DISCIPLES OF WHITE JESUS: The Radicalization of American Boyhood
Pre-Order NOW
Available on Amazon, B&N, Bookshop, and wherever books are sold.
More?
#thread
Those of you who found this odd + funny should really listen to those of us who found it terrifying bc it’s rooted in
#ChristianNationalist
imagery + ideology, from her diamond-encrusted cross necklace to her demonization of the scary brown man.
#SOTUResponse
Longtime fan of
@jrpsaki
but it is an absolute travesty that so many of our major national political pundits have zero knowledge of the main culture + influence in today’s
@GOP
. This line has been an Evangelical mainstay for decades. They have no idea what we are facing.
Today, Ukraine.
Yesterday, Syria.
Tomorrow, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Then, Washington, D.C.
Wake up, America. Democracy is in peril. Vote like your life depends on it.
Be on guard against those who’d sacrifice your freedom to line their wallets.
#IStandWithUkraine
Just found out
#Project2025
quotes BONHOEFFER and the theology of “cheap grace” to condemn immigrants and promote cracking down on those coming here and claiming asylum.
This is the height of ignorance, theological malpractice, and truly evil.
Just a girl.
And an ordained Pastor + preacher.
Celebrating 13 yrs of marriage to a “masculine” man who affirms my God-given calling.
On a night when America’s largest Protestant denomination is trying to silence all women + disbar us from ministry.
#ChristianNationalism
#sbc24
the existential rage + terror watching this as a nearly 40-year-old millennial, as two Baby Boomer men stand on stage, one murderous + craven, the other honorable but aging, unable to make sense or speak clearly - as my body and my liberty + my kids' future hangs in the balance
@KaitlynSchiess
I recently interviewed at a church for a pastoral position - and they had these books on the bookshelf. I honestly couldn’t quite continue with the interview after seeing them, lol.
Also I definitely read at least the first three at age 13 after receiving them as a bday gift 🤦🏼♀️
@ndrewwhitehead
Wow. The dehumanization of migrants by American conservative Christian leaders is emblematic of American Christianity's loss of the Gospel of Jesus in favor of money, power and Christian Nationalism.
The thing is, plenty of us have been warning about it. But the media gatekeepers and power-holders at national outlets have driven the narrative of a horse race, of treating Trump as a traditional politician.
Here we are. America is on the brink. Trump is winning.
Having spent the past year writing a book on masculinity and right-wing radicalization, I am so here for this shift. I saw it in the stories of my book, too.
Men can take back masculinity and come together in love + strength + vulnerability. Strong men support women.
This White Dudes for Harris call feels like a shift is happening out there. Men are coming together to take back what masculinity means.
It doesn't mean puffing our chests out and talking down to people.
t means lifting others up and supporting those around us.
For the preachers. Thanks
@dianabutlerbass
I’d never the story of the demons and the pigs explained this way before, and it’s very powerful.
That’ll preach.
Sunday Musings
Is this
#sotu
response or a
#tradwife
reel on IG? When is the recipe for homemade cereal?
But really, the Stepford vibes are off the charts. That breathy voice is triggering megachurch pastor wife/cult leader alarm bells 🚨
This tweet is passive aggressive/gaslighting at best and abusive + harassing at worst. The author of this tweet is currently facing disciplinary action after refusing to heed nearly 60 percent of their synod and resign.
Conduct unworthy of the office of pastor + bishop.
@ELCA
On those days when I start running out of hope, I read Letters from an American by
@HC_Richardson
, and I write another day. So grateful to hear her speak and spend a few moments sharing stories today in the Twin Cities.
Why a new version of my 2019 book, Red State Christians: a
#thread
for
#launchday
Link to new version: (also available on
@amazon
and
@BNBuzz
+ an indy bookstore near you (my favorite!))
Want an Exhibit A of what Trumpism has done within American Christianity in the past 6 years?
This pastor 👇 was the first to alert me to the danger of
#ChristianNationalism
w/in the SBC specifically. It was at his urging that I began my book on July 4 in a megachurch
#thread
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Didn’t think politicians could bring me to tears anymore but, here we are. Thank you,
@JoeBiden
for showing powerful white men the way to lead + make room for the rest of us.
