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Title details for The Flag and the Cross by Philip S. Gorski - Available

The Flag and the Cross

White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy

by Philip S. Gorski
Samuel L. Perry
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A bracing examination of a force that imperils American democracy Most Americans were shocked by the violence they witnessed at the nation's Capital on January 6th, 2021. And many were bewildered by the images displayed by the insurrectionists: a wooden cross and wooden gallows; "Jesus saves" and "Don't Tread on Me;" Christian flags and Confederate Flags; even a prayer in Jesus' name after storming the Senate chamber. Where some saw a confusing jumble, Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry saw a familiar ideology: white Christian nationalism. In this short primer, Gorski and Perry explain what white Christian nationalism is and is not; when it first emerged and how it has changed; where it's headed and why it threatens democracy. Tracing the development of this ideology over the course of three centuries—and especially its influence over the last three decades—they show how, throughout American history, white Christian nationalism has animated the oppression, exclusion, and even extermination of minority groups while securing privilege for white Protestants. It enables white Christian Americans to demand "sacrifice" from others in the name of religion and nation, while defending their "rights" in the names of "liberty" and "property." White Christian nationalism motivates the anti-democratic, authoritarian, and violent impulses on display in our current political moment. The future of American democracy, Gorski and Perry argue, will depend on whether a broad spectrum of Americans—stretching from democratic socialists to classical liberals—can unite in a popular front to combat the threat to liberal democracy posed by white Christian nationalism.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 1, 2022

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780197618707

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780197618707
      • File size: 1384 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      February 1, 2022
      Two sociologists examine polling data and American history to chart the dangerous rise of White Christian nationalism. The so-called Christian right isn't strictly Christian, write Gorski and Perry. They point to one survey in which one-fifth of those who identified as "Christian" also said they were secular or belonged to some other religion, meaning that "religious terms like 'Christian' and 'evangelical' are becoming markers of social identity rather than just religious conviction." Many Christian nationalists are aggrieved Whites who believe that liberals are bent on "replacing" them with immigrants and minorities. By the logic of those adherents, events such as the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol are not insurrectionary but instead acts of self-defense, a violence that Christ's purported followers endorse with full throats. Interestingly, according to Gorski and Perry, this Christian right, at whose heart lies "anti-Black animus" that dates back hundreds of years (whence the furor over the corrective 1619 Project), does not consider Muslims or even atheists to be existentially threatening. The real, dreaded enemies are "socialists," and even if many Christian right-wingers probably couldn't define what a socialist is, the thinking is that everything from taxes to the pandemic lockdowns are socialist ploys to take away rights that White Christian nationalists believe should be reserved unto Whites. Unfortunately, given the trajectory of American history, the authors write, there is no reason to think that this movement will fade away anytime soon. If decentralized power means that the worst of nationalist authoritarianism would be localized if Trump or some acolyte came to power, the authors suggest that it would be disastrous all the same: "Ironically, a serious attempt to 'make America great again' would probably end up making it chaotic and poor." A jarring analysis of a powerful and determined political minority bent on power.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
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subjects

Languages

  • English

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