Reading the title of this book, you might be trying to picture Jesus of Nazareth approaching Mary Magdalene in a brutish posture, leaning on a fig tree, quoting that famous line, “Come here and give me a kiss.” The mental image won’t fit, and yet somehow the entire right-wing evangelical movement was based upon making the Son of God into the image of a smooth-talking, boozing, womanizing, anti-communist hero of a glorious era when men were men and women were in the kitchen. At least according to the author.
The book begins by acquainting the reader with John Wayne. The author casts no judgement on the state of Wayne’s eternal soul, however the point is made that Wayne wasn’t exactly an archetype of Christ. The author goes further to point out that Wayne never even served in the wars he portrayed, nor did he necessarily hold the beliefs or political posturing of the books and memes he is often attributed to. Rather, the evangelical right made him into a poster boy that suited their narrative: an anti-communist.
The book takes the reader through the Red Scare and militaristic propaganda that began during WWII and increased through the Vietnam War, reaching fever pitch with President Reagan in the 80s. The author details the ebb and flow of the evangelical movement and how it intertwined with conservative politics and, eventually, the Grand Old Party once the “Dixiecrats” (conservative Democrats) completed their move to the GOP. It permeated everything from national politics (Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” speech) to the individual family (Jim Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” radio shows).
Although this was only touched on briefly, I feel compelled to mention it: Jimmy Carter’s administration was an objective failure. The author describes Jimmy Carter as a puppet of the evangelical movement, a humble Christian who was elevated to the position by conservatives but did not bow to their every demand. While Carter was (and is) a humble Christian, and undoubtedly a good man, I feel this is a mischaracterization of his presidency. He did not fail because he bucked his base. He failed because he refused to listen to sound advice.
That small issue aside, the book was an eye-opener for me. I was raised in a conservative home where the “godly chain of command” was God, the President, the father, then the mother. The Bible was taken literally, every word. Women were to be silent in church. I believed in God, so I equated all this with Christianity. When I took issue with this worldview, I was criticized not as a dissenter, but as rebellious. Rebellion, as the good book reminds us, is as the sin of witchcraft. Strange then that the most “Christian” nation on earth was formed in a cauldron of rebellion against British authority.
Perhaps the biggest eye-opener for me was that the Southern Baptist Convention, from whence Southern Baptist (and by extension, Southern) theology came from, was not always this way. There was a coup within the organization of far-right evangelicals (detailed in the book) that drove out many of the more liberal members (and eventually, the moderates). Southern Baptists once met to discuss the heaviest issues of doctrine: predestination versus free will, literal or figurative interpretation of Creation, and God’s plan for sex. With the far-right takeover, the SBC descended into the legalism and staunch traditionalist views we see today.
If you, like me, enjoy televangelist scandals, my dear reader you will not be left thirsting. Kobes Du Mez spares no detail in her eviscerating account of the televangelists that helped usher in the far-right movement we see today. Falwell. Roberts. Swaggart. Robertson. The Bakkers. None are spared. Beyond the juicy scandal however, the author gives us a glimpse inside how their rise to influence was perpetuated and how it bled into the internal politics of the GOP during the Reagan administration and, eventually, gave rise to the Trump administration.
The true revelation of this book for me was the way in which the author lays out the timeline of the evangelical movement as though one would lay transparencies over a blueprint. It helped me see the influence levied on my parents, a seed planted by their parents. As odd as it may seem, it helped restore my own faith by allowing me to see that while all evangelicals claim to be Christians, not all Christians are evangelicals. Much of it was nothing more than propaganda, and yet we are still seeing the ripple effects today.
This book is worth the read even if you’re not into politics or religion because it shows another side of history, the behind the scenes history of the past four decades. The fall of American televangelists is itself a tragedy of epic proportions. But if you were raised in a traditionalist home or want to understand those who were, this book illuminates so much.
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