To flatten the story by giving it a sole author would be to miss the details entirely. The forces that led to the misogyny Kobes du Mez details and to the events at the Capitol are multi-factorial. In our attempt to root out damaging forces of prejudice and extremism, we are in danger of convicting evangelicalism of a crime it has not committed, or at least has not committed alone. And yet I am not sure that identifying all of the actors involved as “evangelicals”, nor identifying “evangelicalism” as what binds them together, is either helpful or accurate. What we saw that day was certainly more than “a few bad apples.” We must attend to systems as we think about those events. And yet some of my concerns about Kobes du Mez’s method apply also to my concerns with some treatments of the events at the Capitol on January 6. When X is militarism, nationalism, and misogyny, and when we deeply desire to root out such things, this kind of sweeping treatment is appealing (as the book has proven to be). Because we see X in evangelicalism, therefore evangelicalism caused X, and also evangelicalism is X. I am concerned that Kobes du Mez’s use of evidence collapses into an easy theory of causation. But I have not edited my remarks on Kristin Kobes du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne in any way, and I stand behind my critique of the book. It is a difficult and a painful time to identify in any way with evangelicals, or to offer pushback on a sustained critique of the movement, as I have below. Since then there has been a deluge of think-pieces and journalistic treatments of the events and the role “evangelicals” had in them.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.I wrote and submitted this essay in advance of the January 6th events at the Capitol. We may earn affiliate commissions through links listed here. (The Holy Post is supported by our listeners. Jesus & John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation: Part 1 - Promise Keepers and Therapeutic Christianity Part 2 - Servant Leaders and Racial Reconciliation (15:36) Part 3 - Purity Culture and Fragile Masculinity (32:47) Part 4 - 9/11 and the Neo-Calvinists (48:38) Plus, why an emphasis on racial reconciliation ultimately doomed Promise Keepers, and how other ministries learned to avoid any talk about race or justice.
Calvin University history professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez joins Skye Jethani to discuss her bestselling book, “Jesus & John Wayne.” In this episode, they examine why white evangelicalism left behind some of its militant rhetoric after the Cold War ended in the early 1990s to embrace a kinder, gentler approach epitomized by the Promise Keepers movement, and how an aggressive vision of Christian masculinity returned after September 11, 2001.
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