My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best
Horrifying + sadly predictable. Prosecute domestic violence.
“It underscored how family mass killings have become a disturbingly common tragedy across the United States, occurring, on average, every 3½ weeks for the last two decades.”
@AntheaButler
@nytdavidbrooks
I was really glad to *finally* see David Brooks (among others of his ilk) engage with J&JW and the work of
@kkdumez
. But I agree with this critique of the piece. IT left me feeling pretty hollow.
@NYTimesOpEd
desperately needs staff writers who understand theology.
A few yrs ago, I applied to be a pastor at a very well-known and prominent congregation in the Twin Cities.
I knew ppl at the church who'd asked me to apply, and I was excited for the opportunity. A
#thread
about racism, social justice, + the
@ELCA
Remember Bonhoeffer was a victim of violent, racist ideology that elevated one ethnoreligious ideal and people over all others.
As a German-American Lutheran, it’s Bonhoeffer who inspires me to resist + speak out .+ organize against
#ChristianNationalism
.
The closer we get to the US election, the more we’re going to hear the evangelical “Bonhoeffer Option” that reduces his theology & witness into a raw principle justifying all sorts of expedient and extreme political decisions and reactions, even violence. Don’t give it oxygen.
Cheap grace is telling liars + abusers + those who rob the poor that bc they “accept Jesus in their heart” + bc they’re rich + politically powerful; they’re destined for heaven + their sins are forgiven.
That’s cheap grace. Not caring for immigrants, a biblical imperative.
America is on the brink, so of course the media doesn't get it. Last week, the disconnect between rising GOP fascism - on a debate stage, in Trump's arrest posturing - and journalists covering 'a normal election' was really jarring
Now what? My new column
GOP congressman traveled to Uganda to support anti-LGBTQ death penalty law
Grateful for
@JeffSharlet
+ others who first reported these high-ranking ties to American govt + hate.
#ChristianNationalism
As someone who has been writing + warning abt
#ChristianNationalism
explicitly for at least 5 yrs now, I am honestly so tired + frustrated abt the ways this movement continues to be sensationalized as a spectacle or ignored. Grateful to
@BradleyOnishi
for continuing the work.
Mike Johnson, second in line to the presidency, flies a symbol of insurrection and violence outside his office. It is a window into his religious extremism.
@TaylorMatthewD
and I wrote about it for
@RollingStone
:
Been waiting to get my hands on this latest from
@ndrewwhitehead
- so much of what’s been on my heart these past 4 yrs since writing Red State Christians
Will share more soon!
#AmericanIdolatry
Rev. William Barber Shares Insights from Ezekiel, Proposing a 'Third Reconstruction' to Baylor University Audience - Good Faith Media
Sounds like an amazing talk from
@RevDrBarber
- would have loved to be in that room!
Now I know. I know what anti-racist work means to many in power in the
@ELCA
+ too many liberal faith leaders.
It means joining boards of rich white ppl + forming committees and holding meetings.
It means congratulating each other + flying around the country.
Thoroughly lamenting my seminary degree that did not include required reading of
#JamesBaldwin
.
So much here that every Pastor should hear. Again, and again.
I'm doing a day-long course on
#ChristianNationalism
with a group of
@ELCA
clergy this wk at
@gustavus
- and we're going thru case studies of the ways they see this ideology at work in their churches + communities
#thread
(short)
Those of us who’ve written about (and experienced) misogynist culture and sexual harassment/misconduct in the church do not rejoice every time another story like this comes out.
Instead, you’re left with a feeling of brokenness and heartbreak that’s hard to explain .. 🧵
Beyond excited + honored to be back writing for
@StarTribune
as a contributing columnist!
If you’re a local - and even if you’re not - please do pass on any ideas for columns you’d like to see. More coming soon!
From a media personality who likes to push boundaries to a cannabis expert to a conservative in the blue Twin Cities, meet the 11 new contributing columnists of Strib Voices.
