Straight White American Jesus

The Religious Right has not always existed. White evangelicals have not always been the guardians of far-right immigration policies and patriarchal models of the family. In the 19th century, they were often progressive activists fighting for labor rights, abolition, and women’s suffrage. As the example of Jimmy Carter shows, they were a visible and influential part of American politics into the 1970s. How did they transform into the scions of Christian nationalism? Brad explores this history with Professor Randall Balmer of Dartmouth College on the initial episode of The Orange Wave: A History of the Religious Right Since 1960.

Randall Balmer is the John Philips Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College. A prize-winning historian and Emmy Award nominee, Randall Balmer holds the John Phillips Chair in Religion at Dartmouth, the oldest endowed professorship at Dartmouth College. He earned the Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1985 and taught as Professor of American Religious History at Columbia University for twenty-seven years before coming to Dartmouth in 2012. He has been a visiting professor at Princeton, Yale, Northwestern, and Emory universities and in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He was a visiting professor at Yale Divinity School from 2004 to 2008.

Suggested Reading:

Randall Balmer, Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter (2014)

Randall Balmer, Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America (2006), Chapter 1.

Mark Noll, The Expansion of Evangelicalism: The Age of Wilberforce, More, Chalmers and Finney, Chapters 6 and 7.

Brad's second (and hopefully final) response to Timothy Keller. Brad discusses Keller's reductionist view of modern conceptions of selfhood; the problematic approach he takes to criticisms that his sexual ethic erases queer people--and creates the context for violence against them; and the ways Keller uses academic and theoretical sources (Taylor, Asad, Foucault) to cover over what are classic evangelical maneuvers: reduce sexual identity to choice, label those who don't fit the heterosexual fold as deviant, and blame them for it by tracing their path to sinful desire. 

Dr. Sophie Bjork-James is an anthropologist at Vanderbilt University. She discusses her new book, The Divine Institution: White Evangelical's Politics of the Family (Rutgers University Press). In her conversation with Brad, Dr. Bjork-James explains how White evangelicalism enforces racial inequality by drawing  moral, religious, and political attention away from problems of racial and economic structural oppression, explaining all social problems as a failure of the individual to achieve the strong gender and sexual identities that ground the nuclear family. The consequences of this theology are both personal suffering for individuals who cannot measure up to prescribed gender and sexual roles, and political support for anti-LGTBQ policies. 

Brad and Dan draw on Sophie Bjork-James' new book, the Divine Institution, to demonstrate how Evangelicals use the nuclear family in order to both attack members of the LGBTQ+ community and draw attention away from systemic issues related to race and other public health threats. In particular, they discuss a) the trans bill and healthcare for trans children in Arkansas b) Biden's executive order on gun control and the issue of gun violence as a public health threat c) the CDC's labeling of racism as a threat to public health. 

In all three instances, the individualist, patriarchal, and heteronormative Evangelical view leads to either active or passive complicity in marginalization and/or violence against racial, sexual, and gender minorities. 

Brad and Dan are happy to announce that SWAJ is joining the Irreverent Media Group--a collective of podcasts that offers content on deconstruction, rediscovery, and everything in between. We outline the details at the top of the episode. Check out irreverent.fm for more details!

We spend the major segment discussing the 82 anti-trans bills up for vote across the country. Dan shares analysis about how and why the trans body is so disruptive to the Christian nationalist vision of the USA. By using the metaphor of the social domain as a body, it's clear that Christian nationalists see trans people as an aberration from nature--and thus they are trying write laws that make it almost impossible to acknowledge trans existence, much less trans rights. 

On the second segment, they discuss the Evangelical leaders trying to defend purity culture and how sexual ethics in the Bible is a complex--and often disdainful-thing. 

TEDx speaker and author Asha Dahya is the Creator and Editor in Chief of GIRLTALKHQ. She was born in the UK, raised in Australia, and now lives in the USA. Of Indian descent, Asha grew up in Evangelical churches and was imbued with the teachings of purity culture. She discusses how it shaped her understanding of love, embodiment, and relationships, and why it prevented her from seeking the proper help when her marriage turned abusive. She also discusses how being a woman of color in the United States adds another layer of otherness and objectification within the confines of Evangelical spaces. 

