As an ideology that seeks political and cultural dominance for a particularly conservative brand of Christianity, Christian nationalism is an obvious threat to secularism, true religious equality, and the rights of the nonreligious. But it’s also a threat to public health and science in general. A new study by sociologists Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry shows that Americans who embrace Christian nationalism are far more likely to espouse antiscience views on a range of issues, including vaccine safety and the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, and generally reject the role of science in education, policy, and other areas of public life.

About one quarter of Americans subscribe to Christian nationalist views, according to the study, meaning they have massive political influence (not to mention a tightening grip on our court system). Our job is to represent the reality-based community that understands the necessity of policy based on science, reason, and equal treatment regardless of one’s beliefs—or lack thereof. If you’re not already signed up for action alerts from the Center for Inquiry Office of Public Policy, now’s a good time. 2021 will bring a fresh set of challenges to health, science, and church-state separation, and we need to be ready to take them on.