“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

For students who attended the lower school, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited every day in a schoolwide assembly, the words “one nation under God” echoing especially loudly from the mouths of students and teachers. But what does that really mean, especially in a country that claims to separate church from state and in a school where community members harbor diverse religious perspectives?

The Constitution says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” While the First Amendment generally ensures the foundational concept of church-state separation, religion — specifically Christianity and usually Protestantism — continues to play an enormous role in shaping American government and how the public understands its institutions.

For example, every one of the United States’ 45 presidents to date has been raised Christian, and 42 of these men were sworn in with their hand on the Bible. Christianity even touches our money—literally. “In God We Trust” continues to hold its statement-making place on American currency.

Oftentimes, these instances become more about national unity than religion. According to some scholars, who posit the existence of an American “civic religion,” these symbols are more political than religious; Christian traditions parallel the political consecration of monuments, flags and national anthems. Still, other implications are at hand.

While symbolic representations of Christianity are certainly impactful, this religious tradition also shows up in how politics play out through the legislative process, informing many Americans’ views on controversial issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage and capital punishment.

On these issues, there can often be a sharp divide between the views of Christians and those of non-Christians. For example, a 2024 study by the Pew Research Center showed that 55% of Christian Americans believe same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, while that number shifts to 80% across other religions and 88% for those who identified as religiously unaffiliated.

Another study by Pew found that 49% of Americans believe the Bible should have “a great deal” (23%) or “some” (26%) influence on U.S. laws, while 51% say it should have “not much” or “none at all.” Republicans were about twice as likely as Democrats to say the Bible should have at least some influence.

Perhaps the most important statistic, however, is that 57% of American adults believe the Bible does have a meaningful influence on the country’s laws.

Given the current state of American politics — with a Republican president, whose administration lies especially far right socially and Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress — and considering the more widespread belief in Christianity among Republicans, the image of Christian nationalism proliferated by major political figures is as pronounced as it has been in many years. This results in a considerable Christian influence on the operation of the federal government at its highest level.

At the state level, likely with some sense of security or motivation under the current administration and political climate, Christian nationalism is showing up just as powerfully. For example, the Ten Commandments are currently being displayed in some Texas public school classrooms following a 2025 state law. While this law is facing legal challenges, with federal courts issuing injunctions to block the requirement in specific school districts, the Texas attorney general is fighting these rulings, and the law’s status remains in ongoing litigation. The law is clearly unconstitutional, but it is the reality for most Texas high schools.

Many Americans are raising questions about these events and the level of religious influence in the state and federal government. While these situations are quite complicated, in the local community, very different religious demographics might make the position of Christianity in the government, and America, seem surprising.

Compared to other independent schools in the Twin Cities and many public high schools across the country, SPA is religiously diverse, with a much less concentrated Christian student population. For example, fellow member schools of the Independent Metro Athletic Conference (IMAC) include Providence Academy, a Catholic school, and Minnehaha Academy, an evangelical Protestant school. Notably, the Wolfpack football team, a co-op with Minnehaha Academy, The Blake School and Hope Academy, prays before every game. However, due to the lessened presence of Christianity at SPA, it is common for many nonreligious students here to underestimate the massive presence of Christianity in the United States and its continued influence on politics.

This is especially true considering that current students, as part of a younger generation, are growing up in a global region that is moving increasingly away from the Christianity spread by European colonialism. As a whole, while it is actually growing rapidly in many other parts of the world, the percentage of practicing Christians has been slowly decreasing in most of Europe and North America. However, among older Americans, who fill most positions of power, Christianity is still overwhelmingly popular, thus creating a disparity of opinion and of perception across the country, with Christians often underestimating the degree of change and non-Christians often underestimating the continued prominence of Christianity.

While interpretations are matters of personal belief, one thing is certain: To understand the American government and American politics, one must understand the highly influential role of Christianity.

