religious diversity coexists with strong national identities, though tensions may arise when one faith is perceived as more representative than others.
National identity can be reinforced by shared religious practices, which create a sense of belonging and continuity among citizens. However, when national identity becomes too closely linked to a single religion, it can marginalize religious minorities and fuel exclusion or conflict. Secular states attempt to separate religion from national identity, promoting citizenship based on civic values rather than faith. Still, even in secular societies, religious history often remains a powerful undercurrent in how people understand their national identity.
Sometimes, individuals combine their religious beliefs with their views on the nation-state. This gives rise to the ideology of religious nationalism. Religious nationalism occurs when people merge traditional religious beliefs in divine law and religious authority with the modern concept of the nation-state. This ideology moralizes political issues using religious principles and supports policies and leaders who promote one’s religious identity.
Religious nationalism “promotes the narrative that one’s nation is drifting away from its religious roots and needs its citizens to adhere to and promote this worldview. This narrative can further paint one’s religious followers as victims of a global conspiracy to obstruct one’s religion,” the study authors explain.
Study author Joseph A. Wagoner and his colleagues sought to explore whether religious nationalism is associated with the way people imagine God. They focused on four potential images of God: benevolent, authoritarian, engaged, and angry over sin. They conducted two studies, both examining the relationship between these images of God and religious nationalism.
In the first study, they analyzed data from the Baylor Religion Survey to investigate whether different images of God are associated with religious nationalism among U.S. Christians. Data came from two waves of the survey, involving 1,619 respondents in the first wave and 1,648 in the second.
The second study had a similar aim. Participants included 300 Christians from the United States and 299 from Italy, all recruited via Prolific. They completed an online survey that also asked about their attitudes toward government and political issues specific to their country.
Results from the first study showed that endorsement of all four images of God was associated with greater religious nationalism. However, the association was stronger—moderate in magnitude—for beliefs in a benevolent, engaged, or sin-angry God. The association between religious nationalism and belief in an authoritarian God was weaker.
In the second study, results from the U.S. sample indicated that beliefs in a benevolent God and a God angered by sin were associated with stronger religious nationalism. In turn, stronger religious nationalism predicted higher levels of conspiracy mentality and xenophobia.
In the Italian sample, beliefs in a benevolent, engaged, and angry God were all associated with higher levels of religious nationalism. Individuals with stronger religious nationalist beliefs were more likely to express negative attitudes toward their government and to endorse separatism, populist views, conspiracy theories, and xenophobia.
“Overall, we provide evidence that images of God uniquely predict religious nationalism across numerous contexts and that stronger religious nationalism relates to various contemporary sociopolitical outcomes,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the links between religious nationalism and how individuals imagine God. However, it should be noted that the study’s design does not allow for causal conclusions to be drawn from the results.
The paper, “Different images of God predict religious nationalism among Christians,” was authored by Joseph A. Wagoner, Moussa Diarra, Barbara Barbieri, and Matteo Antonini.