Jesus and John Wayne : how white evangelicals corrupted a faith and fractured a nation

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Title:

Jesus and John Wayne : how white evangelicals corrupted a faith and fractured a nation

Author:

Summary:

"A scholar of American Christianity answers perhaps the most bewildering question of our time: Why are evangelicals "the Donald's" most fervent supporters? Donald Trump is a libertine who lacks even basic knowledge of the Christian faith. Yet in 2016 he won 81 percent of the white evangelical vote, and continues to rely on white evangelicals as his base of support. While we assume the religious right has pragmatic reasons for backing Trump, in truth he represents the fulfillment of evangelicals' most deeply held values. As historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez demonstrates, American evangelicals have worked for decades to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism-or, in the words of one modern chaplain, with "a spiritual badass." Trump is hardly the first flashy celebrity to capture evangelicals' hearts and minds, having followed the path blazed by, among others, John Wayne, Oliver North, and Mel Gibson. A revelatory account of a uniquely influential subculture, Jesus and John Wayne incisively reveals why evangelicals have rallied behind patriarchal power and the least- Christian president in American history."-- Provided by publisher.

Edition:

First edition.

Contents:

Introduction -- Saddling up -- John Wayne will save your ass -- God's gift to man -- Discipline and command -- Slaves and soldiers -- Going for the jugular -- The greatest American hero -- War for the soul -- Tender warriors -- No more Christian nice guy -- Holy balls -- Pilgrim's progress in camo -- Why we want to kill you -- Spiritual badasses -- A new high priest -- Evangelical Mulligans: a history -- Conclusion.

Physical Description:

xix, 358 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Personal Subject:

Trump, Donald, 1946-

Subject Term:

Evangelicalism.

Christianity and culture.

Geographic Term:

United States -- Church history -- 21st century.

Publisher:

Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company,

Publication Date:

2020

2021

ISBN:

9781631499050

9781631495731

Publication Information:

New York, NY : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, [2020]

Call Number:

277.3 DUMEZ

Holds: Copies:

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Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003522995	Adult Nonfiction	277.3 DUMEZ	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The "paradigm-influencing" book ( Christianity Today ) that is fundamentally transforming our understanding of white evangelicalism in America.

Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism--or in the words of one modern chaplain, with "a spiritual badass."

As acclaimed scholar Kristin Du Mez explains, the key to understanding this transformation is to recognize the centrality of popular culture in contemporary American evangelicalism. Many of today's evangelicals might not be theologically astute, but they know their VeggieTales, they've read John Eldredge's Wild at Heart , and they learned about purity before they learned about sex--and they have a silver ring to prove it. Evangelical books, films, music, clothing, and merchandise shape the beliefs of millions. And evangelical culture is teeming with muscular heroes--mythical warriors and rugged soldiers, men like Oliver North, Ronald Reagan, Mel Gibson, and the Duck Dynasty clan, who assert white masculine power in defense of "Christian America." Chief among these evangelical legends is John Wayne, an icon of a lost time when men were uncowed by political correctness, unafraid to tell it like it was, and did what needed to be done.

Challenging the commonly held assumption that the "moral majority" backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 for purely pragmatic reasons, Du Mez reveals that Trump in fact represented the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicals' most deeply held values: patriarchy, authoritarian rule, aggressive foreign policy, fear of Islam, ambivalence toward #MeToo, and opposition to Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community. A much-needed reexamination of perhaps the most influential subculture in this country, Jesus and John Wayne shows that, far from adhering to biblical principles, modern white evangelicals have remade their faith, with enduring consequences for all Americans.

Author Notes

Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a professor of history at Calvin University and the author of A New Gospel for Women. She has written for the Washington Post, Christianity Today, Christian Century, and Religion Politics, among other publications. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Historian Du Mez (A New Gospel for Women) explains white evangelical support for Trump in this engaging history of the shifting ideal of Christian masculinity. Starting in the early 20th century, white Christian men followed charismatic preachers in striving for a muscular, militant masculinity. For Du Mez, the growth of Christian publishing and popular culture in the mid-century reinforced the sense that evangelicals were at war with liberal social movements like feminism and civil rights. 9/11, she argues, revitalized the extreme warrior ideal for evangelical men and curtailed the softer patriarchy fostered by the Promise Keeper rallies of the 1990s. The recent growth of homeschooling and Quiverfull (child-centric evangelical theology) and evangelicals' suspicion of Obama are also explored. Persuasively arguing that the evangelical dismissal of Trump's flaws is the culmination of believing that "God-given testosterone came with certain side effects," Du Mez closes with a bruising chapter on recent evangelical leaders' abuses and sex scandals, such as those involving Mark Driscoll, Ted Haggard, and C.J. Mahaney. This lucid, potent history adds a much needed religious dimension to understanding the current American right and the rise of Trump. (Jun.)

Library Journal Review

Historian Du Mez (history, Calvin Univ.; A New Gospel for Women) offers an insightful examination of white Christian masculinities from the era of Billy Graham and John Wayne to Mark Driscoll and Donald Trump. In response to mid-20th century social movements that challenged white supremacy, patriarchal authority, and American imperialism, Du Mez argues, conservative white evangelicals wholeheartedly embraced the figure of a heroic white man who defended America as a (conservative evangelical) Christian nation against a wide range of perceived internal and external threats, from secular humanism, feminism, and communism to antiwar activists, immigrants, and the Islamic world. While approved scripts for white Christian manhood since the 1960s have always been multiple, they have nevertheless all required a commitment to fervent nationalism, aggressive militarism, and an uncompromising view of gender that is both essentialist and complementarian. Du Mez covers a lot of cultural ground and at times the narrative feels rushed; readers unfamiliar with the many different movements will likely finish with a list of topics for further investigation. VERDICT This timely exploration helps readers place President Trump and his supporters in the context of white Christian America's reaction to mid-20th-century social justice activism.--Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook, Massachusetts Historical Soc., Boston

Preface	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Chapter 1 Saddling Up	p. 15
Chapter 2 John Wayne Will Save Your Ass	p. 33
Chapter 3 God's Gift To Man	p. 60
Chapter 4 Discipline and Command	p. 74
Chapter 5 Slaves and Soldiers	p. 88
Chapter 6 Going For the Jugular	p. 103
Chapter 7 The Greatest American Hero	p. 118
Chapter 8 War For the Soul	p. 134
Chapter 9 Tender Warriors	p. 150
Chapter 10 No More Christian Nice Guy	p. 173
Chapter 11 Holy Balls	p. 187
Chapter 12 Pilgrim's Progress In Camo	p. 205
Chapter 13 Why We Want To Kill You	p. 219
Chapter 14 Spiritual Badasses	p. 233
Chapter 15 A New High Priest	p. 250
Chapter 16 Evangelical Mulligans: A History	p. 272
Conclusion	p. 295
Acknowledgments	p. 305
Notes	p. 311
Index	p. 345

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents