Ep. 412 - Interview with Kristin Du Mez, author of "Jesus and John Wayne"

In this solo episode (Jessica will be back next week), Hemant interviewed Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of the New York Times bestseller "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation." The book attempts to explain why white evangelicals overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump, despite all the non-Trumpy values they claimed to hold dear before he came along, by looking at the history of evangelical culture. 

2:40 Why did you write this book?

5:00 The subtitle of your book is who white evangelicals corrupted a faith and fractured a nation. And I sometimes wonder did they corrupt the faith or did guys like Donald Trump expose the faith for what it's always been?

7:02 Are you cherry picking bad actors, like Mark Driscoll, who exist in every tradition, or do guys like Driscoll fairly represent this strain of conservative Christianity?

10:20 How much blame should we place on moderate Christians who platform these toxic people?

14:38 Is there a good definition of evangelicalism that outsiders would agree with?

18:28 Are your students more receptive to your ideas than your colleagues?

20:35 Are white evangelicals uniquely bad with toxic masculinity or is this just a problem with Americans at large? Or all of humanity?

23:32 Is Jerry Falwell, Jr. making a comeback? 

25:25 Is there going to be a backlash to Trumpism that affects evangelicals?

30:06 SPONSOR: HelloFresh! https://www.hellofresh.com/friendlyatheist16

31:19 Is the impending end of Roe v. Wade good or bad for evangelicals on a strategic level?

34:12 Are white evangelicals really hypocrites about Trump considering he kept his anti-abortion promises? 

37:55 Is evangelical Christianity a force for good?

40:55 What is your reaction to Girl Defined and other young Christian women who promote Christian patriarchy on YouTube?

42:00 What would you say to a megachurch pastor who comes to you for advice?

46:35 How come Christian stereotypes include both manly patriarchs as well as hipster skinny jean pastors? 

49:45  Are you unfairly painting lower and middle class white men in the worst possible light?

52:30 Are white evangelicals really as powerful as you suggest they are? 

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