The End of White Christian America was released in
July of 2016. It acknowledged the now well-cited US Census Bureau statistic
that, by 2042 the United States would no longer be a majority white nation. It
followed-up with statistics from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI),
stating that the numbers of US citizens who were both white and Christian (by
which they mean all Catholics and Protestants) had already “slipped below a
majority” to 47% of the population as of 2014 (Jones, p. 47). The author
reinforced PRRI’s findings with a 2013 Republican National Committee task force’s
conclusions. It recommended Republican leaders begin “rebranding their
conservatism to appeal to women, ethnic minorities, and young people, who saw
the party as narrow-minded and out-of-touch” (Jones, p. 102).
However, what followed were a series of ill-advised
premonitions. Chief among those was the claim that “appeals to white
Christians…will likely set the GOP back when it turns to the task of reclaiming
the White House in 2016” (Jones, p. 107). Four months later Donald Trump won
the presidency in large part by feeding on division; using racist, sexist,
anti-Islamic, anti-immigrant and Christian bigotry. This event did not help the
author’s book sales. Non-fiction readers quietly re-shelved their copies of The
End of White Christian America, and went out to find new books explaining
why God-fearing hillbillies in the middle of the country were fooled into
believing that a New York billionaire would hand them jobs and money.
Despite its failed forecast of political events, the book’s
sources of information appear unbiased. PRRI is a Christian organization. The
author is its CEO and a religious Christian. Even though Jones is a liberal
Christian, neither he nor PRRI gained anything by admitting that Christian
influence or population is diminishing. Even fundamentalist Christians worry
about the decline in church attendance, so the concern crosses the political
spectrum. Similarly, the Republican National Committee task force had no stake
in admitting that its views are out-of-touch with America. And finally, the US
Census Bureau has, in the past, shown a bias against minorities. It has been
repeatedly criticized for under-reporting the country’s non-white population. We
know that they are not prejudiced in favor of minorities when they announce the
demise of white majority status.
So where did Jones go wrong? He failed where most
statisticians fail: He was overly focused on the numbers and did not take into
account human reaction or emotion. Statistics about a population’s rise or
decline in percentage reveal nothing about their enthusiasm, their fears, their
anger or their irrational prejudices; the kinds of things that drive people to
the voting booths. A demographic that makes-up 47% of the country is still a
significant number and can change an election.
But this may not be the only blind spot in the book.
Although Jones’s statistics, if accurate, point to a continual decline in white
Christian percentage, they fail to take historical events into account. The
United States has experienced periods of religious revivalism in the form of
two “Great Awakenings” (circa 1730 and 1790), and several smaller but
significant bumps in church attendance (most recently circa 1980). Again, too
many statistics; not enough meditation on human nature. These kinds of revivals
have the potential to push our non-fictionally illiterate,
scientifically-impaired fellow citizens, back into the open arms of the
superstitious congregation.
It’s easy to kick a book when it’s down. So let’s focus for
a moment on what is positive about Jones’s study. The End of White Christian
America is an optimistic and useful book for atheists, minorities and progressives.
Feminist activists seeking federal funding for battered women’s shelters
learned that, when they did their own research on the numbers domestic violence
survivors, they were accused of inflating the data. So they began using crime
stats provided by the FBI; an undeniably male-dominated, politically
conservative organization that could not be accused of promoting a feminist
agenda. Similarly, atheists, minorities and progressives, can turn to Jones’s
Christian, Republican and US Census Bureau conclusions, in order to both
bolster their arguments and provide them with a sense of optimism for the
future. After all, barring a “Third Great Awakening,” not much stands in the
way of the further decline of white or Christian domination.
Jones, Robert P. The End of White Christian America.
New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2016.
