Are Christian nationalists antisemitic and why?

Abstract

Background: Recent work has demonstrated from a variety of angles that Christian nationalists have negative feelings toward racial minorities and negative attitudes toward policies that would extend equal rights and undermine their privileged position. Objectives: There has been limited research to demonstrate what seems an easy extension – do Christian nationalists have negative feelings toward religious minorities? We focus on views toward Jews, in part because conservative Christians have such positive views toward Israel. Methods: We draw on survey data of 1,700 American adults from just before the 2020 election with observational measures as well as an experimental measure of antisemitism to assess a link to Christian nationalism and the likely mechanisms underpinning that relationship. Results: Christian nationalists tend to believe in more antisemitic tropes, primarily because of their investment in the social dominance of Christians. However, their antisemitism is part of a broader set of negative views toward all minorities, which we find with experimental evidence. We also find a link between Christian nationalism and antisemitism that boosts belief in QAnon. Conclusion: Even if Israel has come to play an important role in the apocalyptic thinking of conservative Christians, in the end Jews are not Christians and pose a threat to Christian supremacy just as any other outgroup would.