Jesus and John Wayne, by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
Review by Dave Gamrath
In Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, author Kristin Kobes Du Mez explains how the evolution of white American evangelicalism towards Christian militancy led to their support of Donald Trump.
Book Review:
Throughout the world, Christianity contains various teachings. In Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, author Kristin Kobes Du Mez details the evolution of white American evangelicalism towards a very different view of Christianity than I experienced in my youth. There are over 30,000 verses in the bible. For America’s white evangelicals, arguably the most important verse is Mathew 11:12: “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” Kobes Du Mez explains how this came to be.
In telling this story, Kobes Du Mez references the teachings of many evangelical leaders, including Billy Graham, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Tim LaHaye, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim and Tammy Bakker, Pat Roberson and many more. These leaders pushed their followers to discount passive biblical teachings such as “turning the other cheek” in favor of viewing God as a warrior and Jesus as a badass. Versions of “God made men to be dangerous” and “every man needs a battle to fight” became dominant in evangelicalism, pushing for Christian nationalism, and for white men to be Christian warriors, exuding militant masculinity and embracing patriarchal authority. A “warrior Jesus” was embraced.
The military fits with the Christian warrior need for “violent masculinity”. America is on God’s side, and the bible directs that America build a strong military force. Guns are an important part of this image: “Jesus loves me and my guns.” Other commandments within Christian nationalism include free enterprise, patriotism and authoritarianism. It claims to be tough on crime, but not all crime – it urges toughness on “street crime”, which largely focuses on protecting society from Black men, while being passive on domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.
American culture wars provide Christian nationalists with many enemies, including homosexuals, immigrants, racial minorities, non-Christians, strong women, abortion advocates, communism and socialism. Their teachings include to fear multilateralism, welfare, income-transfer programs, divorce, comprehensive sex ed and secular humanism. They strongly oppose government action that doesn’t support their beliefs, such as federally funded daycare and the civil rights movement. They dispute claims of genocide of Native Americans, and often defend American slavery – the anti-God zealots were the abolitionists. Christian warriors believe that “America is God’s chosen nation and must be defended as such”, with white men defending America against nonwhites and foreigners. They see a natural conflict with the “evil” religion of Islam, and Christian nationalist leaders constantly stroke fears of being under attack.
At the core of white evangelical beliefs is that God demands men to lead and women to follow. Billy Graham preached that “God had cursed women to be under man’s rule”, thus wives must submit to their husband’s authority. Graham taught that God’s plan is for women is “complete and total submission to their husbands and to male leadership.” Men are entitled to have their wives eagerly meet their needs, including providing sex whenever desired. “Treat your husband like a king, revere him, and cater to his every need.” If a wife is not properly submissive, it’s the duty of the husband to “correct her”. Surprisingly, at least to me, evangelical women bought into to this, and adamantly opposed feminism and the Equal Rights Amendment.
Christian nationalism also gives firm instruction on parenting, embracing corporal punishment of children to induce needed discipline. Boys must be taught to fight and to have militant masculinity, or else they risk turning gay. Boys needed leadership training, while girls needed training to respect the will of men. Equality is not a Christian ideal. God did not ordained democracy; He ordained governing structures, including men over women, whites over minorities, and even employers over employees.
Kobes Du Mez describes multiple recent evangelical movements. One movement I found particularly interesting was Mars Church in Seattle. Founded in 1996 by Mark Driscoll, Mars Church expanded to fifteen churches in five states over the next eighteen years. Although providing a feeling of a nightclub, Driscoll’s teachings were very conservative. Driscoll infused his gospel message with militant masculinity, referring to Jesus as “an Ultimate Fighter warrior king.” As with other evangelical leaders, Driscoll preached that women needed to meet their men’s sexual needs. The church thrived on manufacturing a sense of threat from the outside, and Driscoll demanded absolute submission to his authority. This authorism gradually led to Driscoll’s downfall; he was removed from leadership in 2014 after numerous complaints of abusive leadership.
So how does John Wayne fit into this story? Wayne is an icon of Christian masculinity, of manhood and manliness. Wayne reflected the myth of the American cowboy who enforced order, protected the vulnerable, and was happy to use violence when necessary. It didn’t matter that John Wayne was twice divorced, carried on high-profiled affairs, was a chain-smoker and hard drinker, or that he never served in the military. What did matter was Wayne’s “embodiment of heroic masculinity”, which became a “touchstone for authentic Christian manhood,” and nurtured a strong nostalgia for a mythical American past.
The election of Barack Obama, simply put, freaked out white American evangelicals. A Black man as president was totally unacceptable, and, besides, Obama practiced the wrong kind of Christianity. Obama was on the wrong side of most every issue. Evangelicals were looking for a leader to protect them from these forces of evil, “an aggressive, heroic, manly man, someone who wasn’t restrained by political correctness or feminine virtues, someone who would break the rules for the right cause.” No other candidate in the 2016 election better fit this bill than Donald Trump. Trump reflected their desired militant masculinity. Trump may not be the ideal Christian, and may not know anything about the bible, but he fit the bill as a Christian nationalist. Trump was the “John Wayne stand in” that evangelicals were looking for and “became the standard-bearer of the Christian Right.” The more outrageous Trump became, the more they supported him.
Kobes Du Mez is a professor at a Christian university, and has written extensively for multiple Christian publications. Although she’s clearly a strong Christian, it’s obvious that Kobes Du Mez does not abide by the teachings of militant Christianity. She closes Jesus and John Wayne stating why she wrote the book, hoping that with a better understanding of how Christian militancy came to be, “what was once done might also be undone,” and will help with healing America’s fractured landscape. Let’s hope and pray.
Reviewer Opinion:
Interesting, and easy to read.
Reviewer Rating of Book:
Thumb up.