Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation

The term “evangelicalism” refers to a fundamentalist movement across various denominations in Protestant Christianity. (Non-evangelical Protestants are often called “mainline Protestants.”) Although wide theological variations exist even within evangelicalism, it is usually defined by four core theological tenets: a belief that conversion requires an intimate and transformative spiritual experience called being “born again,” a view that the entire Bible is in some way divinely inspired and is more than a historical document, an emphasis on the belief that Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection led to the atonement of humanity, and the practice of social activism. The latter often extends to the political sphere and, as Du Mez points out in this book, strives to elect “strongmen” to positions of power.

A movement that can potentially exist in any religion, including Christianity, fundamentalism calls for strict and literal interpretations of holy texts and encourages reactionary beliefs and hostility toward outsiders and the modern world. A fundamentalist perspective typically is intolerant of any practice or lifestyle that does not align with the fundamentalist interpretation of scripture. Christian fundamentalists tend to associate leadership with masculinity because, as Du Mez notes, this view aligns with their interpretation of the Bible.

Typically, gender refers to how someone presents and thinks of their identity in psychological, cultural, and social terms. Gender is often but not always traditionally associated with one’s sex. Some historians use gender as a category of analysis—a way of understanding historical movements and developments, usually along with race and class. Du Mez discusses the centrality of gender roles in evangelical and political arenas.

Founded by the evangelical preacher Jerry Falwell in 1979, the Moral Majority was a political advocacy organization promoting conservative social causes, which typically led it to back the political platform of the right-wing Republican Party. The Moral Majority’s support was a major factor in the election of actor and political conservative Ronald Reagan as the 40th US president from 1981 to 1989. Due to a lack of funding, the Moral Majority disbanded in 1989.

Muscular Christianity was a Christian movement inspired by early 20th-century preacher and celebrity Billy Sunday. It purported to revive Protestant Christianity along the lines of “rugged American masculinity” (17). Du Mez notes that muscular Christianity denounced pacifism and tended toward fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible.

Originating in the late 19th century, the prosperity gospel refers to various ideas within Protestant Christianity. These beliefs hold that material benefits reward faith. Du Mez notes that this belief often aligns with an image of masculine dominance.

The Religious Right is a catch-all term for various conservative Christian movements, organizations, and leaders who are politically active in their support of right-wing causes. This term thus encompasses the Moral Majority, muscular Christianity, and the prosperity gospel.

Du Mez mentions the Southern Strategy, a term referring to the Republican Party’s use of opposition to Black civil rights reforms to appeal to whites in the American South. This campaign led to a major political realignment in the US that has lasted to this day, with the Republicans replacing the Democrats as the dominant political party in the South.

The Sunbelt is an informal geographical term referring to the southern-most US, stretching from southern California to Florida. Du Mez mentions how, in the 1950s and 1960, large numbers of Americans relocated there from the rest of the country.