Thankfully my son fully recovered from antibiotic-resistant pneumonia after 4 days of hospitalization
@childrensmn
.
Apparently
@UHC
thinks he was just fine tho at less than 90 percent O2 + 103 temp - and they're happy to deny covering the stay as "medically unnecessary."
“Authorities on Tuesday said that Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., had sponsored his son’s application for a gun permit months after relatives reported that Robert E. Crimo III had threatened to “kill everyone.”
Bring charges against this father. Sad but needed.
#HighlandPark
Listening to
@timkellernyc
decry the “therapeutic self” and the concept of “self-actualization” makes me wonder if he’s considered how these principles have been necessary + helpful for people who aren’t like him …
the *NEW AND UPDATED* version of my 2019 book, Red State Christians, is officially available for pre-order!
New subtitle: A Journey into White
#ChristianNationalism
and the wreckage it leaves behind ...
My youngest celebrated his First Communion on Maundy Thursday. This morning, on
#Easter
, he was so excited he said, after receiving the sacrament: “I want to get back in line again!”
More love, more open tables, less exclusion, less hate.
Officially an ordained pastor in the
@ELCA
for 9 yrs as of this wk
Grateful for the local church, friends and coworkers in the Gospel, and always - the ✝️ - in the face of the constant threat of idolatrous
#ChristianNationalism
.
no, not the same as your “online ordination” 🙄
I’ve watched thousands of hours of political videos in the past 20 years and I have never seen anything like Senator Katie Britt’s rebuttal to the State of the Union.
Anyway, if there was a significant proportion of “good” Evangelicals whose faith wasn’t warped by pursuit of wealth + power + sanctioned abuse of women + children, Donald Trump wouldn’t be winning the nomination by double digits.
#thread
@TheAtlantic
@FatherTim
I pastor a small rural congregation. People (thru my writing work but also other relationships in the church) have joined us online from around the world. Our church’s global consciousness is growing and encouraging our solidarity with the world not just ppl like us.
*from a Lutheran pastor, which Bonhoeffer was and
@ericmetaxas
+ those who try to claim him for their far-right exclusionary claims are not*
Cheap grace means offering forgiveness + restoration w/out repentance.
debunking the conquest narrative
This is a tour de force through a major part of the Hebrew Bible - with impt context and history for the present day.
#MustRead
from
@TheRaDR
My husband grew up in the South and swore he’d never move to my hometown and less than 20 yrs later he is currently outside raking the snow off our roof. Life is wild and often beautiful in its surprises.
Taking that hope for surprise into 2023.
#NewYear
This keeps happening bc major media outlets keep hiring people to write about religion who:
a) don’t know American Christian history
b) have no theological education or grounding (or whose only experience is in elite white institutions)
White Christians are not representative of "Christianity" and white people aren't the "Church". To believe that, and to write stories where that narrative is centered, continue to repeat the racist lie that whiteness matters more. DO BETTTER!!!!!! 😡
“It’s the crisis of the young American male— disaffected, isolated, and too willing in too many cases to use violence to get some attention.”
Yep.
#DisciplesofWhiteJesus
No one wants to get real about what happened in Butler, Pa.
Trump's shooting wasn't "the deep state" or "the liberal media," but the crisis of young American men like this lost 20-year-old gunman. We can't fix this unless we talk about it
My new column🎁
I keep thinking today about how the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was 39 when he was assassinated. Just 39 years old.
So much life + so much wisdom. Today we grieve our nation’s tendency to kill our most promising leaders + destroy the spirits of our most hopeful …
The
@StarTribune
invited me to write a column for
#MothersDay
, and while I had something else planned entirely - the Tuesday bombs on
#Rafah
+
@macklemore
inspired me to write this instead:
(Gift Link)
@AntheaButler
@nytdavidbrooks
@kkdumez
@NYTimesOpEd
To more fully explain what I mean, I know they employ writers who are also theologians/pastors. But I've yet to see writers who employ a theological lens to American politics/social issues - and how we see God influences American politics.
