What do you think?
Rate this book
White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America
The American political scene today is poisonously divided, and the vast majority of white evangelicals play a strikingly unified, powerful role in the disunion. These evangelicals raise a starkly consequential question for electoral Why do they claim morality while supporting politicians who act immorally by most Christian measures? In this clear-eyed, hard-hitting chronicle of American religion and politics, Anthea Butler answers that racism is at the core of conservative evangelical activism and power.Butler reveals how evangelical racism, propelled by the benefits of whiteness, has since the nation's founding played a provocative role in severely fracturing the electorate. During the buildup to the Civil War, white evangelicals used scripture to defend slavery and nurture the Confederacy. During Reconstruction, they used it to deny the vote to newly emancipated blacks. In the twentieth century, they sided with segregationists in avidly opposing movements for racial equality and civil rights. Most recently, evangelicals supported the Tea Party, a Muslim ban, and border policies allowing family separation. White evangelicals today, cloaked in a vision of Christian patriarchy and nationhood, form a staunch voting bloc in support of white leadership. Evangelicalism's racial history festers, splits America, and needs a reckoning now.
168 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 22, 2021
237 people are currently reading
6406 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 341 reviews
March 6, 2022
The Colour-Blind Gospel
Racism is the American Evangelical equivalent of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, only worse because so much more pervasive. Like the scandal of pedophilia, racism has always been a part of institutional Evangelicalism, embedded in their tendentious readings of the Bible and their historical practices. And like pedophilia, racism is considered as an individual sin rather than a systemic evil. And so, like pedophilia, racism can be forgiven rather than corrected. As Anthea Butler says, “Racism is a feature, not a bug, of American evangelicalism.”
Evangelicals want to make race invisible, both existentially and politically. ‘All Lives Matter’ is the code phrase which summarises the strategy of erasure of race as an issue. The strategy allows evangelicals to ignore their own institutional legacy of racism, the continuing large-scale segregation of their own congregations, and the hurt, violence, and even deaths of people of colour. These are civil matters which are not related to the saving of souls.
Evangelicalism practices its racism genteelly. In line with the Republican ‘Southern Strategy’, the racial epithets of the past have been replaced by euphemisms. Racial activists are communists, revolutionaries, promoters of civil disorder, un-American, and those who don’t share our Christian values. James Baldwin had it exactly right, white Americans fear their own spiritual impurity and project that fear on to black people as those who embody their own chaotic guilt. They huddle together for comfort under the guise of being an oppressed minority:
The real religious personality behind the cloak of evangelical confidence, respectability, and morality has been self-outed in their support of quite horrible political figures and causes. Their fantasy of Trump as a modern King Cyrus freeing the new Hebrews is only one example. And their persistent resistance to gay and women’s rights, voting rights legislation, voter enrolment programmes, and anti-gerrymandering controls are manifestations of their real objective - not personal sanctity but political power.
The evangelical coalition with fundamentalists, among white Protestant sects, and Catholics, show clearly that their dogmatic differences have conveniently evaporated. They are a racially-motivated political not a religious force, the Republican Party at prayer. Paul Weyrich, a Catholic evangelical and inventor of the phrase Moral Majority, laid out the programme as early as 1980:
Racism is not an incidental component of evangelicalism, it is the central plank from which all their other policies emanate. According to Butler “Slavery is the foundation of racism and power in American evangelicalism.” It still retains the attitudes of the “Religion of the Lost Cause” that mythical tale of Confederate civilisation in which black people knew their place. Blackness is so obviously inferior it is no longer necessary to debate the point. It is black girls who seek abortions; it is young black males who are the primary danger to law and order; it is black men who suffer from a lack of spiritual manliness; and it is black women who don’t know how to maintain the integrity of family life. Besides, black people in general have an agenda which is politically divisive. Meanwhile, evangelicals claim ‘colour-blindness’:
Evangelicals complain of ‘cancel culture’ when it comes to the positive contributions of white folk who, from Thomas Jefferson to Donald Trump, and from George Whitfield to Billy Graham, have tried to minimise the monstrosity of the racism which has lived in the heart of America. That they won’t acknowledge the historical and continuing existence of that monstrosity is the greatest act of such cancellation possible. Even in their own terms recognition of transgression is not sufficient to enable redemption. To use the gospel to promote such an erasure of suffering and injustice is just an additional obscenity added to their large collection.
Postscript o3/03/22: The plague of Christian Faith is of course a worldwide phenomenon: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-o...
Postscript 03/03/22: https://apple.news/A8OIRHZTrRk-nSGIwt...
Postscript 06/03/22: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-o...
Racism is the American Evangelical equivalent of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, only worse because so much more pervasive. Like the scandal of pedophilia, racism has always been a part of institutional Evangelicalism, embedded in their tendentious readings of the Bible and their historical practices. And like pedophilia, racism is considered as an individual sin rather than a systemic evil. And so, like pedophilia, racism can be forgiven rather than corrected. As Anthea Butler says, “Racism is a feature, not a bug, of American evangelicalism.”
