The last chapter of JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE is Evangelical Mulligans: A History. I hated researching it, hated writing it. It places evangelical support for an abuser-in-chief in the context of ev's support for their own abusers of power: Driscoll, Mahaney, MacDonald, MacArthur...
And it places their support for Trump, Roy Moore & Brett Kavanaugh alongside their support for abusers in their midst: Pete Newman of Kanakuk Kamps and Joe White's coverup; C.J. Mahaney for cultivating an "environment conducive to and protective of physical and sexual abuse..."
The list continues: Bill Gothard, Doug Phillips, Doug Wilson's long history of victim blaming. Josh Duggar, whose family minimized his actions. As his mom told Fox News, everyone makes mistakes--"that's why Jesus came." She blamed those with an agenda for slandering the family.
The list goes on: Jack Hyles and his "Watergate-like coverup" of sexual abuse at his church; Jack Schaap, whose "Polished Shaft" sermon gained notoriety and who pled guilty to crossing state lines to have sex with a 16yo he was counseling.
Then Bill Hybels and Paige Patterson and the 412 allegations of misconduct in IFB churches and then the 700+ victimes in SBC churches and still the refusal of evangelical leaders to call out abuse and expel abusers. These are not aberrations, they are endemic to evangelicalism.
Here's what I conclude: "The evangelical cult of masculinity links patriarchal power to masculine aggression and sexual desire; its counterpoint is a submissive femininity. A man's sexual drive, like his testosterone, is God-given. He is the initiator, the piercer...."
"Men assign themselves the role of protector, but the protection of women and girls is contingent on their presumed purity and proper submission...This puts female victims in impossible situations.
"Caught up in authoritarian settings where a premium is placed on obeying men, women and children find themselves in situations ripe for abuse of power....
"Immersed in teachings about sex and power, evangelicals are often unable or unwilling to name abuse, to believe women, to hold perpetrators accountable, and to protect and empower survivors.
Evangelical men preached a vision of masculinity...of patriarchy and submission, sex and power. It was a vision that promised protection for women but left women without defense, one that worshiped power and turned a blind eye to justice..." amazon.com/Jesus-John-Way…
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"I am a woman inclined to leadership (I didn’t know how to change that), fascinated by religion & faith, but I didn’t know how to fit inside it anymore. So, I walked away from the church.
As a reporter, a religion writer, I’m still deeply fascinated by women who stayed." 1/4
Jesus and John Wayne gets a shoutout too, as "a sort of oracle revealing toxic masculinity within the evangelical movement. A year out from publication, the book spurs daily posts from believers starting to peel their faith away from hyperbolic manhood..." 3/4
When I wrote JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE, I had a list of people I most wanted to read the book. @DavidAFrench was on that list. And so I'm especially grateful for this generous and serious engagement. Hard to choose, but I'll share a few highlights & then respond below. 1/
The assertion that culture defines evangelicals as much as theology he finds "spot-on": "Evangelicals are kidding themselves if they think their culture is always the result of their theology rather than their theology often following their culture." 2/
French also sees that "the John Wayne archetype"-- "an unhealthy attachment to a particularly aggressive vision of masculinity...modeled less on Christ than on secular warrior-figures..." where men defend faith & nation--correctly describes a strong strand of ev culture. 3/
As Women's History Month draws to a close, I would be remiss if I didn't highlight my favorite forgotten woman in American history, Kate Bushnell--once a world-renowned anti-trafficking activist, innovative feminist theologian, & all around woman you didn't want to mess with. 🧵
After repeatedly encountering upstanding Christian men who perpetrated and condoned all sorts of cruelties against women--both in the United States and across the British empire--Bushnell concluded that "the crime" must be "the fruit of the theology."
But she upheld the authority of the Scriptures: The Bible was all that it claimed for itself: "inspired...infallible...and inviolable." During the fundamentalist/modernist split, she sided w/ fundamentalists. The problem was the Bible had been translated & interpreted by men.
I had the privilege of talking about Jesus and John Wayne with @aaronieq@cb_johns@aprilldiaz and Jackie Johns. I do a lot of podcasts and I love them all, but this one felt different. It went kind of deep. Take a listen. Also, as a historian, context is always relevant... 1/8
So I'll note that when we recorded this episode, I was unaware that @sniequist was about to break her silence and apologize publicly for her silence in light of revelations of her dad's (Bill Hybels) abusive behavior. Here's more on that: religionnews.com/2021/02/22/aut… 2/8
This is a lot to process, so a couple thoughts. First, as a historian I am unaccustomed to writing histories in which principal actors are still among us. Even stranger is having my own book become part of the story I've traced, in its own way. I'll say more on that another time
We're in new territory now with J&JW, with reviews of reviews appearing. Which is kind of fun, especially when penned by someone like @JohnInazu. I welcome his expert perspective on one of the questions that troubled me while writing: connections between the evangelical...
...presence at the AFAcademy. It was striking to me & I long pondered what to do with the fact that (contested) concerns over the (contested) ev presence at the Academy covered the same period as sexual assault scandals there. I did not have evidence proving causal connections...
...and yet I thought it important to note the overlap. I'm glad @JohnInazu cited my actual words, where I say that it seemed like these are 2 distinct issues, but then yes, I do suggest that they "might not be entirely disconnected." (Note the careful wording.)
So this caught my attn even before I realized Jesus and John Wayne was part of this discussion. Here's Newsmax talking about @DavidAFrench 's interview with Vox's @seanilling on how Trump was a catastrophe for Am Christians. I'll get to Rachel Hamm in a minute, but first...
I'm a big fan of French & his resistance, but I want to push his analysis further. Why Trump? It's not just that white evs are Repubs, but white evs helped shape the Repub party into what it is. This isn't about being coopted. It's affinities & alliances. vox.com/22188646/trump…
Alternative information is a huge thing. But here too it's not just that evs watch Fox and listen to talk radio. Conservative evs contribute to Fox and talk radio & conservative media cater to evs. Meanwhile Chr media generate & amplify the very same perspectives. It's symbiotic.