Christian nationalism doesn’t have an ally in Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
In an interview with PBS over the weekend, Gorsuch rebutted the belief espoused by a growing number of politicians on the right (including Vice President JD Vance) that America was founded as a Christian nation and that, therefore, the Bible should influence politics and policy.
“We were founded, a lot of our colonies, for religious pluralism, right? And the opportunity to practice your own faith in your own way,” he told PBS’ Margaret Hoover. “And we were never supposed to be a nation that was about one race or one religion. It was about those ideas. And those things are perfect ideas that speak to every human heart and that unite us all.“
Any notion to the contrary, he said, is simply incorrect.
“I mean, it’s demonstrably not true that we came from the same religion,” said Gorusch, pointing to the Amish, who settled much of Pennsylvania, and the Quakers as a distinctly separate group.
“I mean, we have a First Amendment, for crying out loud,” he emphasized. “No established religion. Everybody has a freedom of religion. Everybody has the freedom of speech. We are all equal under law, okay?”
Far-right politicians have been actively attempting to diminish the separation of church and state since President Donald Trump’s return to office. In recent months, several states have moved to require the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms, while Texas added the Bible to a list of required readings.
The Religious Liberty Commission, formed by the Trump administration last year, recently outlined a series of recommendations aimed at increasing the role of religion in government, schools and public life. It has also encouraged the administration to repeal the Johnson Amendment, a provision in the U.S. tax code that prohibits nonprofits, including religious institutions and charities, from participating in political activities.
“Americans must know their rights and stand with courage when those rights are challenged,” the report stated. “To preserve this freedom, we must build bridges, not walls, between the City of God and the City of Man.”
Research shows that a majority of Americans aren’t interested in establishing the U.S. as a Christian nation, or as a religious nation at all. Roughly 56% of Americans believe the federal government should enforce the separation of church and state, while 69% believe the government should never declare an official religion, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center study.