--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think you can see a clear link between…" description: "\"I think you can see a clear link between certain kinds of Christian nationalism and support for Trump. Then, I also think that Trump is benefiting from..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/ross-douthat-2949_church_i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between_2677639.png" --- # I think you can see a clear link between certain kinds of… ![“I think you can see a clear link between certain kinds of Christian nationalism and support for Trump. Then, I also think that Trump is benefiting from the weakening of religious participation. He's winning evangelicals who aren't in church.” quote by Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/ross-douthat-2949_church_i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between_2677639.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/ross-douthat-2949_church_i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between_2677639.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/ross-douthat-2949_church_i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between_2677639.png) > “I think you can see a clear link between certain kinds of Christian nationalism and support for Trump. Then, I also think that Trump is benefiting from the weakening of religious participation. He's winning evangelicals who aren't in church.” [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Christian nationalism aligns with Trump, while declining church attendance fuels his evangelical support. **In simple terms:** Political shift ties religion to populism. Key Takeaway Recognize changing religious politics. Themes politics religion populism media Mood analytical critical Type political sociological When to use this quote - campaigns - church outreach - public discourse Key Concepts identity politics secularization electoral strategy Questions to Reflect On - How does declining participation affect political power? - Can secular groups counter this trend? A Different Perspective Complex causality may be oversimplified. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Nationalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nationalism/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) [Winning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winning/) ## Related quotes > [Politics is partially about what you fear more than what you love, so there are plenty of things about liberalism all by itself that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/politics-is-partially-about-what-you-fear-more-than-what-you-love-so/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“It’s worth pausing on this for a moment and reflecting on the fact that they weren’t even trying to hide that they were suppressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/it-s-worth-pausing-on-this-for-a-moment-and-reflecting-on-the-fact/) [Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/) > [For some people, loud advocacy of Trump helps to cover up the deep doubt and even shame they feel about their support for Trump.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/for-some-people-loud-advocacy-of-trump-helps-to-cover-up-the-deep/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [The Republican Party is in a great place for 2018 and I think Americans will continue to support the Trump agenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-parscale/the-republican-party-is-in-a-great-place-for-2018-and-i-think/) [Brad Parscale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-parscale/) > [I don't support Trump. We'll put that right out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-colvin/i-don-t-support-trump-we-ll-put-that-right-out-there/) [Shawn Colvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-colvin/) > [Why do evangelicals support Trump? It could be because he amplified his religious messaging on the campaign trail by saying that women who get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-kasparian/why-do-evangelicals-support-trump-it-could-be-because-he-amplified/) [Ana Kasparian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-kasparian/) > [Only when legislators judge that the risk of continuing to support Trump outweighs the risk of abandoning him will they begin to jump ship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-weisberg/only-when-legislators-judge-that-the-risk-of-continuing-to-support/) [Jacob Weisberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-weisberg/) > [I would certainly not support Trump in any way shape or form, but I want to have sympathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-haigh/i-would-certainly-not-support-trump-in-any-way-shape-or-form-but-i/) [Andrew Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-haigh/) > [RT did not support Trump.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margarita-simonyan/rt-did-not-support-trump/) [Margarita Simonyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margarita-simonyan/) > [Most of Trump's support is not the conservative base. It's all over the spectrum. He's got support from women, Hispanics, blue-collar Democrats, the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/most-of-trump-s-support-is-not-the-conservative-base-it-s-all-over/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Americans are an "almost chosen people," which is meant to suggest that there are clear parallels, literal, theological and everything else, between the American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/americans-are-an-almost-chosen-people-which-is-meant-to-suggest-that/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [It's not always clear where a healthy patriotism shades into a dangerous nationalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/it-s-not-always-clear-where-a-healthy-patriotism-shades-into-a/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [It is not white nationalism to believe that countries like the United States would be better off with more babies. That belief can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/it-is-not-white-nationalism-to-believe-that-countries-like-the-united/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/) [Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/) ## More by Ross Douthat > [Human beings seek community, and permanent openness is hard to sustain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/human-beings-seek-community-and-permanent-openness-is-hard-to-sustain/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [The American intelligentsia has been pretty secular for a long time. There have always been figures like Oprah Winfrey, let's put it that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/the-american-intelligentsia-has-been-pretty-secular-for-a-long-time/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [On the evidence we have, the meritocratic ideal ends up being just as undemocratic as the old emphasis on inheritance and tradition, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/on-the-evidence-we-have-the-meritocratic-ideal-ends-up-being-just-as/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“The