Jesus and John Wayne

How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation

How did a libertine who lacks even the most basic knowledge of the Christian faith win 81 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2016? And why have white evangelicals become a presidential reprobate's staunchest supporters? These are among the questions acclaimed historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez asks in Jesus and John Wayne, which explains how white evangelicals have brought us to our fractured political moment.

Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping account of the last 75 years of white evangelicalism, showing how American evangelicals have worked for decades to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism. Evangelical popular 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.

A much-needed reexamination, Jesus and John Wayne explains why evangelicals have rallied behind the least-Christian president in American history and how they have transformed their faith in the process, with enduring consequences for all of us.

©2020 Kristin Kobes Du Mez (P)2020 Kalorama

Love the book, not the performance

This book is, hands down, one of the most important books I have read in my life. I am a pastor's wife and also deeply involved at one of the megachurches mentioned within these pages. All of this material was somehow deeply shocking and also entirely expected, as I saw so many similar things first hand. This book is required reading for all evangelicals and for anyone who would like to see a different reality than the one that is sadly and truthfully portrayed in this book.

Outstanding Education In Important Subject

It is very important that the country not allow a small, zealous minority of religious extremists usurp power and redefine America into a Christian theocracy. To understand the context, this is a must read. I rarely say that, but started when on chapter 1 of this book. Talk about connecting the dots. Another thing I very rarely do is read a book twice. I started rereading today. Truly, it's that relevant and educational.

It can be difficult to take in the history of your own time.

This book lays out the history of Evangelical Christianity in the U.S.
How we got distracted. How we built idols. How we built a narrative that keeps us comfortable in our sin.

book is interesting, narration is off-putting

Update: the narratation. I just can't. Apparently it isn't AI narrated, only a poor performance. It's way to distracting and I'm not going to finish it.

I'm not far into the book, yet. However, the narratation itself is odd enough that I have to say something. It actually sounds automated - there are certain words that sounds EXACTLY the same no matter where they are in a sentence (evangelical being one of them and it's said a billion times in the introduction). Not a fan but I'm gonna keep going because I don't have time to read so I listen in the car.

Hold on to your seat

This book was illuminating and thought provoking. I am glad I took the leap and bought it.
My one problem with this audible is the last three chapters kept stopping every few minutes. I had to keep pressing play, to get to the end.