Hyperpolarization, Distrust, and Civil Religions in America Today

The United States is religiously and politically polarized today, and faith in institutions has reached all-time lows. The persistence of these phenomena make it difficult to apply Robert Bellah’s highly normative and transhistorical conception of civil religion (i.e., “BCR”). This article proposes a process-based, value-neutral, temporally limited theory of civil religion. This “ACR 2.0” adopts broader approaches to religion and politics to capture as many potential civil religious beliefs as possible. It limits analysis to the twenty-first century alone, suggesting civil religions exist along two spectra: religio-political ideology (taking account of hyperpolarization) and orientation toward the status quo (accounting for institutional distrust). ACR 2.0 continues to account for pro-status quo civil religions on the right (George W. Bush and Mitt Romney) and left (Barack Obama); it also captures anti-status quo civil religions on the left (environmentalism and Occupy Wall Street) and right (QAnon and Trumpism).