2026 isn't the first time Christians have tried to claim the United States as their own

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2026 isn’t the first time Christians have tried to claim the United States as their own
Published: June 26, 2026 8:45am EDT

David Mislin
Assistant Professor of Intellectual Heritage, Temple University


(The Conversation) Amid celebrations of America’s 250th anniversary, assertions of the country’s religious, and specifically Christian, character have grown louder in political discourse.

In May 2026, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other prominent officials participated in a prayer service in Washington, D.C. Johnson proclaimed, “We hereby rededicate the United States of America as one nation under God.” Though planners invoked the nation’s “Judeo-Christian” heritage, most religious leaders at the event came from the evangelical Christian tradition. In a prerecorded video, President Donald Trump read from the New Testament book of 2 Corinthians.

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These ideas weren’t limited to this one-time gathering. In speeches and prayers at public events, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth proclaimed the U.S. to be “one nation under God.” In February 2026, at a Christian broadcasters convention, he declared that “Christ is King” and claimed “a direct through line from the Old and New Testament Christian gospels to the development of Western civilization and the United States of America.”

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Efforts to declare America Christian

Soon after the Civil War, Protestant Christians in the U.S. perceived a new threat. Beginning in the 1870s, atheism and indifference to religion became popular, especially among younger intellectuals. Rising numbers of Catholic and Jewish immigrants brought greater religious diversity.

Fearing a loss of their significant clout and influence, devout Protestants revived the earlier campaign to write their faith commitments into the Constitution. ..................(more)

https://theconversation.com/2026-isnt-the-first-time-christians-have-tried-to-claim-the-united-states-as-their-own-283246