physical vanity of the diet-and-exercise obsessive is recast as the pursuit of a kind of ritual purity, hedged about with taboos and guilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/the-physical-vanity-of-the-diet-and-exercise-obsessive-is-recast-as/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [There were times at Harvard when I actually longed to hang out with a few more Trotskyists, rather than yet another set of future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/there-were-times-at-harvard-when-i-actually-longed-to-hang-out-with-a/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Many things about American life, that even secular people consider good, have flowed from the presence of a robust, resilient institutional Christianity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/many-things-about-american-life-that-even-secular-people-consider/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“What he felt during his Spanish encounter with left-wing anti-Christianity was similar to his reactions to the anti-Christianity of the right. The "novelty and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/what-he-felt-during-his-spanish-encounter-with-left-wing-anti/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“In an age of stagnant or declining birthrates, too, these communities’ willingness to heed the admonition to be fruitful and multiply has led to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/in-an-age-of-stagnant-or-declining-birthrates-too-these-communities/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [America's problem isn't too much religion or too little of it. It's bad religion: the slow-motion collapse of traditional Christianity and the rise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/america-s-problem-isn-t-too-much-religion-or-too-little-of-it-it-s/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [I do think you can see, throughout American history, this temptation, and it's both a liberal and a conservative temptation, to take a healthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/i-do-think-you-can-see-throughout-american-history-this-temptation/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Where conservative Catholics have the power to resist what seem like false ideas or disastrous innovations they must do so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/where-conservative-catholics-have-the-power-to-resist-what-seem-like/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [It is not white nationalism to believe that countries like the United States would be better off with more babies. That belief can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/it-is-not-white-nationalism-to-believe-that-countries-like-the-united/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Most people want the convenience of the Internet far more than they want the private spaces that older forms of communication protected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/most-people-want-the-convenience-of-the-internet-far-more-than-they/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [If you live under a system that claims to have high ideals but seems ineradicably opposed to your own people's flourishing, the desire for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/if-you-live-under-a-system-that-claims-to-have-high-ideals-but-seems/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [Our crisis of the house divided was a Christian civil war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/our-crisis-of-the-house-divided-was-a-christian-civil-war/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) [Explore all 144 Ross Douthat quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) ## More Church quotes > [While the 1963 Birmingham church bombing is the most historic, there also was a series of church burnings in the 1990s. Recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/while-the-1963-birmingham-church-bombing-is-the-most-historic-there/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [Turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/turn-over-the-pages-of-history-and-read-the-damning-record-of-the/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [God is not calling us to go to church; he is calling us to be his church, the hope of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-groeschel/god-is-not-calling-us-to-go-to-church-he-is-calling-us-to-be-his/) [Craig Groeschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-groeschel/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. It is about God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wimber/worship-is-not-about-personality-temperament-personal-limitations/) [John Wimber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wimber/) > [A beggarly people, A church and no steeple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/a-beggarly-people-a-church-and-no-steeple/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [The minute you walk outside of your church on Sunday you're in mission territory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barron/the-minute-you-walk-outside-of-your-church-on-sunday-you-re-in/) [Robert Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barron/) > [I'm not ashamed of the things I believe and why I believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/i-m-not-ashamed-of-the-things-i-believe-and-why-i-believe-them/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) [Browse all 9,430 Church quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think you can see a clear link between certain kinds of Christian nationalism and support for Trump. Then, I also think that Trump is benefiting from the weakening of religious participation. He's winning evangelicals who aren't in church.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ross Douthat" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between-certain-kinds-of-christian/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Church" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between-certain-kinds-of-christian/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/ross-douthat-2949_church_i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between_2677639.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/ross-douthat-2949_church_i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between_2677639.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b3/ross-douthat-2949_church_i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between_2677639.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think you can see a clear link between certain kinds of Christian nationalism and support for Trump. Then…” — Ross Douthat", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ross Douthat", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think you can see a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between-certain-kinds-of-christian/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/i-think-you-can-see-a-clear-link-between-certain-kinds-of-christian/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```