Dan provides a detailed rebuttal to a piece claiming that there the concern about Christian nationalism is an overblown conspiracy by liberals and celebrities. Brad links this to the draconian voter-suppression law signed in Georgia last night. The law was bankrolled by Christian nationalists organizations and is a direct reaction to Black women and POC organizing to flip the state Blue. It even makes it illegal to give people in line to vote a glass of water. Talk about freedom, eh? 

They finish the episode by talking about the comically bad arguments against DC statehood and why they reflect the fear of the "wrong kind of person" voting. 

Brad talks with Adrian Gibbs, co-host of the Dirty Rotten Church Kids and an ex-evangelical of Filipino descent, about the connections between Ravi Zacharias' abuse of spa workers of Asian descent and the killing of six Asian women of Asian descent at day spas near Atlanta next week. They discuss the themes of misogyny, racial otherness, and purity culture as ways to understand why both cases involve Evangelical men carrying out violence against women of color. 

Brad and Dan discuss the various threads connecting the massacre in Atlanta: from the history of anti-Asian racism, to the various dimensions of purity culture, to the cover Christian nationalism provides to acts of violence. They then discuss the Vatican's statement on why the Church can't bless same-sex unions, since they are "sinful" as an instance of the hurtful "loving the sinner, hating the sin" ideal used in Evangelical spaces. They conclude with a segment on Russian interference in our election, masculinity, and the ease in which many are willing to write off democracy. 

Rest in Peace, You Will Not Be Forgotten: 

Daoyou Feng 

Hyun Jung Grant 

Suncha Kim 

Paul Andre Michels 

Soon C. Park  

Xiaojie Tan  

Delaina Ashley Yaun 

Yong A. Yue 

In the wake of the mass shooting of 8 people, 6 of whom were Asian women, Brad ties together the threads of anti-Asian hate, purity culture, and Christian nationalism. 

Killing half a dozen Asian women and attributing it to sex addiction, not racism, is Christian nationalism in a nutshell:   "Purity culture made me feel bad about my sexual needs, so I eliminated the temptation. What does race have to do with that?" (Hint: everything) Purity culture is not simply about sexual "purity." Sexual ethics is a way to slip racial, ethnic, and nationalistic purity into equation. As my co-host says, focusing on the purity of the individual body leads to trying to purify the national body. Purity culture is a step away from a pure national body. A body whose borders are not breached by foreign invaders, including "sexual tempters and those of low morals." If purity culture puts undue pressure on women to remain pure, think about what it does to non-white women who are seen as hypersexual seducers not only because of their gender, but also because of their race/ethnicity.

Brad explains how evangelicalism destroys faith, because it destroys any sense of uncertainty and unpredictability. By working in a register of moral, political, and theological certainty, evangelicalism becomes the anti-thesis of faith. Brad calls this disenchanted theology. By contrast, he argues that as a secular person he has become a person of faith in ways he never experienced as an evangelicals. For him, even as a non-religious person, the world is enchanted--full of unknowability and unpredictability--in ways that mean the human condition is always marked by vulnerability and wonder. He goes so far as to say that inter-faith dialogue is possible among secular people and religious. 

Voter suppression laws are Christian nationalist policy. They are part of a long lineage of movements that see White Protestants as the only legitimate power brokers in the American landscape. The 253 voter suppression bills put forth by the GOP over the last month are the result of the belief that not everyone should be able to vote and thus not everyone should be able to govern. 

After this first segment, we turn to Beth Moore's departure from the SBC, and discuss why it is and is not a big deal. From there we talk about conservative secessionist fantasies and finish with a few comments on the racism scandal surrounding the Royal family. 

This is a re-release of an episode from last year. Brad talks to journalist Katherine Stewart, author of the Power Worshipers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism. Her reporting takes us inside the world of Christian nationalism on the level of lived-experience. She conveys what she has seen at BBQs, political rallies, and even revival meetings at the Trump Hotel in DC. What emerges is a frightening picture of the mechanics of MAGA Nation and its religious communities. 