Evangelicals want to make race invisible, both existentially and politically. ‘All Lives Matter’ is the code phrase which summarises the strategy of erasure of race as an issue. The strategy allows evangelicals to ignore their own institutional legacy of racism, the continuing large-scale segregation of their own congregations, and the hurt, violence, and even deaths of people of colour. These are civil matters which are not related to the saving of souls.
“[S]in for evangelicals is always personal, not corporate, and God is always available to forgive deserving individuals, especially, it seems, if the sinner is a white man. The sin of racism, too, can be swept away with an event or a confession. Rarely do evangelicals admit to a need for restitution.”
Evangelicalism practices its racism genteelly. In line with the Republican ‘Southern Strategy’, the racial epithets of the past have been replaced by euphemisms. Racial activists are communists, revolutionaries, promoters of civil disorder, un-American, and those who don’t share our Christian values. James Baldwin had it exactly right, white Americans fear their own spiritual impurity and project that fear on to black people as those who embody their own chaotic guilt. They huddle together for comfort under the guise of being an oppressed minority:
“The ubiquitous support demonstrated by white evangelicals for the Republican Party made them not just religiously or culturally white: it made them politically white conservatives in America concerned with keeping the status quo of patriarchy, cultural hegemony, and nationalism.”
The real religious personality behind the cloak of evangelical confidence, respectability, and morality has been self-outed in their support of quite horrible political figures and causes. Their fantasy of Trump as a modern King Cyrus freeing the new Hebrews is only one example. And their persistent resistance to gay and women’s rights, voting rights legislation, voter enrolment programmes, and anti-gerrymandering controls are manifestations of their real objective - not personal sanctity but political power.
The evangelical coalition with fundamentalists, among white Protestant sects, and Catholics, show clearly that their dogmatic differences have conveniently evaporated. They are a racially-motivated political not a religious force, the Republican Party at prayer. Paul Weyrich, a Catholic evangelical and inventor of the phrase Moral Majority, laid out the programme as early as 1980:
“I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”
Racism is not an incidental component of evangelicalism, it is the central plank from which all their other policies emanate. According to Butler “Slavery is the foundation of racism and power in American evangelicalism.” It still retains the attitudes of the “Religion of the Lost Cause” that mythical tale of Confederate civilisation in which black people knew their place. Blackness is so obviously inferior it is no longer necessary to debate the point. It is black girls who seek abortions; it is young black males who are the primary danger to law and order; it is black men who suffer from a lack of spiritual manliness; and it is black women who don’t know how to maintain the integrity of family life. Besides, black people in general have an agenda which is politically divisive. Meanwhile, evangelicals claim ‘colour-blindness’:
“[C]olor-blind gospel is how evangelicals used biblical scripture to affirm that everyone, no matter what race, is equal and that race does not matter [just as they had previously used it to justify racial segregation]. The reality of the term ‘color- blind,’ however, was more about making Black and other ethnic evangelicals conform to whiteness and accept white leadership as the norm both religiously and socially. It is the equivalent of today’s oft-quoted phrase ‘I don’t see color.’ Saying that means white is the default color.”
Evangelicals complain of ‘cancel culture’ when it comes to the positive contributions of white folk who, from Thomas Jefferson to Donald Trump, and from George Whitfield to Billy Graham, have tried to minimise the monstrosity of the racism which has lived in the heart of America. That they won’t acknowledge the historical and continuing existence of that monstrosity is the greatest act of such cancellation possible. Even in their own terms recognition of transgression is not sufficient to enable redemption. To use the gospel to promote such an erasure of suffering and injustice is just an additional obscenity added to their large collection.
Postscript o3/03/22: The plague of Christian Faith is of course a worldwide phenomenon: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-o...
Postscript 03/03/22: https://apple.news/A8OIRHZTrRk-nSGIwt...
Postscript 06/03/22: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-o...
December 30, 2020
Summary: A short history of the evangelical movement in the United States, showing its ties to racism and white supremacy from the time of slavery down to the present.
This was an uncomfortable book for me to read and review. In our racialized society, I would be identified as white. By conviction, I would identify as evangelical. What troubles me about this account is that it makes a good case that the evangelicalism in America with which I am identified is inextricably bound up with the history of racism, America’s original sin, as Jim Wallis has called it.
Anthea Butler offers in this book a concise historical account of white evangelicalism’s complicity in racism. She traces that history from the support of slavery in white, mostly southern churches. She follows this through post-Civil War Jim Crow laws and the support of white churches for segregation, and the participation of churches in lynchings. While some mainline denominations gave support to the civil rights movement, evangelicals remained on the sideline, calling this a “social gospel.”
Butler is not the first to note that the coalescing of evangelical political engagement in the Seventies and Eighties came as much around the denial of tax exemption for segregated schools like Bob Jones University as it did around opposition to abortion, which was originally not an evangelical cause. She traces the rise of organizations like Focus on the Family, the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition that led to an increasing alliance of evangelicalism with the Republican party, culminating in the support of 81 percent of self-identifying evangelicals with Donald Trump in 2016 despite race-baiting language, anti-immigration stances, and support of white nationalistic aims.
