“Ted Cruz (51461230545)” by Matt Johnson is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
While the words of politicians are often reported, the effects of their words are hard to measure. However, a recent study by Nilay Saiya and Stuti Manchanda attempted to measure these effects by examining the likelihood that Christian nationalist statements by U.S. senators breed violence against religious minorities who identified as but weren’t limited to, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, and Hindus.
The public statements of all 100 senators were analyzed for ten pro-Christian nationalist statements. This included phrases like “The federal government should declare the United States a Christian nation” and “The federal government should advocate Christian values.” Using the Global Terrorism Database, the authors then constructed an original dataset of Christian-based violence in all 50 states from 1990 to 2018.
The findings showed a significant association between pro-Christian nationalist sentiments by senators and higher levels of violence against religious minorities in the states they represent. More specifically, they found that states where senators articulated pro-Christian nationalist statements were 1.4 to 1.5 times more likely to experience anti-minority attacks. The authors believe this association is because the pro-Christian nationalist rhetoric provides political empowerment to its citizens to act out against other religious groups that are perceived as threats.
This “trickle-down” discourse is an important factor in pinpointing potential catalysts for religious and political violence. The authors stress the gravity of how an increasing number of Americans support the idea that violence is a legitimate tool to reinstate the cultural and political dominance of Christian values. It is a stark reminder that words do matter and overtly religious speech such as Christian Nationalist rhetoric can have dangerous consequences.
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