White Christian Nationalists Target Muslims Despite Being Only 3% of US Population

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White Christian Nationalists Target Muslims Despite Being Only 3% of US Population

By Daisy Khan

Aug 14, 2025

What they say in forums gets repeated in Congress. Right wing politicians now are using white nationalist hate rhetoric against Muslims, and they face zero consequences for it."

- Dr. Daisy Khan, WISE Women with Daisy Khan

In a time when America faces genuine threats to democracy, understanding the forces behind religious hatred becomes essential for protecting our multicultural society. Dr. Daisy Khan, host of WISE Women with Daisy Khan, recently welcomed religious studies professor Todd Green to examine a troubling phenomenon: white Christian nationalism's calculated strategy to mainstream anti-Muslim sentiment in America.

Todd Green brings extensive expertise to this discussion as a professor of religious studies with over 14 years of experience at Lutheran College and as Senior Director of Campus Partnerships at Interfaith America. His work as an advocate for interfaith bridge building, coupled with his frequent media commentary on CNN, NPR, and The Washington Post, positions him as a leading voice on extremist movements and religious intolerance. Green's academic research focuses specifically on the intersection of white Christian nationalism and Islamophobia, making him uniquely qualified to explain these complex dynamics.

The conversation reveals a disturbing reality: despite Muslims representing only approximately 3% of the US population, white Christian nationalists have successfully positioned them as existential threats to American identity. This manufactured crisis serves a larger purpose - establishing white Christian nationalism as a legitimate political movement while simultaneously attacking America's foundational principles of religious freedom and equality.

Medieval Origins of Modern Anti-Muslim Sentiment

The roots of contemporary Islamophobia extend far deeper than many Americans realize, tracing back to medieval European Christian kingdoms and their political rivalries with Islamic empires. Todd explains that these historical anxieties about Islamic political power created lasting stereotypes that continue to influence American attitudes today, despite the dramatically different global power dynamics of the 21st century.

During the Middle Ages, European Christian kingdoms genuinely faced formidable political threats from Islamic empires like the Ottomans. This real political rivalry combined with theological differences created a toolkit of othering that portrayed Muslims as both a false religious movement and a dangerous political force. The legacy of these medieval conflicts established enduring narratives about Islamic civilization being fundamentally incompatible with Christian values and Western society.

What makes this historical context particularly relevant today is that white Christian nationalists have inherited these centuries-old tropes without recognizing that the political circumstances have completely changed. Modern American Muslims, representing barely 3% of the population, pose no conceivable political threat to a majority Christian nation. Yet the emotional power of these inherited fears continues to drive contemporary anti-Muslim sentiment, demonstrating how historical prejudices can persist long after their original justifications have disappeared.

The Psychology of Us-Versus-Them Thinking

Extremist movements across the political and religious spectrum share common psychological patterns that make them effective at mobilizing fear and hatred. Todd describes how all extremist groups labor intensively to maintain strict us-versus-them frameworks, positioning themselves as the righteous in-group that needs protection from a threatening out-group. This psychological tendency exploits basic human inclinations toward tribalism and categorical thinking.

The human brain naturally seeks to simplify complexity through shortcuts, including the use of stereotypes to categorize diverse groups of people into manageable mental categories. While this cognitive process serves some practical purposes, extremist movements exploit it by encouraging people to rely on these shortcuts rather than engaging with the actual complexity and diversity of human experiences. When applied to religious and ethnic minorities, this psychological mechanism becomes a foundation for systematic prejudice.

According to the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), which surveyed over 22,000 Americans in 2024, approximately three in ten Americans qualify as Christian nationalism Adherents (10%) or Sympathizers (20%). This data reveals that while white Christian nationalism has a significant influence in certain regions and political circles, it represents a minority viewpoint among Americans overall. However, research from the PRRI/Brookings Christian Nationalism Survey shows that 66% of white Christian nationalism sympathizers and 81% of adherents believe in replacement theory, the view that immigrants are "invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background".

Recycled Fear Tactics Throughout American History

White Christian nationalist targeting of Muslims represents the latest chapter in a recurring American story of scapegoating religious and ethnic minorities. Todd traces how the same fear tactics currently deployed against Muslims were previously used against Catholics in the 19th century, Jews in the early 20th century, and various immigrant communities throughout American history.

The parallels are striking and deliberate. Catholics faced accusations of owing allegiance to a foreign power (the Vatican), being fundamentally undemocratic, and representing a Trojan horse threat to American institutions. According to the Library of Congress, between 1820 and 1860, the Irish constituted over one third of all immigrants to the United States, yet faced such intense discrimination that the anti-Catholic Know-Nothing Party achieved remarkable political success. As documented by History.com, this nativist movement captured all state offices and the entire State Senate in Massachusetts in 1854. The violence was real and systematic: anti-Catholic mobs destroyed houses and torched churches in the deadly Bible Riots of 1844 in Philadelphia, while in 1854, an anti-Catholic mob in Maine dragged a Jesuit priest into the streets, stripped him, and covered his body in hot tar and feathers. These prejudices persisted well into the 20th century - John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign had to directly address concerns that a Catholic president might take orders from Rome rather than serving American interests. These same accusations - foreign allegiance, undemocratic values, infiltration threats - now target American Muslims with nearly identical rhetoric.

