JESUS and JOHN WAYNE: HOW WHITE EVANGELICALS CORRUPTED a FAITH and FRACTURED a NATION (audiobook) by Kristen Kobes du Mez
Published on July 14, 2020 by Kalorama.
Read by Suzie Althens.
Duration: 12 hours, 3 minutes.
Duration: 12 hours, 3 minutes.
Unabridged.
Kristen Kobes du Mez comes to this book from the perspective of a person of faith. This is important because this book is highly critical of a certain strand of Christianity.
Kristen Kobes du Mez comes to this book from the perspective of a person of faith. This is important because this book is highly critical of a certain strand of Christianity.
This strand of Christianity has replaced the values of Jesus with the values personified by John Wayne. Don't get me wrong - I have watched my fair share of John Wayne movies. I always stop to watch "The Cowboys" and the big muddy fistfight scene in "McClintock!" "Rooster Cogburn and the Lady" is one of my favorite westerns, even if it isn't a favorite of most John Wayne fans.
But, the lessons taught in most John Wayne movies are not the lessons taught by Christ. His movies rarely model turning the other cheek and often endorse revenge. They are escapist entertainment, but hardly the basis of a religious movement.
Or, are they? There is a movement in evangelical Christianity that endorses the idea that Jesus was a lot more like John Wayne than the traditionally thought. John Wayne becomes the model for the true Christian man - a man of action who acts the way a man ought to act - a man who is the "protector, provider and patriarch" as another book with both Jesus and John Wayne in the title concludes is embodied in the screen personae of John Wayne.
How did the come to pass? The author takes us back to the days of radio evangelists and finds that there has always been a manly man strain in the evangelical movement, even if those impulses contradict the teachings of Christ. The author follows that line of thinking as it matures a bit under Billy Graham and continues to grow until it comes into full flower with organizations like Focus on the Family and preachers that re-interpret (or outright make up) history just to prove their dubious theological points, like Douglas Wilson.
At first I thought this book was dreadfully slow and not really making any points. But, starting about 1/3 of the way in, it became obvious that she had been slowly building her argument by laying down a strong foundation for the rest of the book. I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.
This book can be found on Amazon.com here: JESUS and JOHN WAYNE: HOW WHITE EVANGELICALS CORRUPTED a FAITH and FRACTURED a NATION.
Or, are they? There is a movement in evangelical Christianity that endorses the idea that Jesus was a lot more like John Wayne than the traditionally thought. John Wayne becomes the model for the true Christian man - a man of action who acts the way a man ought to act - a man who is the "protector, provider and patriarch" as another book with both Jesus and John Wayne in the title concludes is embodied in the screen personae of John Wayne.
How did the come to pass? The author takes us back to the days of radio evangelists and finds that there has always been a manly man strain in the evangelical movement, even if those impulses contradict the teachings of Christ. The author follows that line of thinking as it matures a bit under Billy Graham and continues to grow until it comes into full flower with organizations like Focus on the Family and preachers that re-interpret (or outright make up) history just to prove their dubious theological points, like Douglas Wilson.
At first I thought this book was dreadfully slow and not really making any points. But, starting about 1/3 of the way in, it became obvious that she had been slowly building her argument by laying down a strong foundation for the rest of the book. I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.
This book can be found on Amazon.com here: JESUS and JOHN WAYNE: HOW WHITE EVANGELICALS CORRUPTED a FAITH and FRACTURED a NATION.
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