More of Jesus and Less of John Wayne: Prescription for American Evangelicalism

Last updated on: June 25, 2022 at 7:34 am by Roger E. Olson

More of Jesus and Less of John Wayne: Prescription for American Evangelicalism 2022-06-25T07:34:48-05:00 Roger E. Olson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

*Note to would-be commenters: Know that this is not a discussion board; your comment may or may not be approved to appear here. If you hope for it to be approved and appear here, make sure it is relatively brief, on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful, not hostile or argumentative, and does not contain a link or photo.*

I finally finished reading “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation” by Kristin Kobes Du Mez. Please know that this is not a formal review but a personal response.

Du Mez’s basic, overall thesis is that white American evangelicals by and large fell into an ideology of militant masculinity combined with rabid Americanism that let to all kinds of terrible things from rampant abuse of women and children by Christian male leaders (and non-leaders who followed them), to attempted cover ups and false justifications of such abuse, to the election of a president with a history of misogyny including admitted sexually aggressive behavior toward women (and other terrible things).

Reading the book, which includes numerous accounts of such abuses by white American evangelicals, was a depressing experience for me. I already knew about most of what she writes about, but it still saddened me to the point of struggling to finish the book. The only comfort I could take was that I left that evangelicalism behind long ago and that I have never regarded John Wayne a role model for Christian boys or men.

In brief, Du Mez is neither wholly right nor wholly wrong. But even if she is partly right, the situation to which she points is extremely dismaying.

My strong recommendation is that you read the book and consider its argument for yourself. My advantage here is that I lived through much of the history of white American evangelicalism and was knowledgeable about the events and circumstances about which she writes. My disadvantage is being a white American male and evangelical. To her, I suspect, that makes me partially blind to the real cause of the terrible situation about which she and I agree—that white American evangelicalism has largely gone off the rails.

Where is she right? She cites numerous cases of male misconduct by American evangelical influencers. She is right that this situation was and is a terrible scandal. Where is she partly right but partly wrong? She says that this misconduct is endemic to evangelicalism itself. The naked statistics make that claim reasonable while knowledge of white American evangelicalism from the inside raises some doubts about it. Where is she wrong? In my opinion, she fails adequately to distinguish between “evangelical” and “fundamentalist.” By far the majority of men (and some women) she highlights as perpetrators of abuses (and cover ups and false justifications) were and are fundamentalists more than true postfundamentalist evangelicals. However, admittedly, the line between the two camps has become very blurry in the decades since, say, 1980.

Toxic, militant, distorted masculinity has undoubtedly been a huge problem among white American evangelicals. Du Mez does not help readers understand what undistorted masculinity might look like. The vast majority of white people who call themselves evangelicals in America have, indeed, fallen into a mentality of jingoistic Americanism combined with militant masculinity. Du Mez does not help readers understand what the alternative for evangelicals might look like.

Du Mez is not wrong, but the book reads like a jeremiad without enough points of light and hope. Here and there, scattered throughout the book, there are many statements that make me wonder if she knows what she is talking about. These are mostly in details, anecdotes, asides, about individual people and organizations.

Earlier here I mentioned her gross error, which she said was due to reliance on a secondary source, about 1950s gospel song writer and recording artist Stuart Hamblin. Just to mention one more claim that made me (and my wife) scratch me/our heads—her description of Hobby Lobby as a kind of church for white American women (or at least a pilgrimage site where they have a kind of religious experience). My wife loves Hobby Lobby but not for the things Du Mez describes. I have gone with my wife to many Hobby Lobby stores many times and neither one of us has seen what she describes. But more specifically, we wonder why she off-handedly mentions Chip and Joanna Gaines in connection with Hobby Lobby’s alleged participation in attempting, consciously or unconsciously, to support gender separation. I have met them, know people who have worked closely with them, and my wife and I have watched almost all of their television shows.

Repeatedly through “Jesus and John Wayne” Du Mez offhandedly mentions specific people, books, events who don’t clearly fit into her narrative as if they do.

Some who do fit her narrative were and are not representatives of white American evangelicalism; they were and are clear examples of far-right fundamentalists, actually cultic in nature.

And I wonder why she thinks churches and Christian organizations that encourage boys to be wild and adventurous without hurting anyone are automatically bad. She seems to me to broaden out toxic, militant masculinity to include all typical maleness.

Finally, she does not seem to me sufficiently to acknowledge the dangers within modern, secular (and increasingly pagan) American society to which her “bad evangelicalism” was and is an over reaction.

Clearly, Du Mez intends to prescribe greater focus on Jesus and less admiration for John Wayne—for a healthier white American evangelicalism. I only wish she had said more about that. Here I have often argued that all Christians need to study and look to Jesus rather than admire and follow allegedly great white American Christian celebrity pastors, writers, evangelists, etc. And I will get more specific. In my humble opinion, for what it’s worth, if anything, the mega-church movement in American evangelicalism, both black and white, has been a disaster. I cannot see Jesus attending one. I think he would rebuke them as nothing he ever intended for his disciples. Mass evangelism is one thing; seeker sensitive mega-church as Christian entertainment venue is something else entirely.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 22, 2022

Why Not “Against Fundamentalism?”

Next Post

June 28, 2022 Does Christianity Require a “Leap of Faith?”

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Against Liberal Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, what is the correct sequence of events in the End Times?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Dragon cast to earth, beast rises from sea, false prophet rises from earth, mark of the beast given False prophet rises, dragon cast to earth, beast rises from sea, mark of the beast given Mark of the beast given, dragon cast to earth, beast rises, false prophet rises Beast rises from sea, dragon cast to earth, mark of the beast given, false prophet rises