You guys, it’s fine. We don’t need to worry about
#ChristianNationalism
or the increasingly cultish + authoritarian creep of the Trumpian
@GOP
.
In the past few days, I’ve heard from an
@ELCA
theologian who lives in Berkeley that he’s “not afraid of Christian Nationalism” and
@sarahmccammon
@dianabutlerbass
@kkdumez
@GOP
What Trump did is bring together American Christians who were reared on a) America is the Promised Land (generally speaking, SBC + others) and b) God will make you rich (generally speaking, Osteen + global Pentecostal-influenced prosperity gospel)
None of this has to do w Jesus
It means, too often, tokenizing leaders of color in our Church and then stripping them of power when they speak in ways that threaten our status quo.
It means never questioning the institution. Making sure the bad guys are "out there" in the
@GOP
and not in cozy
@ELCA
offices.
We cannot proclaim the Gospel if our leadership is rooted in All Lives Matter and
#bothsides
.
If we blame social media, which is the same media that is often has brought injustice to life - particularly for racial justice - we are complicit in white supremacy.
@ELCABishopEaton
Lack of accountability is probably one of the worst outcomes of churches embracing the pastor as CEO model / church growth movement, esp in non-denominational/megachurch settings
Josh Howerton remains a walking red flag. Where are his elders? Where is his accountability? What is feeding the soil of his church culture? Plagiarism and fake apologies are at their root dishonest and he has done both this week.
You know you’re in a Christian authoritarian and corrupt regime when the ballots you use to vote to remove a corrupt + abusive leader are stamped with that leader’s name. And your ballot isn’t secret and the leader presided at trial.
#spsassembly22
@ELCA
#ChristianNationalism
I’ve spent the past year researching young white Christian men + boys.
I am terribly sad to see all the trends and interviews and statistics I’ve followed come to bear again as we learn about the Trump rally shooter in PA.
White boys + men are dangerous.
And they need help.
*Some personal news*
After 3 yrs of driving 60+ mins from my Minneapolis home to serve a rural MN church (who I love) - I announced this wk that I am resigning my call.
I write more about the journey, the love, + the ppl here …
We skipped the Edina
#FourthofJuly
parade this am with our little kids bc it was raining. We usually go every yr.
Edina is pretty much
#HighlandPark
of Minneapolis. It could’ve been us. It could’ve been you. We are losing all our
#freedoms
except to kill.
@MomsDemand
This piece from
@KarenAttiah
captures so many of my concerns + worries about the state of journalism today. Grateful for her and others who bravely speak the truth.
Five years ago today, my friend &
@PostOpinions
writer Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by agents of Saudi Arabia.
For today's paper, I wrote about a disturbing
@TIME
party held in the aftermath of his murder--which taught me how cruel U.S. media can be.
On my book’s fifth birthday … couldn’t ask for a better present than our
@ELCA
Lutheran VP nominee
@Tim_Walz
!
From this native Minnesotan Lutheran pastor, Walz knows that to beat
#ChristianNationalism
the best weapon is our theology of the cross. And love + truth.
@sarahmccammon
@dianabutlerbass
@kkdumez
I discuss this in depth in Ch 1 of Red State Christians … but I think the most useful theological distinction here is a general theology of glory v theology of the cross.
In today’s
@GOP
- prosperity gospel has aligned with violent empire, attracting ❤️ of $ + power.
But I’d love to hear
@timkellernyc
+ others in his camp acknowledge that for women, ppl of color, LGBTQ ppl, poor ppl … the notion of self-actualization + finding your individual self has been necessary + helpful + aligned with the Gospel.
My 1st book turns 3 today: reporting travel across America - followed by
#COVID
, the murder of George Floyd, and
#Jan6
.
I have a proposal out for Book 2, and it’s been a long + hard process.
For today, I’m proud say I’ve been fighting
#ChristianNationalism
from the start.
Amending this to add that Pastor Inserra has affirmed that he indeed stands behind the comments he made in my book + believes the
#ChristianNationalism
is a major problem. Grateful to hear that, truly.
