A new Pew Research Center survey finds that 70 percent of Americans believe Donald Trump is “not too” or “not at all” religious — a figure that has risen eight percentage points since fall 2024. This is notable on its own terms, but it becomes considerably more interesting when you consider that the same period covers an AI image of Trump as a Christ-like figure posted to his social media, a Secretary of Defense quoting scripture at Pentagon briefings, military commanders allegedly telling soldiers that Trump was anointed by Jesus to trigger the Apocalypse, and a formal fight with the Pope.
Somehow, all of this religious signaling has resulted in fewer Americans thinking Trump is religious. This is either a devastating indictment of the signaling strategy or a sign that the American public is quietly more theologically sophisticated than generally assumed. Possibly both.
The Daily Beast, in a piece published this year, argued that Trump’s “God-talk is actually turning America off religion” more broadly — that associating faith with political theater is causing people to reconsider the whole enterprise. NPR ran a piece titled “Christians are having a Trump-sized reckoning.” Conservative Catholics, according to Religion News Service, are becoming disillusioned at accelerating speed, particularly following the pope conflict.
In a stunning twist, the most effective argument against American theocracy may turn out to be watching someone attempt to build one in real time. File this under Rational Thought, with the caveat that we’re grading on a steep curve.
All of this actually happened. Pew Research confirmed it, and their methodology is above reproach.