Women Are Just as Likely as Men to Hold Christian Nationalist Views

This story was originally reported by Mariel Padilla of The 19th. Meet Mariel and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.

Pastor Doug Wilson is a self-described Christian nationalist who advocates for a patriarchal society where sodomy is criminalized, women submit to their husbands, and women lose the right to vote. He also preached at the Pentagon this week after being personally invited by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a member of the pastor’s network of churches.

Wilson’s presence in the nation’s capital shows the extent to which a conservative and fringe evangelical Christian belief system has gained popularity in politics.

Three in 10 Americans are considered adherents or sympathizers of Christian nationalism, according to survey data from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released this week. American women are just as likely as American men to hold Christian nationalist views.

Melissa Deckman, PRRI’s executive director, said the percentage of Americans who adhere to Christian nationalist views has remained stable since PRRI began collecting this data in 2022 — but the movement’s influence has grown in politics and culture.

“I think we’re talking more and more about Christian nationalism, in part because the MAGA movement has essentially taken over the leadership of the party,” Deckman said. “Even compared to Trump’s first term, there’s a big difference in the number of people Trump has brought back to power.”

The majority of Republicans — about 56 percent — are considered adherents or sympathizers of Christian nationalism, compared to 25 percent of independents and 17 percent of Democrats, according to PRRI. Christian nationalist views are more prevalent in states in the South and Midwest, where there are also a greater proportion of Republican elected officials in state legislatures.

The PRRI findings were based on an online survey and interviews with more than 22,000 adults who were asked whether or not they agreed with five statements:

• American laws should be based on Christian values
• Being a Christian is an important part of being truly American
• The US Government Should Declare America a Christian Nation
• If the United States moves away from our Christian foundations, we will no longer have a country
• God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.

Based on their level of agreement, respondents were categorized as adherents of Christian nationalism, sympathizers (those groups identified by PRRI as Christian nationalists), skeptics, or rejecters. The survey did not explicitly ask participants whether they consider themselves Christian nationalists, because many people do not want to be confused with the extremist stereotypes attached to that title.

In a 2025 interview with CNN, Wilson said that he adopted the term Christian nationalist, however, because he preferred it to other names given to him. He added: “I’m not a white nationalist. I’m not a fascist. I’m not a racist.”

According to the survey data, Christian nationalists are more likely to believe the country should be more patriarchal, favor Trump, vote Republican, hold anti-immigration views and believe true patriotism might require violence.

“If you look at Christian nationalism as a path to power, what has made Trump so popular with Christian nationalist leaders is that he has been willing to adopt policies that reflect their worldview,” Deckman said.

Trump has appointed conservative judges, including those who ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade. He has declared war on gender ideology in a way that appeals to Christian nationalists; canceled diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; the reviled revival; and created a task force to eradicate anti-Christian prejudice in the country.

“I think many feminists find it surprising that this movement is often as supported by women as it is by men,” Deckman said. “There are many women for whom this worldview aligns with their own religious and cultural beliefs. It’s not a majority, but it’s a pretty consistent result.”

Pamela Brown, CNN’s chief investigative correspondent, whose documentary on Christian nationalism premieres Sunday, interviewed Wilson last year and later traveled to Texas to spend a weekend at a church connected to him.

“Doug Wilson is emblematic of the movement,” Brown said. “And as he told me, he’s been preaching the same things for decades and hasn’t changed his message, but he says society is now moving towards him.”

Among adherents of Christian nationalism, women tend to have different views on gender than men, according to PRRI. For example, 89 percent of men identified as Christian nationalists think society is “too soft and too feminine,” compared to only 61 percent of women. Christian nationalist women are also 21 points less likely than men to think that women’s progress has come at the expense of men. And women are nearly 30 points less likely to support policies that encourage Americans to have more children.

Brown spoke to a woman in Texas who served in a combat role in the military and considered going to medical school before giving all that up to get married, becoming a stay-at-home mom and submissive wife. Another woman told Brown that her husband was the provider and decision-maker and that his role was to “glorify the house, prepare good food and create a nice place for her to come.”

“The women I interviewed there at Taylor said that they are thriving, that they don’t feel oppressed, that this is what they believe the Bible tells them, that this is how they should be in a marriage and that this is the natural way that a marriage should be,” Brown said.

But not everyone she spoke with was happy with the Christian community, Brown said. She also spoke with a group of women who had left their Christian nationalist communities due to emotional or physical abuse.

“These women had a different experience and they felt oppressed, like they had no freedom to act,” Brown said. “Many of them talked about health problems. And some even left with their husbands.”

Wilson told Brown that his network of churches has seen membership numbers skyrocket during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many people have found a sense of certainty and a black-and-white plan to follow during these uncertain times.

But, experts say, this rests on a “modern myth” that the United States was intended by its founders to be an exclusively Christian nation.

“If carried to its natural ends, Christian nationalism is antithetical to democracy,” Brown said.