Jesus and John Wayne

On to this year's first non-fiction, historical, religious read by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Buckle in.

Goodreads Stats

Why I Read This Book/How I Heard About It

This was another husband recommendation. Once upon a time, my husband and I were passionate, on-fire for Christ, extreme evangelical super Christians. We actually met at a teen Christian retreat called Chrysalis when we were only 16 years old. Over the past 10 years or so, we've drifted from the faith of our youth, but my husband was not lying when he told me that the rise of the extremist right wing happened right under our noses and we were a part of it and we didn't even realize it! So, there was the whole nostalgia factor for us, but also an opportunity for us to see our past experiences with fresh, intelligent eyes.

Basic Summary

I really can't summarize this book any better than the back cover verbiage, so here is the main gist of it:

"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 delves beyond facile headlines to explain how white evangelicals have brought us to our fractured political moment...Du Mez reveals that Donald Trump in fact represents the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicals’ most deeply held values.

Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping account of the last seventy-five 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. 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."

First Impressions

I listened to most of this book when I was on a business trip in Dallas. I didn't even understand how significant this was until I was doing the "wander around the city on foot" tourist thing and I happened to "stumble upon" the absolutely mammoth Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas. It boasted a huge, somewhat phallic water feature and the entire city block was covered by a multi-building Christian compound. Imagine my shock when I heard this church and pastor's names mentioned in the very book I was listening to on my headphones shortly afterwards. Surreal, y'all.

I was drawn into the book because the author mentioned sooooo many references to contemporary Christian culture that were obsessions of mine during my teen years: Michael W. Smith, Veggie Tales, The Passion of the Christ, CCM Magazine, Joshua Harris's I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Promise Keepers, Petra, Newsboys, the Brownsburg Revivals, the Left Behind book series, Beth Moore Bible studies, Focus on the Family, Jim & Elizabeth Elliott, and so so so many more. Seeing myself in this subculture, in the context of what the book was laying out, was something else.

Final Thoughts

My husband has told me for years that right-wing extremism started long ago and he's been saying that Trump isn't the beginning of the evangelical wing of the Church beginning to slide toward an eye-popping disregard for the actual Jesus and his teachings, but I never realized how true this is until I saw all the evidence laid out like this. The author does such a fabulous job of methodically showing where things began to go awry and showing how every slight step over the line of acceptable biblical behavior and into the realm of political activism has devolved into the mess we see in the evangelical church now.

Let me be clear: I don't hate Christians or disapprove of them, as a general rule. I know so many incredible believers who truly demonstrate Christ's spirit of love and generosity and joy. But, reading this was almost heartbreaking for me. Not only does it bring to mind so many that I love that have been railroaded by religious charlatans, but it hurts me to realize that I so wholeheartedly believed in a system of faith that was so corrupt and, honestly, in some ways...downright evil. I'm sick over it.

I can't change the past, I know. And I'm grateful for all the good that my faith gave me in my formative years and for the true friends I made in my religious journey, but man, I am ashamed. Ashamed that I contributed in any way to our culture being gaslit and misled, and ashamed that I was gullible enough to fall for it. Sigh. I guess all I can do now is try to live the best life I can from here on out.

Rating on Goodreads

I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars. If you are a recovering evangelical (or if you are caught up in the cult of Trumpism), READ IT.

My rating method:

• I rarely rate books 5 stars. I save this for the absolute best books I've read. You know the ones...the ones that you can't get out of your head, even after you've finished them. The ones you think about for weeks afterwards.

• If a book is really, really good, I'll give it 4 stars. If you see a 4-star rating from me, I'd definitely recommend it to you to read.

• If it's just OK, it gets 3 stars. Basically, it means I could take it or leave it. I'd probably read it again because it wasn't terrible. But not like a favorite or anything.

• If I rate it 1 or 2 stars, I would not recommend anyone read it. It either didn't hold my interest or I couldn't relate to the characters/plot.