Christian Messaging and Political Extremism

• In Event: Bringing Belief Back In

Abstract

About 70% of U.S. adults identify as Christian, and 41% say religion is highly important in their lives – a higher percentage than any other high-income nation. Christians encounter faith-based messages in sermons, worship liturgy, Bible study groups, songs, online content, and more. Politicians may also tap into Christian themes when appealing to specific audiences. Even infrequent church-goers often have basic familiarity with and exposure to core themes of Christian faith. Therefore, it is important to understand how different emphases in the presentation of Christian faith affect U.S. Christians’ worldview – particularly in a political context.

A significant opportunity exists to better understand the relationship between Christian religious messaging and its psychological influence on political extremism. Christianity – and religion more generally – is paradoxically used at different places and times as a mobilizing force for both peace and conflict, for both tolerance and exclusion. The translation of religious themes into political action is dependent on the motive, means, and opportunity of the framing.

In this study, we analyze how core themes frequently evoked in Christian spaces affect indicators of political extremism. We test variation on two central dimensions of Christian discourse: theory/praxis and doubt/dogma. The "theory/praxis" dimension reflects whether messages focus on the fundamental tenets of Christian faith (theory) versus how one should behave as a Christian in everyday life (praxis). For the "doubt/dogma" dimension, messages about faith can either reinforce established beliefs and discourage active questioning ('dogma'), or faith can be presented as an experience of uncertainty, where questioning one’s belief is a valued exercise ('doubt').

In a pilot study of 1400 U.S. Christians, we find that in the “theory” domain, both messages of doubt and dogma reduce political extremism – but via distinct mechanisms. Dogma messages reduce affective polarization among liberal Christians, promoting a more inclusive or tolerant attitude toward fellow, more conservative Christians. Conversely, doubt messages reduce motivated reasoning and support for authoritarianism among conservative Christians.

We then expand our experiment in a second study to test the interaction between doubt/dogma and theory/praxis dimensions of Christian messaging. In contrast to theory-based messages, we expect that praxis messages exacerbate extremism. We hypothesize that this is because themes of “how to live” tap into pre-existing beliefs about social issues and policies – themes central to current culture wars and polarized political messaging. Furthermore, “praxis” messages that run counter to pre-existing beliefs can provoke a backlash effect. Overall, our results build a systematic, theology-grounded framework for understanding the ways in which the Christian messages heard by a large percentage of the U.S. population can be used to reduce or exacerbate political divisions.

Author

• Elaine K. Denny, University of California, Merced