My concern remains ppl will read his thread as permission to ignore CN.
Want an Exhibit A of what Trumpism has done within American Christianity in the past 6 years?
This pastor 👇 was the first to alert me to the danger of
#ChristianNationalism
w/in the SBC specifically. It was at his urging that I began my book on July 4 in a megachurch
#thread
This intense sermon would be disturbing enough coming from a random pastor.
It's even worse when you realize it's Oklahoma State Sen. Dusty Deevers calling on Christian men to go to war for Jesus.
“We deserve a government as good as the American people — and we don’t have that. We have to save ourselves. Much as it took a physical therapist and a salesman and a teacher and all the rest to finally bring Trump to justice, it’s going to take about 80 million of us to save the
I know everyone was offline this beautiful June weekend, so now's your chance to read my column on justice for Trump
Our broken system was incapable of stopping Trump's crime spree. It took an immigrant judge, a DA from Harlem - and 12 everyday Americans🎁
I’m hearing fmr members of Trump’s staff express their disgust at his actions on
#Jan6
I keep wondering what it’s like to exercise willful blindness to Trump’s duplicity, violence, hatred and egoism for 4+ yrs for the sake of yr ambition.
Now, you’re disgusted?
#Jan6Justice
It means saying nice things + donating food + money but never repenting. Never letting the Spirit lead. Never getting out of the way as leaders of color LEAD US.
I'm not interested in your social justice,
@ELCA
. Not that kind. It's a betrayal of the Gospel my ancestors died for.
What I mean is,
@timkellernyc
’s critique rings true when you’re thinking about (generally) privileged white guys who’ve always had the luxury of being an individual and thus these notions can lead to narcissism + abuse, like in the case of Mark Driscoll
Oh boy, only took him 3 grafs to reduce the expansive, inclusive, beautiful Gospel of Jesus to authoritarian male headship + complementarianism.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them.
#ChristianNationalism
In a new op-ed, far-right megadonor and self-described "political observer and sometimes activist" Tim Dunn decries being called a Christian Nationalist, saying it's a "made-up label that conflicts with biblical teaching."
I’ve done a lot of research on
#Saddleback
, and rest assured,
#SBC
, female pastor notwithstanding, that church is 💯 on the side of the rich white guys y’all love so much.
But in other cases - admittedly like my own as a woman growing up in the Church - the Gospel leads first not only to repentance but to liberation, and we have to look not only to the sin of crucifixion but to the promise of incarnation in us ALL
@jbouie
This is what happens when media outlets don’t pay enough for anyone but young, inexperienced writers to write for them 😳 just bad writing, bad reporting, all around embarrassing.
*right-wing lobbyists in Minnesota say*
You’re really starting to sound desperate. Who is paying for these articles + this framing + what did Jesus ever say about abortion, transgender youth, or masks?
Sure said + did a lot about feeding kids, tho.
Despite his folksy Midwestern dad persona, conservative Christians in Minnesota say Tim Walz has alienated the Right with his policies on abortion, transgender youth, and COVID restrictions.
@harvestprude
reports on Kamala Harris’s running mate:
This is what happens when you don’t hire journalists who understand religion. From the bottom to the top: hire writers + editors who understand religion. Look beyond Evangelical universities …
@JYSexton
I have such a weird feeling that something bad is about to happen. I'm not sure what. But I feel very anxious. Regardless, it feels consequential. (Can't believe how late this conference is btw).
I watched the video. 2 of my thoughts:
1) Mark Driscoll sure seems to know a lot about strip clubs.
2) the fragility of the male ego knows no bounds.
Ok, 3) they love to use their wives + families as props
#DisciplesofWhiteJesus
People have been asking for a JESUS & JOHN WAYNE documentary but after this, that feels redundant.
@rickpidcock
's Kens in Kendom analogy feels exactly right & may be a window into what we can look forward to if Christian nationalist types hold political power.
Incredible demonstration of grace from members of Iglesia Lutherana Santa Maria right now.
#CWA2022
And grace does not preclude their request for continued accountability.