Brad compares the current moment to other times in American history when crisis and conflict led to a new normal. What will be our new normal after COVID? Will myth or policy drive us forward? On one hand, the Dems are tepidly putting forward legislation on COVID relief, voting rights, and protections for the LGBTQIA+ community. On the other, the GOP is driving the Big Lie forward, along with culture war items like Dr. Seuss and Potato Head. Which story--and which future--will prevail? 

Brad and Dan also discuss how 1/6 was an inside job and an Evangelical adoption agency deciding to work with LGB families. 

Following a great thread by @CaitlinJStout, Brad discusses why the people who leave evangelicalism are often the ones who devoted themselves wholeheartedly to it. 

 "Conversion therapy" is a discredited practice of trying to change an individual's sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Lucas Wilson is a Liberty University grad who took part in the university's ongoing "conversion therapy" program. Now a writer and scholar, he shares his experiences and those of others who endured the efforts to change their sexual orientation. 

At CPAC this week, there is a golden calf, um, statue of Trump making the rounds. Brad and Dan explore how this emblematizes Trump's continuing reign over the GOP. A majority of Republicans view him as a true patriot. Almost half say they would defect if he started a new party. Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan say Trump is the figurehead of the GOP and will be for the indefinite future. This means, we believe, that the type of violence seen on 1/6 will happen again. 

In the second segment we discuss the GOP's and Religious Right's attacks on trans people. This week Marjorie Taylor Greene posted a sign outsider her window proclaiming there are two genders--male and female. Dan breaks down the pseudo-science behind this claim and why it has insidious effects on our public square. Brad links it to other pseudo-scientific movements in American history--most notably eugenics. 

We finish by talking about why the term Judeo-Christian is propaganda for Christian nationalists. 

Brad lays out the case as to why the REvangelical movement coming from The Gospel Coalition and other voices in the Evangelical universe should not be considered deconstruction. 

Brad talk to Dr. Ruth Braunstein, Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut, about the nostalgic myths that drive MAGA Nation. Their conversation centers on how recognizing the structure of these myths enables us to better see how Christian nationalism pervades right-wing movements that don't have any explicit religious identity markers or symbols. Think: the Proud Boys and the NRA. These groups structure their identities around a certain Christian nationalist interpretation of American history, even when they don't claim an explicitly Christian mantle. 

What is the point of government? Is is capitalist profit or the common good? Brad and Dan explain how these questions connect notable events from this week--from Rush Limbaugh's death, to the energy disaster in Texas, Ted Cruz's Cancun misadventure, and one small town mayor's cruel understanding of how to treat people suffering through a weather catastrophe. We finish with a favorite segment: He's No James; Madison Cawthorn. 

Brad and Dan's interview with Reilly, Associate Pastor at Presbyterian New England Church in Saratoga Springs NY. Reilly shares how she grew up evangelical, realized she was gay right about the time she received the call to ministry, and her role as a possibility model to young people.

Brad discusses the Ravi Zacharias scandal and why sexual abuse is so rampant in Evangelical spaces: authoritarian leadership structures, patriarchal theology, in group/out group mentality, and a lack of oversight. He then relates it to Evangelical theologies of sex and gender by examining how Kamala Harris has been given the Jezebel label. Not is it sexist, but its origins are racist in nature. The Jezebel type is a slur against Black Women. 

Is talking about Christian nationalism akin to demonizing White Christians? Some right-wing theologians and leaders would like you to think it is. But they are wrong. We provide strategies for talking about Christian nationalism without reducing all Christian political involvement as Christian nationalism. We then continue to outline why it is essential to recognize the threat of White Christian nationalism, especially as it relates to rhetoric of war, violence, and political enemies. 

Our second major segment investigates how the Supreme Courts' recent decision regarding church openings during COVID sets a dangerous precedent for what counts as religious liberty and religious discrimination. Dan links this to broad themes concerning healthcare and inequalities in American society. 

Dan's 2018 interview with ethicist and former AAR president David Gushee, who left evangelicalism after changing his views of LGBTQ relationships.

