That support is likely to hinge not on his presumed morality or Christian virtue, but rather on his ability to project rugged strength and masculine power. With his poll numbers flagging, maintaining white evangelical support is critical to the president’s reelection efforts. Trump,” Trump’s evangelical biographers David Brody and Scott Lamb concurred: Trump would “protect Christianity” he would be their “ultimate fighting champion.” “I want the meanest, toughest son of a you-know-what I can find,” explained Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas. I argue that the language evangelicals used to defend their support for Trump suggests that they were not betraying their values, rather that Trump embodied well the rugged and even ruthless ideal of evangelical masculinity. In 2016, exit polls revealed that 81% of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump, a number higher than any other religious demographic. Reflecting the onscreen heroism portrayed by men like Gibson and Wayne, this masculine ideal condoned violence in the pursuit of righteousness and justified a vigorous, even ruthless assertion of power.
Between jesus and john wayne movie#
In fashioning their masculine ideal, evangelicals have drawn liberally on Hollywood heroes – on mythologized warriors like Mel Gibson’s William Wallace in the movie “Braveheart” and on the heroic cowboys and soldiers played by John Wayne. Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesĬulture has played a critical role in shaping and sustaining this rugged vision of Christian manhood.
Moss as “a lack refinement, tact, sensitivity, taste or delicacy.” Others have observed how he has broken rules of civil political engagement.īut in my research on evangelical masculinity, I have found that Trump’s leadership style aligns closely with a rugged ideal of Christian manhood championed by evangelicals for more than half a century.Īs I show in my book “ Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation,” conservative evangelicals embraced the ideal of a masculine protector in the 1960s and 1970s in order to confront the perceived threats of communism and feminism.Īctor John Wayne. Scholars have commented on his crassness, defined by historian Walter G. To many, it seems hypocritical that Christians who have long touted “family values” could rally around a thrice-married man who was accused by several women of sexual assault. White evangelical support for Donald Trump has long puzzled observers. The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.
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