White evangelicals overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in his campaigns and presidency. White Christian nationalism was a driving force in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. And many of the worst reactionary movements in the country, powering the growth of the far right’s influence, have their source in evangelical America.
This is all, frankly, a little perplexing, given the peaceful, love thy neighbor core of Jesus’s moral teachings. But it’s nothing new. In her fascinating and troubling book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, Kristin Kobes Du Mez traces the emergence of the Christian radical right, particularly its patriarchal and toxically masculine forms, from its origins in the middle of the 20th century through to Trump. It’s a story that’s often appalling, but also helps us to understand much of our contemporary political scene.
ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.
Welcome to the first episode of ReImagining Liberty at its new home with The UnPopulist. This is a show about the emancipatory and cosmopolitan...
Today's episode is about transgender rights, and the growing cultural backlash among conservatives against the very idea of transgender identities.My guest is Kelly Wright...
Populism is a bundle of bad ideas motivated primarily by grievances. Once result is set of economic preferences that will only make the country...