Perhaps no one person has defined American evangelicalism more than Billy Graham and so Butler devotes a chapter to him. While he desegregated his meetings, and hosted black speakers on his platform, and even include a black evangelist on his team, he took care to distance himself from the civil rights movement as it embraced nonviolent civil disobedience. King may have shared his platform once, but no more. Graham also preached against communism, associated by many in the South with the civil rights movement. His record was ambiguous at best and in the end, the focus remained on winning people to Christ rather than unequivocal stands for racial justice.
Parts of me wanted to protest against this sweeping indictment by citing the abolitionist efforts of northern evangelicals, and other socially engaged efforts in the nineteenth century. Butler does mention this as well as other forays like that of the Promise Keepers into racial reconciliation. The sad fact is none of these movements prevailed over the long haul in standing against white supremacism. The first decade and a half of the twenty-first century saw some promising evangelical initiatives around racial reconciliation and immigration reform, only for these to wither over the last five years.
I also wanted to protest that evangelicalism is not inherently white. Black and Latino churches in this country share the same theology. And people globally identify with the same theological convictions that form the core of American evangelical belief. I’ve been in a meeting with representatives of over 150 countries where this was the case, where those of my skin color were a minority. But in the ways American evangelicalism has separated itself from its Black and Latino kindred, the judgment stands. The typical first response of many white evangelicals to a Christian person of color trying to talk about racial injustice is to defend and argue rather than listen to a fellow Christian. We seem remarkably untroubled that divisions by race in our churches mirror our political divisions.
Butler, a former evangelical who still cares about this movement, reaches this sobering conclusion:
“Evangelicalism is at a precipice. It is no longer a movement to which Americans look for a moral center. American evangelicalism lacks social, political, and spiritual effectiveness in the twentyfirst century. It has become a religion lodged within political party. It is a religion that promotes issues important almost exclusively to white conservatives. Evangelicalism embraces racists and says that evangelicals’ interests, and only theirs, are the most important for all American citizens.”
I have no defense against this. I fear evangelicalism in the United States may be like the church in Ephesus described in Revelation 2:1-7. The church was marked by its orthodoxy and yet Jesus has this to say: “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Revelation 2:4-5, NIV). I fear we are at imminent risk of losing our lampstand, that is, our witness within the culture. In fact, I find most churches are more concerned about political interests than even their historical distinction of seeing lost people come to Christ. Butler’s message mirrors that of Jesus in Revelation. This book is a call to repentance. The trajectory of history is not inevitable. We can turn away from the precipice. But I fear the time is short.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
This was an uncomfortable book for me to read and review. In our racialized society, I would be identified as white. By conviction, I would identify as evangelical. What troubles me about this account is that it makes a good case that the evangelicalism in America with which I am identified is inextricably bound up with the history of racism, America’s original sin, as Jim Wallis has called it.
Anthea Butler offers in this book a concise historical account of white evangelicalism’s complicity in racism. She traces that history from the support of slavery in white, mostly southern churches. She follows this through post-Civil War Jim Crow laws and the support of white churches for segregation, and the participation of churches in lynchings. While some mainline denominations gave support to the civil rights movement, evangelicals remained on the sideline, calling this a “social gospel.”
Butler is not the first to note that the coalescing of evangelical political engagement in the Seventies and Eighties came as much around the denial of tax exemption for segregated schools like Bob Jones University as it did around opposition to abortion, which was originally not an evangelical cause. She traces the rise of organizations like Focus on the Family, the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition that led to an increasing alliance of evangelicalism with the Republican party, culminating in the support of 81 percent of self-identifying evangelicals with Donald Trump in 2016 despite race-baiting language, anti-immigration stances, and support of white nationalistic aims.
Perhaps no one person has defined American evangelicalism more than Billy Graham and so Butler devotes a chapter to him. While he desegregated his meetings, and hosted black speakers on his platform, and even include a black evangelist on his team, he took care to distance himself from the civil rights movement as it embraced nonviolent civil disobedience. King may have shared his platform once, but no more. Graham also preached against communism, associated by many in the South with the civil rights movement. His record was ambiguous at best and in the end, the focus remained on winning people to Christ rather than unequivocal stands for racial justice.
Parts of me wanted to protest against this sweeping indictment by citing the abolitionist efforts of northern evangelicals, and other socially engaged efforts in the nineteenth century. Butler does mention this as well as other forays like that of the Promise Keepers into racial reconciliation. The sad fact is none of these movements prevailed over the long haul in standing against white supremacism. The first decade and a half of the twenty-first century saw some promising evangelical initiatives around racial reconciliation and immigration reform, only for these to wither over the last five years.
I also wanted to protest that evangelicalism is not inherently white. Black and Latino churches in this country share the same theology. And people globally identify with the same theological convictions that form the core of American evangelical belief. I’ve been in a meeting with representatives of over 150 countries where this was the case, where those of my skin color were a minority. But in the ways American evangelicalism has separated itself from its Black and Latino kindred, the judgment stands. The typical first response of many white evangelicals to a Christian person of color trying to talk about racial injustice is to defend and argue rather than listen to a fellow Christian. We seem remarkably untroubled that divisions by race in our churches mirror our political divisions.
