American Evangelicals

I grew up in Australia, and I was a member of an evangelical church there. I later moved to USA as a graduate student in mathematics, and I left Christianity after a few months there (at around age 23). I originally saw “evangelical” as a theological term, referring to particular theologies — particularly those that arose from Luther’s reformation. At the time of my youth in Australia, that made sense.

In America, I made similar assumptions about the meaning of “evangelical”. But experience has shown me that this was a mistaken view. It turns out that it makes more sense to think of “evangelical”, at least in the USA, a referring to a political and cultural identity. For example, I often hear the news media distinguishing between “evangelicals” and “mainline protestants”. Yet many of the “mainline protestant” churches would fit my original Australian understanding of “evangelical”.

Are evangelicals Christian?

What I see coming from American evangelicals does not fit the understanding of Christianity that I had in my youth. Yes, they call themselves “Christian”. But what, exactly does that mean? To me, it meant following the teachings of Jesus, such as “love thy neighbor”. And that’s where American evangelicals seem to fall short.

Here’s a post written by Rodney Kennedy, who is apparently a progressive Christian in America:

• A White Creationist Evangelical Arrives at the Gates of Heaven

Kennedy appears to have similar concerns on whether evangelicals are Christian. His post is well worth reading (h/t Bruce Gerencser).

Jesus and John Wayne

Not long after reading that post by Rodney Kennedy, I happened to see a post at the peaceful science forum. That post introduced me to a book by Kristin Du Mez, with the title “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation”. Du Mez is an historian, and is herself a Christian. She is at Calvin University, a Christian college in Michigan.

A PBS interview with Kristin Du Mez

A discussion with Du Mez and two historians of religion

Those youtube videos were already very interesting, and help to give me a better perspective on American evangelicalism.

After watching the video, I purchased the book (Kindle edition), and started reading it. The book was an eye opener. I had never realized the extent to which there evangelical fingers in the pie of American policy.

I’ll suggest that you watch the videos, and then consider reading the book.