Kristin Du Mez: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
Kristin Kobes Du Mez
59.51
2 November 2021
30 October 2025
Hollywood’s strong men icon, portrayed by actors like John Wayne and Mel Gibson, have coopted core biblical teachings such as loving one’s neighbors and enemies, adding a militant battle cry. Mainstream evangelical leaders preach a “mutually reinforcing vision of Christian masculinity – of patriarchy and submission, sex and power.”
In her NYT best-seller, Jesus and John Wayne, Kristin Du Mez traces how a militant ideal of white, Christian manhood has come to pervade evangelical popular culture in America. She argues this has led to the hero worship of Donald Trump, who embodies the ideal of militant masculinity, protector and warrior.
Cambridge Forum welcomed Du Mez to talk about her book with historians Jon Butler and Jemar Tisby.
This talk is part of the Cambridge Forum’s THE SEARCH FOR MEANING, a 3 part series looking at the benefits and failures of organized religion in the US.
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