Although the United States was founded on the pursuit of freedom, specifically separation from the Church of England, Christianity is a religion that many countries and American communities know well. Americans see it often in everyday life: we watch our presidents swear themselves in with their hand on a Bible and the president has established a White House Faith Office — these are common occurrences in American political media. A common defense of certain presidential administrations is that they were devoted to one religion or another and that they made decisions aimed at pleasing whatever higher power corresponded. The current-day operatives of the United States are largely parallel to traits of modern Christianity, despite the historical pressure to separate church and state. In the last 100 years, Christianity has been closely related to American government systems.

Christianity is an undeniably important part of the history of many American demographics. As of 2024-25, about 62% of American adults that subscribe to religion identify as Christian to some degree. The largest denomination of Christianity in the U.S. is the Catholic Church, followed by various Protestant groups, including Baptists, with the largest Protestant community being the Southern Baptist Convention. Many cultural communities in the U.S. have relied on Christianity as a pillar of their culture, as seen in many Black, African and Asian communities.

It cannot be denied that religion and politics are closely related due to the nature of American thought. Politics has had faith in many forms deeply intertwined with certain regimes, and religion has been both a catalyst for hatred and a comforting agent in tension. Religion and religious spaces have been the backbone of many meaningful political periods in American history. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and ‘70s, Black churches served as social hubs, meeting spaces and communication networks. They offered safer places to be bases for activism. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most relevant and influential political figures of the 20th century, was a Baptist minister. He used his platform as a religious leader in his community to speak on white supremacy, American anti-Black rhetoric, the economy and more.

In the 21st century, there has been an influx of religious diversity, particularly in American politics. The U.S. Congress has slightly diversified in the religious affiliations of its members. The 114th Congress was 92% Christian. Now, the 119th Congress is 87% Christian. With a slight decline in Christian members, the seats were filled with other religious or non-religously affiliated members. Still, Congress does not reflect the American demographic in that it is overrepresented by Christians.

In one of the highest-profile races in the country, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani broke the mold. On Jan. 1, he was sworn into office with his hand on a Quran. Since then, Mamdani has made history every day as the first Muslim mayor of New York. His campaign featured videos in Urdu and Bengali, connecting with predominantly Muslim communities through language. Muslim voter turnout in New York City jumped from around 15% in 2021 to 34% for the mayoral election. His election represented a pivot from the American civil religion, heavily reliant on Christianity and shone a spotlight on Muslim-Americans as imperative to the civic fabric

The presence of Dharmic groups, primarily Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs, has seen a small upward trajectory in American politics. The growth is evidenced by the “Samosa Caucus,” an informal group of South-Asian American Congress members. This includes representatives Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Shri Thanedar and Suhas Subramanyam; five of six are Hindu. This group of six marks the most South Asian American congress members to serve in the history of the U.S. Congress.

In this rise of religious diversity, an undermentioned aspect is the subsequent rise of agnosticism and atheism, as well as other non-religious belief systems. The majority of American adults are not religiously affiliated, a figure that has increased rapidly over the last decade to almost 30%, according to the Pew Research Center. The rejection of religious belief, especially Christianity, has been on a multi-decade climb. Researchers have labeled this group “Nones,” made up of atheists, agnostics and people who simply feel religion has no major or necessary presence in their lives. Non-religious Americans are a largely important political group; many Nones think that religion does more harm than good; many still believe in God or another higher power; some renounce all of these ideas, turning to science, spirituality or other personalized beliefs that best align with them.

With this growing absence of religious affiliation in the U.S., researchers are wondering if a decrease in intense religious believers would lead to a decrease in engagement in institutions. After all, involvement in religious aspects of communities, like church leadership, often corresponds to other kinds of involvement, such as leadership in election judging, voting, school organizations and more. However, quite the opposite appears to be true. The sect of religious Nones that identify as atheist or agnostic is very politically distinct, making up some of the most consistently liberal and Democratic demographics and having the potential to shift electoral politics in the future. However, the sect of Nones that identifies with “no religion in particular” is largely less likely to be politically and civically engaged, including voting. By and large, non-religious Americans have been rapidly increasing compared to the power of the white evangelical denomination that has had so much power over recent decades.