Network Contagion Research Institute Contagion and Ideology Report 3/13/25
Freedom of religion has long been at the foundation of American progress, fostering innovation, cultural vitality, and a moral framework that has guided the nation’s institutions. America’s founders wisely enshrined this value in the first clause of the first sentence of the first Amendment to the United States Constitution. Recent data suggests that there has been a trend reversal in the long-declining influence of Christianity in the United States, signaling the potential for constructive renewal of Christian thought in public life. 1 This resurgence is being met with a challenge: the co-optation of Christian language and symbols by small, vocal groups of extremist actors who seek to redefine religious identity for ideological ends.