The pattern reveals that white Christian nationalism isn't actually responding to specific characteristics of any particular religious group, but rather deploying a tested playbook for othering whatever community is politically convenient to target. Jewish Americans experienced identical treatment in the early 20th century. PBS NewsHour reports that approximately 1.5 million European Jews immigrated to America between 1881 and 1914, facing similar accusations of foreign loyalty and incompatibility with American democracy. According to historical documentation, elite colleges quietly imposed quotas to keep Jewish enrollment under 10 or 20 percent, while restaurants and hotels that barred Jews displayed "restricted" signs. Muslims have been part of American society since its founding, with the National Museum of African American History and Culture documenting that enslaved African Muslims were among the first Muslims to arrive in North America, coming as early as the 1500s and playing integral roles in creating America from mapping its borders to fighting against British rule during the Revolutionary War. The narrative that Muslims are somehow new to America or foreign to the American experiment ignores this long history and demonstrates the constructed nature of these targeting campaigns.

Weaponizing Shallow Theology Against Religious Minorities

Despite positioning themselves as defenders of Christianity, white Christian nationalist movements often demonstrate weak theological foundations for their anti-Muslim positions. Todd observes that many white Christian nationalists show limited biblical literacy and rely on shallow theological arguments that contradict core Christian teachings about loving one's neighbor and caring for strangers and immigrants.

The irony becomes apparent when examining the theological sophistication of these movements compared to their political effectiveness. Rather than engaging in deep scriptural study or theological reasoning, white Christian nationalists tend to rely on inherited prejudices and political talking points that have little connection to serious Christian theology. This suggests that their primary motivation is political power rather than religious conviction.

Meanwhile, data from the Washington Post's analysis of CSIS data shows that since 2015, right-wing extremists have been involved in 267 plots or attacks resulting in 91 fatalities, while attacks ascribed to far-left views accounted for 66 incidents leading to 19 deaths. Research from the National Institute of Justice indicates that since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives. These statistics reveal that the communities white Christian nationalists claim to protect face far greater threats from domestic right-wing extremism than from the Muslim Americans they target.

Key Statistics Revealing the Reality of Threats in America

Current data exposes the gap between perceived and actual threats facing American communities:

Muslims represent only 3% of the US population according to religious studies professor Todd Green in the WISE Women podcast
30% of Americans qualify as Christian nationalism Adherents or Sympathizers based on PRRI's 2024 American Values Atlas survey
267 right-wing extremist plots or attacks since 2015 resulted in 91 fatalities, compared to 66 far-left incidents causing 19 deaths (Washington Post analysis of CSIS data)
227 far-right extremist events since 1990 have taken more than 520 lives, far exceeding casualties from radical Islamist extremism (NIJ research)
80% of FBI counterterrorism resources are allocated to international terrorism despite domestic terrorism causing more American deaths (Congressional testimony)
66% of white Christian nationalism sympathizers and 81% of adherents believe in replacement theory targeting immigrants (PRRI/Brookings survey)

Building Understanding Beyond Fear and Division

The path forward requires moving beyond the exhausting cycle of defensive explanations and toward authentic relationship-building across religious differences. Americans consistently demonstrate fairness when presented with accurate information and genuine opportunities for connection, suggesting that the problem lies not with American character but with deliberate misinformation campaigns designed to exploit fear for political gain.

Combating religious prejudice requires addressing the root causes: the foreign policy decisions that create negative associations with Muslim-majority countries, the media coverage that amplifies sensational stories while ignoring positive contributions, and the political incentives that reward fear-mongering over bridge-building. When Muslims focus on living their values authentically rather than constantly defending them, communities often discover that their initial fears were based on misinformation rather than reality.

The conversation between Dr. Khan and Todd Green demonstrates that the forces driving anti-Muslim sentiment in America represent broader threats to religious freedom and democratic values that affect all Americans. White Christian nationalism doesn't just target Muslims - it fundamentally opposes the pluralistic vision that has made America a beacon for people of all faiths seeking freedom and opportunity. By understanding these dynamics and choosing substance over sensationalism, Americans can ensure that future generations inherit a country that truly lives up to its highest ideals of liberty and justice for all.

Connect with the WISE Women with Daisy Khan podcast to learn more about building interfaith understanding and combating religious prejudice in America.

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Welcome to WISE Women. Where wisdom meets courage, and voices become bridges.

News [Source: CBS Evening News]
A man sent a hateful message to a Muslim candidate. He responded with a call for help, article by Steve Hartman

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-man-sent-a-hateful-message-to-a-muslim-candidate-he-responded-with-a-call-to-help/

Connect with Dr Daisy Khan:

Website:

https://daisykhan.com/

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdaisykhan/

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https://www.youtube.com/@WISEWomenwithDaisyKhan

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