Butler, a former evangelical who still cares about this movement, reaches this sobering conclusion:
“Evangelicalism is at a precipice. It is no longer a movement to which Americans look for a moral center. American evangelicalism lacks social, political, and spiritual effectiveness in the twentyfirst century. It has become a religion lodged within political party. It is a religion that promotes issues important almost exclusively to white conservatives. Evangelicalism embraces racists and says that evangelicals’ interests, and only theirs, are the most important for all American citizens.”
I have no defense against this. I fear evangelicalism in the United States may be like the church in Ephesus described in Revelation 2:1-7. The church was marked by its orthodoxy and yet Jesus has this to say: “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Revelation 2:4-5, NIV). I fear we are at imminent risk of losing our lampstand, that is, our witness within the culture. In fact, I find most churches are more concerned about political interests than even their historical distinction of seeing lost people come to Christ. Butler’s message mirrors that of Jesus in Revelation. This book is a call to repentance. The trajectory of history is not inevitable. We can turn away from the precipice. But I fear the time is short.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
July 31, 2021
The real reason the Christian Right decided to oppose abortion...
https://www.politico.com/magazine/sto...
=============
23 Percent of Republicans Agree ‘Satan-Worshipping Pedophiles’ Run Government
https://www.thedailybeast.com/23-perc...
==============
The author has an Evangelical background. She even enrolled in seminary. Mine is similar. I was raised Roman Catholic, but went through an Evangelical phase in my 20’s and completed an M.A. in Biblical Studies and theology at an Evangelical seminary. This insider perspective makes a difference in understanding what this subculture is all about.
The author does a great job of showing the trajectory of Southern Evangelical theology into mainstream Evangelicalism during Reconstruction, the rise of the KKK, the Cold War, and the more recent impact of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party fueled by racist backlash to the election of Obama. In the modern era, Southern Baptist evangelist Billy Graham was a major figure in this process, including the wedding of the faith with GOP politics. (“There is no American that I admire more than Richard Nixon,” Graham proclaimed at one of his crusades).
The GOP dog whistles, including the terms “small towns,” “real America,” and “pro-America,” were a powerful, pungent mix of Christian populist and patriotic racism that delineated who was “one of us”—that is, a God-fearing Christian, white, and pro-America.
The election of America’s first Black president, pushed believers into an open, belligerent racism that culminated in their wholesale embrace of the man they would call “King Cyrus”: Donald Trump.
The ubiquitous support demonstrated by white evangelicals for the Republican Party made them not just religiously or culturally white: it made them politically white conservatives in America concerned with keeping the status quo of patriarchy, cultural hegemony, and nationalism.
Evangelicalism became synonymous with whiteness. It is not only a cultural whiteness, but also a political whiteness. Criticizing government spending on the poor and government entitlements is one of the ways they make racist arguments
In the midst of all of this, I see that many White Evangelicals have fallen for a big con, that not only involves racism, but also the Prosperity Gospel and The Second Coming.
The other half of the racist equation, going back to the American colonial era, was convincing white people that, no matter how poor or uneducated they were, they were always better than any Black person. It was divide and conquer.
We see the political effect of that. But there are economic repercussions for poor whites. In what way have they benefited economically from GOP policies? I can't see any. Meanwhile, opioid addiction and the suicide rate is high in the poor white cohort.
So instead of practical help, they are offered the Prosperity Gospel as a way out. Failing that, the Second Coming will take care of everything, just you wait.
Meanwhile, as Eric Hoffer writes in “The True Believer”….
“Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.”
Often these religious movements are more animated by hatred of the other, than any positive belief.
=====
I should add this religious racism has triggered a stampede of young people out of the churches....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...
=========
This companion review provides more on the impact of Billy Graham.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
=========
P.S.
My conclusions from all my years of studying the Bible....
The New Testament is full of contradictions, including amongst the four gospels. The Old Testament is a book of fairy tales, too often used as a basis for doing harm to others in today's world.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/sto...
=============
23 Percent of Republicans Agree ‘Satan-Worshipping Pedophiles’ Run Government
https://www.thedailybeast.com/23-perc...
==============
The author has an Evangelical background. She even enrolled in seminary. Mine is similar. I was raised Roman Catholic, but went through an Evangelical phase in my 20’s and completed an M.A. in Biblical Studies and theology at an Evangelical seminary. This insider perspective makes a difference in understanding what this subculture is all about.
The author does a great job of showing the trajectory of Southern Evangelical theology into mainstream Evangelicalism during Reconstruction, the rise of the KKK, the Cold War, and the more recent impact of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party fueled by racist backlash to the election of Obama. In the modern era, Southern Baptist evangelist Billy Graham was a major figure in this process, including the wedding of the faith with GOP politics. (“There is no American that I admire more than Richard Nixon,” Graham proclaimed at one of his crusades).
