Defining the Problem
Christian nationalist authoritarianism is on the rise in the U.S. and it is being fueled by, among other forces, some evangelical Christian leaders. In 2024, Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that 3 in 10 Americans are Christian nationalist adherents or sympathizers -- but that number skyrockets when correlated with religious beliefs. The same survey found that 66% of white evangelical Protestants hold Christian nationalist beliefs -- so much so that being white and evangelical is, according to the survey, "predictive" of holding Christian nationalist beliefs. The Pew Research Center goes further -- they found that 81% of white evangelical Protestants believe that America should be a Christian nation, a cornerstone of the Christian nationalist belief system.
While PRRI's research shows that most Americans do not support authoritarianism, more specifically, those numbers again change radically when correlated with religious beliefs, with 64% of white Protestant evangelicals scoring high on the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (RWAS). The same survey also showed that many white evangelical Protestants agree with apocalyptic religious views such as "God wants Christians to take control of the '7 Mountains' of society" (48%) and "America was chosen by God to be a new promised land for European Christians" (33%). It also shows that 77% agree that "America is in danger of losing its culture and identity" -- a significant indicator for belief in authoritarianism and Christian nationalism.
An article in Baptist News Global sums up the problem well: "Indeed, many evangelical churches are knowingly complicit in cultivating this cultural identity among their followers. They promote a version of Christianity that emphasizes all the elements of Christian nationalism, while deemphasizing any teachings from Jesus that might undercut their very narrow perspective. They will say Jesus was a capitalist, when, in reality, Jesus despised materialism. They will say Jesus desires violence against the enemies of the United States, when, in reality, Jesus was heavily pacifistic. They will say Jesus deplores homosexuality and abortion, when, in reality, he never addressed the subjects at all in the Gospels."
While PRRI's research shows that most Americans do not support authoritarianism, more specifically, those numbers again change radically when correlated with religious beliefs, with 64% of white Protestant evangelicals scoring high on the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (RWAS). The same survey also showed that many white evangelical Protestants agree with apocalyptic religious views such as "God wants Christians to take control of the '7 Mountains' of society" (48%) and "America was chosen by God to be a new promised land for European Christians" (33%). It also shows that 77% agree that "America is in danger of losing its culture and identity" -- a significant indicator for belief in authoritarianism and Christian nationalism.
An article in Baptist News Global sums up the problem well: "Indeed, many evangelical churches are knowingly complicit in cultivating this cultural identity among their followers. They promote a version of Christianity that emphasizes all the elements of Christian nationalism, while deemphasizing any teachings from Jesus that might undercut their very narrow perspective. They will say Jesus was a capitalist, when, in reality, Jesus despised materialism. They will say Jesus desires violence against the enemies of the United States, when, in reality, Jesus was heavily pacifistic. They will say Jesus deplores homosexuality and abortion, when, in reality, he never addressed the subjects at all in the Gospels."
Evangelicals are Leaving
Much has been written about "religious nones" -- those who do not identify with a religious tradition. Religious nones might be atheist, agnostic, or "nothing in particular" -- and many of them are formerly evangelical. According to both qualitative and quantitative surveys, people are leaving Christianity generally for many reasons -- including that they just stopped believing the teachings. But those leaving the evangelical church specifically are disproportionately more likely to leave because of "the religion’s negative religious teachings about or treatment of gay and lesbian people," "you stopped believing in the religion’s teachings," "it was bad for your mental health," and/or "your church or congregation became too focused on politics." [Taken from cross-tabs of this survey.]
While there are some efforts to describe this "dechurching" as purely pragmatic (someone moved, got married, couldn't find a church they liked that was convenient, etc.), this only tells part of the story. The harm experienced by many in the evangelical church (often referred to under the umbrella term "religious trauma syndrome") takes different shapes, including LGBTQ condemnation, purity culture, white supremacist ideology, and more.
While there are some efforts to describe this "dechurching" as purely pragmatic (someone moved, got married, couldn't find a church they liked that was convenient, etc.), this only tells part of the story. The harm experienced by many in the evangelical church (often referred to under the umbrella term "religious trauma syndrome") takes different shapes, including LGBTQ condemnation, purity culture, white supremacist ideology, and more.
Exvangelicals are Everywhere
While there is no solid data on how many Exvangelicals there are in the U.S., some surveys have cited that upwards of 15 million American adults are formerly evangelical – maybe far more. Regardless of the exact number, there are certainly many millions of unorganized people who could be deployed to confront white Christian nationalism head-on as a powerful moral voice against the Christian nationalist leaders who are enthusiastically ushering in authoritarian rule – but who are also skeptical of organizations/institutions, reckoning with experiences of hypocrisy/harm/trauma, and questioning leaders and leadership writ large.
Project 21:12 addresses this gap by developing a trustworthy organizing structure that can help Exvangelicals connect with a values-aligned community with some level of common experience, and to translate that connection into action that supports the communities most targeted by the evangelical leaders who are leading their congregations toward Christian nationalist authoritarianism.
Project 21:12 addresses this gap by developing a trustworthy organizing structure that can help Exvangelicals connect with a values-aligned community with some level of common experience, and to translate that connection into action that supports the communities most targeted by the evangelical leaders who are leading their congregations toward Christian nationalist authoritarianism.