"Christian nationalists are enamored with Putin, even if they oppose Russia, new research from Northeastern professor says"

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has found support in an unlikely place: the U.S.

Specifically, Christian nationalists, a subsection of America’s religious right, have flocked to the country’s autocratic leader, according to new research from a team of social scientists, including Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, an assistant professor of
religion and anthropology at Northeastern University.

Riccardi-Swartz says this level of support for Putin among Christian nationalists is especially notable given their simultaneous opposition or indifference to Russia itself.

“Even if Christian nationalists are ambivalent to Russia as a geopolitical construct or if they view it as a threat, they are still favorable towards Putin as a political figure,” Riccardi-Swartz says. “This seems to suggest that Americans who
subscribe to Christian nationalist ideology are attracted to Putin as a strong man and ethno-nationalist leader just as they were with Trump.”

Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, assistant professor of Religion and Anthropology. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
Christian nationalism is an ideology that has, in recent years, has spread throughout Christianity in the U.S., Riccardi-Swartz says. It’s not isolated to a single denomination and is defined by the belief that the U.S. is a Christian nation with
specific values that must be protected from “some sort of moral decline because of the diversity of democracy and the diversity of society at large,” Riccardi-Swartz says. "
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https://news.northeastern.edu/2023/03/08/christian-nationalists-putin-russia/

TB

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