The GOP dog whistles, including the terms “small towns,” “real America,” and “pro-America,” were a powerful, pungent mix of Christian populist and patriotic racism that delineated who was “one of us”—that is, a God-fearing Christian, white, and pro-America.
The election of America’s first Black president, pushed believers into an open, belligerent racism that culminated in their wholesale embrace of the man they would call “King Cyrus”: Donald Trump.
The ubiquitous support demonstrated by white evangelicals for the Republican Party made them not just religiously or culturally white: it made them politically white conservatives in America concerned with keeping the status quo of patriarchy, cultural hegemony, and nationalism.
Evangelicalism became synonymous with whiteness. It is not only a cultural whiteness, but also a political whiteness. Criticizing government spending on the poor and government entitlements is one of the ways they make racist arguments
In the midst of all of this, I see that many White Evangelicals have fallen for a big con, that not only involves racism, but also the Prosperity Gospel and The Second Coming.
The other half of the racist equation, going back to the American colonial era, was convincing white people that, no matter how poor or uneducated they were, they were always better than any Black person. It was divide and conquer.
We see the political effect of that. But there are economic repercussions for poor whites. In what way have they benefited economically from GOP policies? I can't see any. Meanwhile, opioid addiction and the suicide rate is high in the poor white cohort.
So instead of practical help, they are offered the Prosperity Gospel as a way out. Failing that, the Second Coming will take care of everything, just you wait.
Meanwhile, as Eric Hoffer writes in “The True Believer”….
“Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.”
Often these religious movements are more animated by hatred of the other, than any positive belief.
=====
I should add this religious racism has triggered a stampede of young people out of the churches....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...
=========
This companion review provides more on the impact of Billy Graham.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
=========
P.S.
My conclusions from all my years of studying the Bible....
The New Testament is full of contradictions, including amongst the four gospels. The Old Testament is a book of fairy tales, too often used as a basis for doing harm to others in today's world.
October 5, 2023
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. -Ephesians 6:5-7
A FEATURE, NOT A BUG
“It was evangelical acceptance of biblically sanctioned racism that motivated believers to separate and sell families during slavery, and to march with the klan. Racist evangelicals shielded cross burners, protected church burners, and participated in lynchings. Racism is a feature, not a bug, of American evangelism (emphasis mine).”
When you read Anthea Butler’s White Evangelical Racism it becomes abundantly clear that bigotry is not just some inconsequential anomaly on the periphery of white evangelism, it is in the bones, in the marrow, and in the DNA of the thing. White evangelicalism as an entity has historically and inarguably supported the status quo, racism, and white supremacy. Racism is the thread that runs throughout evangelical dogma, both past and present.
“It is racism that binds and blinds many American evangelicals to the vilification of Muslims, Latinos, and African Americans. It is racism that impels many evangelicals to oppose emigration and turn a blind eye to children in cages at the border. It is racism that fuels evangelical Islamophobia.”
White evangelicals are much more than simply a religious group, they are a strong political lobby and a large voting block on the American landscape. It is nearly impossible to separate racism from their pious and dogmatic right-wing politics. It is an entwining of faith, flag, and firearms—and it is a form of dominionism.
THE MYTH OF A MORAL MAJORITY
“I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populous goes down.” -Paul Weyrich, Catholic Republican, 1980
I always equate the term Moral Majority with the misnomer of King Cobra. As the “King Cobra” is neither a true cobra nor a monarch, the so-called “Moral Majority” is neither a true majority nor is it all that moral. Founded in 1979 by the reprehensible Jerry Falwell Sr., the Moral Majority established white evangelicals as a political force. Particularly concentrated in the Republican Party, the Moral Majority’s published agenda included:
I. Opposition to media outlets accused of promoting “anti-family agendas.”
II. Opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment for women.
III. Opposition to state recognition or acceptance of homosexual acts.
IV. Prohibition of legalized abortion, including in cases involving incest or rape.
V. The establishment of Christian prayer in public schools.
VI. The conversion of Jews and other non-Christians to the Christian faith.
Although the Moral Majority technically disbanded in 1989, Rev. Falwell had ominous words to say in parting…
“Our goal has been achieved . . . The religious right is solidly in place and [white] religious conservatives in America are now in for the duration.”
THE MYTH OF PERSECUTION
“Yes, the long war on Christianity. I pray that one day we may live in an America where Christians can worship freely! In broad daylight! Openly wearing the symbols of their religion... perhaps around their necks? And maybe… dare I dream it? …maybe one day there can be an openly Christian President. Or, perhaps, 43 [now 46] of them. Consecutively.” -Jon Stewart, comedian
White evangelicals make up just 14% of the American population overall. Still, they remain the largest single religious group in the Republican Party. With that comes a disproportionate ability to sway party priorities. They are quick to play the victim, claiming religious persecution, whenever their agenda is being challenged. Butler contends (and I wholeheartedly agree) that white Christian evangelicals in America are not being persecuted, they are simply being called to account.
