Fighting Despair and Celebrating Religious Diversity at America250

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I’ll be honest. With the current diminished state of democracy in our nation, I’ve had to dig deep to write a piece celebrating America’s 250th anniversary. Near my home in DC, the algae blooms and peeling paint in the reflecting pool near the Lincoln Memorial, the lackluster “Great American State Fair,” and the heat wave canceling the DC parade and fireworks show all seem fitting testimonies to our national malaise.

As PRRI’s recent America250 survey shows, I’m not alone. When we put our finger on the pulse of the nation last month, here’s what we found:

• Just half of Americans are extremely or very proud of being an American (51%) or of America’s 250-year history (49%). More than eight in ten Republicans (83% and 82%, respectively) are extremely or very proud of their national identity and our history. But they are extreme outliers to the national mood. Less than half of Independents (43% and 44%) and fewer than one third of Democrats (31% and 28%) agree.

• Even fewer Americans are extremely or very proud of America’s economic achievements (34%), America’s good moral example for the world (24%), and the way democracy is working in America today (18%).

  

• Nearly six in ten (59%) Americans—including 65% of independents—agree that “President Trump is a dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy”, up from 52% in March 2025.

• And two-thirds (68%) of Americans agree that “we are in real danger of losing important democratic rights and freedoms we have had in this country.”

“Notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country.”
Frederick Douglass, “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July,” 1852

As you know from my recent post ahead of Juneteenth, I’ve been thinking a lot during these last two weeks—a period I propose in my forthcoming book BACKSLIDE should be “a season of critical patriotism”—about Frederick Douglass’s magisterial Independence day speech in which he asked the piercing question, “What to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?”

Today, I’m thinking particularly about the third movement of the speech, which Douglass marks with this remarkable transition line: “Notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country.” He want on to honor the memory of the “statesmen, patriots and heroes…for the good they did, and the principles they contended for.”

So today, I’m conjuring the spirit of Douglass against despair and celebrating one of the most important gifts the founders of our nation have given us: the principle of religious freedom embedded in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That guarantee of individual liberty and state non-establishment has allowed religious diversity to flourish in the U.S. And that is something to celebrate.

Here are just a few notable findings from PRRI’s Census of American Religion, the largest ongoing demographic survey of U.S. religion. The map below is based on random probability surveys of over 400,000 interviews of Americans from all walks of life. If you go to the link above, you can explore the interactive maps for yourself and see the religious diversity of your own home county.

To measure religious diversity in the United States, the PRRI Census of American Religion uses an index developed to measure variations in the concentration of global religious populations. The index is calculated so that a score of 1 signifies complete diversity — every religious group is of equal size — and a score of 0 indicates a complete lack of diversity and one religious group comprises the entire population of a given county. Here’s what this project allows us to see.

At the national level:

• While Christians of European descent comprised the majority of the nation for most of its history, today only four in ten Americans identify as white and Christian.

• Christians of color comprise one in four Americans.

• Nearly one in ten Americans identify with a religion other than Christianity.

• Latino Catholics are nearly as numerous today as white Catholics.

• Nearly three in ten Americans today claim no religious affiliation.

At the county level:

• The average religious diversity score by county in the U.S. is 0.615.

• Religious diversity is highest in major urban centers. Of the 10 counties with the highest religious diversity scores, most are near cities that have served historically as immigration centers: four are in New York, three are in California, and one in Massachusetts. But there are some surprises: Montgomery County, Maryland, actually tops the list (0.89) and Montgomery Country, Pennsylvania, comes in at number 4 (0.88).

So even as I lament the decline of democracy in our nation as we mark our 250th anniversary, I’m leaning on the beacons like Douglass and refusing to despair of our country. We can see and celebrate the outcomes of our best principles like religious liberty. But these days are also a reminder that if we want our children and our children’s children to be able to celebrate these achievements, we will need to be prepared to defend them.

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Three Resources from Redeeming Democracy on Independence Day

And here’s a link to my guest post from earlier this week over at The Contrarian.