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Samuel L. Perry (born January 2, 1980) is an American sociologist known for his research on American Christianity, politics, and sexual behavior. The topics of his major books and articles have included American evangelicals and their social engagement, Christian nationalism, racism in the United States, moral incongruence and religious responses to pornography use, Christian adoption and foster care, and English Bible translations. He is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma.

Perry's work has been recognized with awards from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Association for the Sociology of Religion, the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality.

In 2021, his book with Andrew L. Whitehead, Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States, was recognized with an Award of Merit for the category of Politics & Public Life by Christianity Today magazine.

Early Life
Perry was born in Dallas, Texas to David and Key Perry. His parents had one other biological son and adopted two African American daughters. Perry's Father and Mother are evangelical Christians. He has attributed his initial interest in the sociology of religion and race to growing up in an interracial evangelical family.

Education
Perry earned a B.A. degree in Communications from Augusta University in 2003, where he also minored in Sociology. He later received a Th.M. degree in academic New Testament from Dallas Theological Seminary, where he received the W. H. Griffith Thomas Award for graduating at the top of his class. He received an M.A. in the Masters of Arts Programs in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. He would later return to the University of Chicago to receive his Ph.D. in Sociology in 2015. Perry wrote his doctoral dissertation on the evangelical orphan care movement, which was the subject of his first book.

Career
Perry became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma in 2015, where he is currently on faculty. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020 and promoted to Full Professor in 2023. Perry has received awards for teaching and research at OU, including the Irene Rothbaum Outstanding Assistant Professor Award, the Outstanding Research Impact Award, and the Award for Excellence in Social Science Research.

Perry is primarily a sociologist of religion with special interests in religion's relationship to American politics, culture, race, sexual behavior, and families. Although most of his studies have involved quantitative survey analyses, he has published studies using a variety of research methodologies, including survey experiments, in-depth interviews, content analyses, and ethnography.

The contributions for which Perry is most well known include insights into psychological responses to "moral incongruence" or willingly violating one's moral or religious convictions, the concept of Christian nationalism, and the ways culture wars shape English Bible translations.

Growing God's Family
Perry's first book, Growing God's Family: The Global Orphan Care Movement and the Limits of Evangelical Activism, was published by New York University Press in 2017. Based largely on interview data with movement leaders and grassroots evangelical families involved in adoption and foster care, the book uses the orphan care movement as a case study to understand evangelical social engagement. Perry argues that several dynamics within the evangelical subculture make their social engagement self-limiting in its practical impact. He argues evangelical social engagement is often less about practical results than bursts of public activity that demonstrate identity and commitment.

Addicted to Lust
Perry published his second book, Addicted to Lust: Pornography in the Lives of Conservative Protestants, with Oxford University Press in 2019. Perry uses a combination of interview data and quantitative survey analyses to argue that pornography use seems to influence the mental health and relationships of conservative Protestants more than other Americans because of what he calls "moral incongruence," or the experience of intentionally violating one's deeply-held moral or religious convictions. Perry developed that concept through a series of articles often published with clinical psychologist Joshua B. Grubbs.

Taking America Back for God
With his co-author Andrew L. Whitehead, Perry published Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States with Oxford University Press in 2020. The book represented the first book-length attempt to assess the scope of Christian nationalist ideology in the United States using national survey data. The authors examine how Christian nationalism is associated with various political attitudes and behaviors. They argue that Christian nationalism in the US seeks to preserve traditional power dynamics, enforce boundaries around American cultural membership, and restore a traditional social order represented by heterosexual, patriarchal relationships. In 2021, the evangelical flagship magazine Christianity Today recognized the book with an "Award of Merit" in the category of Politics & Public Life. The book was also recognized with the Distinguished Book Award by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in 2021. In 2022, Oxford University Press released a paperback edition, for which Robert P. Jones wrote the Foreword.

The Flag and the Cross
In 2022, Perry and lead-author Philip S. Gorski published The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy with Oxford University Press. New York Times Best-Selling Author Jemar Tisby contributed the Foreword. The book provides a shorter primer on the history and impact of white Christian nationalism from around the time of Cotton Mather to following the January 6th Insurrection. The authors argue that white Christian nationalism revolves around the "Holy Trinity" of freedom, order, and violence. White Christian men, they argue, get the freedom to establish a social order that protects their cultural interests and political power. And when outgroups threaten that freedom or order, white Christian nationalism provides the permission structure for white Christian men to use righteous violence.

Religion for Realists
Perry has a forthcoming sole-authored book under contract with Oxford University Press entitled Religion for Realists: Why We All Need the Scientific Study of Religion—Now More Than Ever.