A PLAUSIBLE & LOGICAL EXPLANATION
“Why do people who identify as evangelicals vote over and over again for political figures who, in speech and deed, do not evince the Christian qualities that evangelicalism espouses? My answer is that evangelicalism is not simply a religious group at all. Rather it is a nationalist political movement whose purpose is to support the hegemony of white Christian men over and against the flourishing of others.” -Anthea Butler, 2021
. . . ‘nuff said.
A FEATURE, NOT A BUG
“It was evangelical acceptance of biblically sanctioned racism that motivated believers to separate and sell families during slavery, and to march with the klan. Racist evangelicals shielded cross burners, protected church burners, and participated in lynchings. Racism is a feature, not a bug, of American evangelism (emphasis mine).”
When you read Anthea Butler’s White Evangelical Racism it becomes abundantly clear that bigotry is not just some inconsequential anomaly on the periphery of white evangelism, it is in the bones, in the marrow, and in the DNA of the thing. White evangelicalism as an entity has historically and inarguably supported the status quo, racism, and white supremacy. Racism is the thread that runs throughout evangelical dogma, both past and present.
“It is racism that binds and blinds many American evangelicals to the vilification of Muslims, Latinos, and African Americans. It is racism that impels many evangelicals to oppose emigration and turn a blind eye to children in cages at the border. It is racism that fuels evangelical Islamophobia.”
White evangelicals are much more than simply a religious group, they are a strong political lobby and a large voting block on the American landscape. It is nearly impossible to separate racism from their pious and dogmatic right-wing politics. It is an entwining of faith, flag, and firearms—and it is a form of dominionism.
THE MYTH OF A MORAL MAJORITY
“I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populous goes down.” -Paul Weyrich, Catholic Republican, 1980
I always equate the term Moral Majority with the misnomer of King Cobra. As the “King Cobra” is neither a true cobra nor a monarch, the so-called “Moral Majority” is neither a true majority nor is it all that moral. Founded in 1979 by the reprehensible Jerry Falwell Sr., the Moral Majority established white evangelicals as a political force. Particularly concentrated in the Republican Party, the Moral Majority’s published agenda included:
I. Opposition to media outlets accused of promoting “anti-family agendas.”
II. Opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment for women.
III. Opposition to state recognition or acceptance of homosexual acts.
IV. Prohibition of legalized abortion, including in cases involving incest or rape.
V. The establishment of Christian prayer in public schools.
VI. The conversion of Jews and other non-Christians to the Christian faith.
Although the Moral Majority technically disbanded in 1989, Rev. Falwell had ominous words to say in parting…
“Our goal has been achieved . . . The religious right is solidly in place and [white] religious conservatives in America are now in for the duration.”
THE MYTH OF PERSECUTION
“Yes, the long war on Christianity. I pray that one day we may live in an America where Christians can worship freely! In broad daylight! Openly wearing the symbols of their religion... perhaps around their necks? And maybe… dare I dream it? …maybe one day there can be an openly Christian President. Or, perhaps, 43 [now 46] of them. Consecutively.” -Jon Stewart, comedian
White evangelicals make up just 14% of the American population overall. Still, they remain the largest single religious group in the Republican Party. With that comes a disproportionate ability to sway party priorities. They are quick to play the victim, claiming religious persecution, whenever their agenda is being challenged. Butler contends (and I wholeheartedly agree) that white Christian evangelicals in America are not being persecuted, they are simply being called to account.
A PLAUSIBLE & LOGICAL EXPLANATION
“Why do people who identify as evangelicals vote over and over again for political figures who, in speech and deed, do not evince the Christian qualities that evangelicalism espouses? My answer is that evangelicalism is not simply a religious group at all. Rather it is a nationalist political movement whose purpose is to support the hegemony of white Christian men over and against the flourishing of others.” -Anthea Butler, 2021
. . . ‘nuff said.
October 30, 2020
I was nodding my head as I was reading this book. I wanted to SCREAM YES! YES! This is what I have been saying for years. My Christian, White friends all voted for Trump because they wanted a return to family values. Not realizing that what they were referencing is a fairy tale.
Two even told me that by electing Donal Trump they were hoping a race war would happen and they confided in me that they were stockpiling guns and food for the war.
I shook my head in disbelief and wondered if I lived in a different country then them...turns out they were being "led" by pastors who preached these beliefs.
Ms. Butler hit the nail on the head with this book. I greedily read every word and agreed with all of her premises.
Too much focus has been on white evangelical voters, too much attention has been paid to the moral majority, when I hear the Focus on the Family segment on the radio, I cringe inside...I wonder, how will they try to control people different then them today?
I thought that the author really did a great job researching and presenting the history of the Evangelical movement and its racism from the start.
This is a book that EVERYONE should read.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC for this honest review.
Two even told me that by electing Donal Trump they were hoping a race war would happen and they confided in me that they were stockpiling guns and food for the war.
I shook my head in disbelief and wondered if I lived in a different country then them...turns out they were being "led" by pastors who preached these beliefs.
Ms. Butler hit the nail on the head with this book. I greedily read every word and agreed with all of her premises.
Too much focus has been on white evangelical voters, too much attention has been paid to the moral majority, when I hear the Focus on the Family segment on the radio, I cringe inside...I wonder, how will they try to control people different then them today?
