LETTER: Evangelical movement seeks power over us
Editor, Register-Mail: There's an evangelical movement in our country that seeks power and ascendancy above us all, which opposes the U.S. Constitution's 1st Amendment stating Congress shall not establish a national religion, and granting us freedom to practice whichever religion we choose (at any given moment, and within legal bounds) and freedom FROM religion. You can start your church, but I don't have to be a member, nor live by your ideologies. I recommend a fascinating book: "Jesus and John Wayne, How White Evangelicals Corrupted A Faith And Fractured A Nation," authored by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, a Christian college history professor, contributor to Christianity Today, and author of "A New Gospel For Women." She presents a 75-year history of white evangelicalism that seeks to "replace the Jesus of the Gospels with the idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism." She explains the role of culture in modern American evangelicalism, the merchandizing of movies, music, books and clothing that influences millions. Their values: "patriarchy, authoritarian rule, aggressive foreign policy, fear of Islam, opposition to Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ communities, has transformed the faith with enduring consequences for us all."
Reading her book will help us to understand how someone like Donald J. Trump could get elected, and why he and his ilk still hold significant sway over so many minds. No longer satisfied with home-schooling, there is a reanimated movement underway by evangelicals to expropriate public schools, remaking them in their image. This is a new/old paradigm being re-energized, colorfully-packaged, and delivered to school-boards, city councils and legislatures. The political realm is swayed by their religiosity and brand of populism, but democracy is indeed imperiled by their excessive supremacy fervor. We, who would uphold our secular-democracy, can't afford apathy in our ranks; we must get revitalized, communicate our ideals, educate and VOTE like our lives depend on it!
Evangels may shout, "Make Jesus Great Again," as if he has been emasculated, but He has NOT! Jesus is the same always, as is truth! There is a definite relationship between modern evangelicalism, militarism and American masculinity. Josh Hawley, Congressional GOP Rep, unveiled that sentiment in his statement, "men, after years of being told their manhood is the problem, they have withdrawn into an enclave of idleness, pornography and video games."
Is he laying the fault at the feet of feminine liberalism? We are a warring species; appears that's why President Biden's approval rating plummeted after he ended our 20-year involvement in the Afghanistan war. — Trish Forsyth Voss, Galesburg
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: LETTER: Evangelical movement seeks power over us