Brad talks about: 

• Christian nationalism and Bruce Springsteen's Meet in the Middle ad 
• Tom Brady's friendship with Donald Trump and White Privilege 
• Tom Brady and Colin Kapernick: The Center and the Margin 
• The Kansas City Football Team's name as the chef's kiss to all of this

Brad and Dan talk about the false equivalence the GOP tried to draw this week between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ilhan Omar. This takes place in the context of a discussion about the generational legacy Trump holds over the Republican party, which is now dominated by extremists, conspiracy theorists, and Christian nationalists. Dan breaks down why it's a big deal that Trump didn't attend the National Prayer Breakfast and what it says about how Christian nationalism is not about personal religious practice, but is instead about social identity. Brad finds hope in Biden's speech at the State Department and the beginning stages of bringing our international relations and diplomacy back to a normal level. The show finishes with a segment of Tubby's Flubbies. 

Brad and Dan unpack how religions are what people do. The same goes for political parties. This means that White Supremacist Christians and QAnon Christians are Christians.  They may not be the kind you like or want to be associated with, but it's unhelpful to write them off as lone wolves who can be dismissed. This also means that insurrection-inciters and conspiracists like Josh Hawley, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Kevin McCarthy are the real Republican party. After discussing why it's important to recognize people and groups based on what they do and how they identity, Brad and Dan discuss the Reddit/Game Stop controversy and how it is not equivalent to the populism of MAGA Nation. Just because you are for the people, or popular, does not make you a populist. The episode ends with an important thesis: Joe Biden is the most religious president since Jimmy Carter. 

In an episode from fall of 2018, Brad and Dan discuss the issue of abortion in Evangelical culture and how it became a litmus test for who is a "real Christian." Brad then interviews Dr. Myev Rees, an expert on reproductive rights and abortion in Evangelicalism. She discusses the concept of an "angel baby" and what it means for how Evangelicals understands life, conception, and embodiment. 

Dr. Peter Manseau is a curator of American religious history at the Smithsonian and the author of ten books. He started #capitolsiegereligion soon after the January 6 insurrection in order to facilitate a crowdsourced collection of religious symbols and imagery from the siege. He talks to Brad about the Christian (and non-Christian) symbolism among the participants, the ways religious media and rhetoric  fostered the resentment and anger that fueled the riot, and the examples from American religious history that can help us make sense of what happened and think about what's next. What's clear from this conversation is that religion was everywhere on 1/6 and we have to reckon with that in order to move forward. 

Brad and Dan discuss the inauguration, including the theological aspects of Biden's speech and the civil religiosity of Biden's approach. 

They then transition to how key members on the Right, including Tucker Carlson and Rand Paul, were "offended" by Biden's call to dismantle White Supremacy and what it means going forward. 

Dan explains the troubling aspects of the 1776 Report. Brad explains why QAnon and the Proud Boys are in a moment of transition. 

They wrap up by discussing how to have empathy for individuals, but persist with unflinching criticism of institutions and movements--especially when it comes to MAGA Nation. 

An episode from Season 1 where Brad and Dan discuss nationalism and populism in the White Evangelical subculture. This is a nice primer for understanding what we now call Christian nationalism and its pervasiveness in American politics. 

Brad is joined by Dr. Richard Steigmann-Gall, a historian and expert in Nazi Germany. They compare Hitler's failed coup of 1923 and the Jan. 6 Insurrection at the US Capitol. The discussion focuses on several themes present in 1923 Germany and 2021 USA: 

• cultural resentment 
• Right-wing authoritarianism 
• Extra-military militias 
• The danger of unity with fascists
• Christianity as a marker of cultural identity 

Brad and Dan begin by recalling their episode from the eve of Trump's first impeachment, when the quoted a number of Evangelical leaders threatening/predicting civil war if Trump was impeached. Then, it seemed hyperbolic. Now, it is terrifying. They relate this to the prevalent "cosmic war" motif among various White (Christian) nationalists: from the Proud Boys to White Evangelicals and QAnons. Brad talks about the Q Caucus (Madison Cawthorn, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene) and the likelihood that they will at some point pull a gun on the House floor. They finish by answering three questions 1) should the Republicans who voted to impeach lauded? 2) what is the difference between the Capitol siege and the BLM protests? 3) What to say to those who claim big tech censorship is at unfair to conservatives? 