I thought that the author really did a great job researching and presenting the history of the Evangelical movement and its racism from the start.
This is a book that EVERYONE should read.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC for this honest review.
June 12, 2021
A powerful analysis of the role racism plays in the Christian Evangelical phenomenon. This book is a well constructed and historically supported call the "Emperor Wears No Clothes." The author is direct and minces no words in her conclusion. The theme of this book needs to be yelled from the rooftops.
April 27, 2022
Butler gives a brief, pointed history of racist morality in the USA's evangelical churches, from the religious defense of slavery to the rise of modern white ethno-nationalist revivalism. She shows how white evangelicals rallied against the Black civil rights movement, launching their own counter-movement to "protect the American family" from sexual and social depravity. After Martin Luther King's march for civil rights in Selma, Jerry Falwell objected that "Preachers are not called to be politicians but soul winners." Then Falwell joined with other white evangelical leaders to build his "Moral Majority" political movement.
The author traces how white evangelicals shifted from presuming their centrality in American culture to waging an increasingly bitter, divisive culture war, fighting like persecuted victims to defend their status. As Sarah Palin said of Obama in 2008, "I'm afraid if he wins, the Blacks will take over. He's not Christian! This is a Christian nation! What is our country gonna end up like?"
Having been an Evangelical leader herself, Butler is sad to conclude that "They are the Pharisees." ... "Jesus said, 'By their fruits you shall know them.' Evangelical fruit -- the results of evangelicals' actions in civic life -- today is rotten. Racism rotted it."
The author traces how white evangelicals shifted from presuming their centrality in American culture to waging an increasingly bitter, divisive culture war, fighting like persecuted victims to defend their status. As Sarah Palin said of Obama in 2008, "I'm afraid if he wins, the Blacks will take over. He's not Christian! This is a Christian nation! What is our country gonna end up like?"
Having been an Evangelical leader herself, Butler is sad to conclude that "They are the Pharisees." ... "Jesus said, 'By their fruits you shall know them.' Evangelical fruit -- the results of evangelicals' actions in civic life -- today is rotten. Racism rotted it."
February 20, 2025
This was a 3.5 for me. Informative & compelling, but it wasn’t anything I didn’t already know, which is more a me thing that came as a result of having read several books on this topic prior to this than a flaw of the book.
Anthea Butler traces the history of Evangelicalism in American History and highlights all the ways the movement has been systematically imbued with racism & bigotry & continues to be to this day.
I was particularly interested in the scripture that’s been used to rationalize, justify, & defend all their various perspectives as these are perspectives that routinely wind up needing to be modified to adhere to the public’s ever evolving idea of morality despite their initially having been distinctly opposed in matters like slavery & civil rights. Turns out there are really only 2 verses that could be found where one might eke out anything even remotely close to a defense of slavery; Genesis 9:18-27 and Ephesians 6:5-7, & the verse in Genesis had to be dramatically repurposed for it to work! Genesis 9:18 is a story about 3 brothers stumbling across their drunkenly-passed-out-naked father(Noah) & covering him, & then Noah wakes up and for some reason immediately gets pissed (even tho it’s entirely his own fault & not any of his son’s faults for stumbling across him when he was indisposed) so then he for some unknown reason decides to blame one of them & demand he become the servant of the other. This in itself doesn’t exactly seem racist, but naturally Christians more or less make up their own version of the verses by deleting the 3rd brother all together & then nonsensically making the servant brother black, which obviously makes absolutely zero sense, bc why would one brother be black? And why does a son being punished for looking at his Dad naked have anything to do with the subjugation of an entire race? Who knows, but apparently to people somewhere sometime making those edits to the scripture felt like that was all that was needed to feel completely justified in their horrific behavior.
It’s actually really sad, as somebody who comes from a religious family, it pains me to have to face the fundamental nature of it’s sordid past, one that continues to poison the well to this day. It’s hard to reconcile the idea that I have of what Christianity stands for and the reality of what Christianity has actually been thru the ages, & even more specifically throughout American history. It’s a reality that is so steeped in hypocrisy & intolerance & white supremacy that it more so resembles the very antithesis of nearly all biblical messages than any actual representation of the gospel.
I’ve heard several variations of “It’s a human failing, not the religion’s failing,” which sure, I can lend some credence to that, but aside from a message, what is there to judge a religion by besides it’s people? I DO know my fair share of truly kind, God fearing Christians but I know many more that use their religion as a way to justify & validate their bigotry. “The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory” by Tim Alberta was a solid read that addressed this very issue from the perspective of a Christian that is capable of acknowledging that his religion & people have lost their way.
“White Evangelical Racism” contained a lot of significant context and setting for the current conservative Evangelical climate, having read a few books on this topic, I didn’t feel that this one brought anything new to the table and didn’t feel as localized or thorough as others, so it landed at a 3.5 for me, but was still a solid read and would be great for people that are interested in the topic but don’t desire to deal with a 10-20 hours worth of subject matter.
