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May 10, 2022 - Straight White American Jesus

03:25

The Orange Wave, Ep. 6: Non-Biblical Christian Manhood

Since the mid-twentieth century, evangelicals and others on the Religious Right have looked to Hollywood, rather than the Bible, to construct their visions of "cowboy masculinity." It started with John Wayne and Ronald Reagan, then moved to Mel Gibson and others. On the political side, tough guys like Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump were favored over more reflective leaders like Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. Conservative women, such as Phyllis Schlafly and Maribel Morgan, provided the tools to construct a corresponding submissive femininity. The militant masculinity of the Religious Right is a key component to their love for strongmen leaders, willingness to engage authoritarianism over democracy, and desire to return the country to a white Christian patriarchy. This episode features an interview with Dr. Kristin Kobes du Mez, the author of the new book: Jesus and John Wayne: How Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation." Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time	Text
	Axis Mundi
	Axis Mundi
	As evangelical teenagers in the youth group at Rose Drive Friends Church, my comrades and I did not watch R-rated movies with sex scenes.
	We even avoided shows with curse words.
	We certainly didn't get to watch the genre of teenage comedies, where a group of youth goes on a hilarious journey to prom, marked by experiments with drugs, rebelling against parents, public pranks, and virginities lost in the backseats of old station wagons.
	That kind of content was sure to prevent us from remaining sexually pure and walking closely with God.
	Instead, the girls in the youth group were prescribed the Princess Bride and select rom-coms.
	Love was the currency they were taught to invest in.
	The boys, by contrast, watched adventure flicks with heroes saving countries and brides from destruction at the hands of an evil tyrant.
	By far, Mel Gibson's Braveheart was our favorite.
	We probably watched it 50 times.
	I could recite whole scenes by heart.
	On my first trip to the UK, I even made a special trip to Stirling, Scotland, in order to see William Wallace's sword.
	Without understanding it at the time, what my friends and I were doing by cultivating our understanding of manhood from Braveheart and other warrior movies, was using a Hollywood depiction of manliness as a stand-in for a biblical model.
	We were not looking to the Jesus who turned the other cheek, admonished his disciples against violence, and eventually succumbed to murder by the state in the name of a greater good.
	The Jesus who told Peter to put his sword away was pushed aside in favor of a fictionalized Scottish warrior who used his sword with otherworldly might to slay the English.
	We didn't attempt to foster the virtues of kindness, patience, and gentleness outlined in 1 Corinthians 13, The famous Bible passage on love often read at wedding ceremonies.
	Instead, we were looking to Hollywood depictions of warlords and soldiers as the blueprints for our own masculinities.
	We were not alone.
	Thanks for listening to this free sample of The Orange Wave.
	My name is Brad Onishi, the author and creator of the series.
	I want to invite you to head over to our show notes and hit the link if you'd like to continue listening to The Orange Wave.
	I know a paywall isn't something you want to see, and I get it.
	But I poured my heart and soul into making this docuseries and we're an indie podcast.
	We're self-funded, self-produced.
	We do everything we can on our own to do this work.
	And so it's a nominal fee and your contribution will help us make more of these docuseries, continue to do our show a couple times a week.
	Thanks again.

Time

Text

Axis Mundi

As evangelical teenagers in the youth group at Rose Drive Friends Church, my comrades and I did not watch R-rated movies with sex scenes.

We even avoided shows with curse words.

We certainly didn't get to watch the genre of teenage comedies, where a group of youth goes on a hilarious journey to prom, marked by experiments with drugs, rebelling against parents, public pranks, and virginities lost in the backseats of old station wagons.

That kind of content was sure to prevent us from remaining sexually pure and walking closely with God.

Instead, the girls in the youth group were prescribed the Princess Bride and select rom-coms.

Love was the currency they were taught to invest in.

The boys, by contrast, watched adventure flicks with heroes saving countries and brides from destruction at the hands of an evil tyrant.

By far, Mel Gibson's Braveheart was our favorite.

We probably watched it 50 times.

I could recite whole scenes by heart.

On my first trip to the UK, I even made a special trip to Stirling, Scotland, in order to see William Wallace's sword.

Without understanding it at the time, what my friends and I were doing by cultivating our understanding of manhood from Braveheart and other warrior movies, was using a Hollywood depiction of manliness as a stand-in for a biblical model.

We were not looking to the Jesus who turned the other cheek, admonished his disciples against violence, and eventually succumbed to murder by the state in the name of a greater good.

The Jesus who told Peter to put his sword away was pushed aside in favor of a fictionalized Scottish warrior who used his sword with otherworldly might to slay the English.

We didn't attempt to foster the virtues of kindness, patience, and gentleness outlined in 1 Corinthians 13, The famous Bible passage on love often read at wedding ceremonies.

Instead, we were looking to Hollywood depictions of warlords and soldiers as the blueprints for our own masculinities.

We were not alone.

Thanks for listening to this free sample of The Orange Wave.

My name is Brad Onishi, the author and creator of the series.

I want to invite you to head over to our show notes and hit the link if you'd like to continue listening to The Orange Wave.

I know a paywall isn't something you want to see, and I get it.

But I poured my heart and soul into making this docuseries and we're an indie podcast.

We're self-funded, self-produced.

We do everything we can on our own to do this work.

And so it's a nominal fee and your contribution will help us make more of these docuseries, continue to do our show a couple times a week.

Thanks again.