In an interview from 2018, Brad and Dan talk to Dr. Glenn Bracey of Villanova University about his experiences in White churches as a Black man. Dr. Bracey unpacks racialized dimensions of the Evangelical culture that shed light on what's happened during the the last four years--and even the last few weeks. His firsthand account and researcher's sensibilities make for a compelling interview on the troubling dynamics of race and White supremacy in contemporary American Evangelicalism. 

Dr. Kelly J. Baker, author of Gospel According to the Klan: The KKK’s Appeal to Protestant America, 1915-1930, stops by to discuss how the January 6 insurrection was long in the making. Using the 1920s Klan as a historical precedent, she and Brad discuss White supremacy in American culture and politics, the longstanding entanglement of White Protestantism and White nationalism, the Confederate legacy, the class dimensions of both the Klan and the coup, and what we can expect in the near future. 

Brad and Dan analyze the January 6 Insurrection at the United States Capitol. 

They begin by discussing the unprecedented aspects of the events. 

Then, a discussion of Christian nationalism and its manifestation through insurrectionists, the actions and rhetoric of Senator Josh Hawley, and the activism of Ginny Thomas--wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. 

After discussing the new conspiracy theory that antifa was behind the Insurrection, they turn to details surrounding the Capitol Police. 

The episode finishes with reasons for hope: Abrams, Warnock, Ossoff--stalwart members of the Religious Left. 

What if I told you the Religious Right formed on the basis of racism and not abortion? What if segregation was the real issue and the unborn were used later to justify it? That's what we discover on this episode. Brad and Dan trace the history of the Religious Right from the 60s to the present. And then Brad interviews Dr. Randall Balmer, professor of religion at Dartmouth College and one of the world's leading scholars on American Evangelicalism. 

Think of this as a SWAJ primer. We cover many of the major themes of the show in a relatively brief conversation. 

On our second ever episode, we put the White Evangelical support for Trump in historical perspective. Brad lays out the details on how more White Evangelicals supported him than Bush, McCain, or Romney. Dan then provides a sociological analysis as to how this happened. 

After many requests, we begin the re-release of Season 1! On this first episode Brad and Dan introduce themselves and tell their stories of being evangelical youth group kids, ministers, and seminarians, and then leaving the movement. They also explain why it was necessary to start Straight White American Jesus. This is our origin story. Take a listen! 

On the last Weekly Roundup of the year, Brad and Dan discuss: 1) the myth of the stolen election and how it has gained legitimacy through support from GOP leaders 2) comparing it to the lasting nature of the Birther controversy 3) examining the consequences of the myth, including the radicalization of a generation of White Americans, calls for implementing the Insurrection Act, and the development of a new Lost Cause (what Brad calls the Lost Pause). 

We finish the episode by examining Beth Moore's call for Evangelicals to back away from Trumpism and Christian nationalism. 

Ken Kemp is not the person you'd expect to be leading small groups and table talks helping White folks understand the histories of racism and strategies to combat it. He's a White male Boomer. Someone born into evangelical culture. A guy who went through seminary and was almost ordained twice. But late in life he had an awakening through visits to India, South Africa, and via friendships and events that woke him up to the racialized dimensions of White Evangelicalism. He shares his story with Brad and talks about how other White people can do the work to become anti-racist. 

Brad and Dan briefly touch on three stories: MAGA rebellion in Georgia, Obama on "Defund the Police," and the federal government's abandonment of the American people in the face of COVID. 

We then dig deeper into two stories about religion and politics: 

-the attacks on Raphael Warnock as part of a long history of White Evangelical castigation of Black faith and movements. 

-the Supreme Court's ruling that religious gatherings override COVID health measures 

Dr. Sophie Bjork-James is an anthropologist at Vanderbilt University. She is a specialist in race, gender, and religion with a focus on White nationalism and White evangelicalism. One of her recent projects is a close reading of the Left Behind series and the Turner Diaries, the latter many consider the Bible of the White supremacy movement. Reading these two texts together reveals the stunning similarities in White nationalism and Christian nationalism, including their belief that violence is justified to achieve their political goals, their fear of global organizations such as NATO and WHO, and their willingness to trample democracy if it means they can stay in power.