Anthea Butler traces the history of Evangelicalism in American History and highlights all the ways the movement has been systematically imbued with racism & bigotry & continues to be to this day.
I was particularly interested in the scripture that’s been used to rationalize, justify, & defend all their various perspectives as these are perspectives that routinely wind up needing to be modified to adhere to the public’s ever evolving idea of morality despite their initially having been distinctly opposed in matters like slavery & civil rights. Turns out there are really only 2 verses that could be found where one might eke out anything even remotely close to a defense of slavery; Genesis 9:18-27 and Ephesians 6:5-7, & the verse in Genesis had to be dramatically repurposed for it to work! Genesis 9:18 is a story about 3 brothers stumbling across their drunkenly-passed-out-naked father(Noah) & covering him, & then Noah wakes up and for some reason immediately gets pissed (even tho it’s entirely his own fault & not any of his son’s faults for stumbling across him when he was indisposed) so then he for some unknown reason decides to blame one of them & demand he become the servant of the other. This in itself doesn’t exactly seem racist, but naturally Christians more or less make up their own version of the verses by deleting the 3rd brother all together & then nonsensically making the servant brother black, which obviously makes absolutely zero sense, bc why would one brother be black? And why does a son being punished for looking at his Dad naked have anything to do with the subjugation of an entire race? Who knows, but apparently to people somewhere sometime making those edits to the scripture felt like that was all that was needed to feel completely justified in their horrific behavior.
It’s actually really sad, as somebody who comes from a religious family, it pains me to have to face the fundamental nature of it’s sordid past, one that continues to poison the well to this day. It’s hard to reconcile the idea that I have of what Christianity stands for and the reality of what Christianity has actually been thru the ages, & even more specifically throughout American history. It’s a reality that is so steeped in hypocrisy & intolerance & white supremacy that it more so resembles the very antithesis of nearly all biblical messages than any actual representation of the gospel.
I’ve heard several variations of “It’s a human failing, not the religion’s failing,” which sure, I can lend some credence to that, but aside from a message, what is there to judge a religion by besides it’s people? I DO know my fair share of truly kind, God fearing Christians but I know many more that use their religion as a way to justify & validate their bigotry. “The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory” by Tim Alberta was a solid read that addressed this very issue from the perspective of a Christian that is capable of acknowledging that his religion & people have lost their way.
“White Evangelical Racism” contained a lot of significant context and setting for the current conservative Evangelical climate, having read a few books on this topic, I didn’t feel that this one brought anything new to the table and didn’t feel as localized or thorough as others, so it landed at a 3.5 for me, but was still a solid read and would be great for people that are interested in the topic but don’t desire to deal with a 10-20 hours worth of subject matter.
February 28, 2022
Perhaps I am being overly harsh with just 3 stars.
I agree with Anthea Butler's points. The United States evangelical movement has been riddled with racism for a long time. That seems apparent on the face of things. To me, it seems to have become especially evident in the Trump years in which so many "evangelical Christians" in the US wrapped themselves in the American flag and Republican/Tea Party political ideals. And how on earth do Christians turn a blind eye towards the former president's numerous marital infidelities, his dog-whistle racism and misogyny? Oh?! He conveniently says he is pro life, so everything else he does is OK then??
However, I often was unsure how Butler came to some of her conclusions. She seemed to skip a few steps or made assumptions of the reader's understanding, mostly about American politics and cultural norms, which may be missed by a wider international audience. Even as a Canadian, I felt that some of the names and events to which she referred to as common knowledge and not needing further contextual explanation were obscure, but perhaps I am not as conversant in US history and politics as I thought. This is a pity because I believe her message and warnings are important. I think that the book evolved out of an original editorial piece, and I wonder, given it is only 148 pages, if it could have used more supporting evidence and analysis.
On the whole, her conclusions make sense on the surface, but for such a highly rated book, it seemed like a slightly enlarged magazine article that skips the hard evidence and analysis I would have liked.
I agree with Anthea Butler's points. The United States evangelical movement has been riddled with racism for a long time. That seems apparent on the face of things. To me, it seems to have become especially evident in the Trump years in which so many "evangelical Christians" in the US wrapped themselves in the American flag and Republican/Tea Party political ideals. And how on earth do Christians turn a blind eye towards the former president's numerous marital infidelities, his dog-whistle racism and misogyny? Oh?! He conveniently says he is pro life, so everything else he does is OK then??
However, I often was unsure how Butler came to some of her conclusions. She seemed to skip a few steps or made assumptions of the reader's understanding, mostly about American politics and cultural norms, which may be missed by a wider international audience. Even as a Canadian, I felt that some of the names and events to which she referred to as common knowledge and not needing further contextual explanation were obscure, but perhaps I am not as conversant in US history and politics as I thought. This is a pity because I believe her message and warnings are important. I think that the book evolved out of an original editorial piece, and I wonder, given it is only 148 pages, if it could have used more supporting evidence and analysis.
On the whole, her conclusions make sense on the surface, but for such a highly rated book, it seemed like a slightly enlarged magazine article that skips the hard evidence and analysis I would have liked.
August 29, 2021
I listened to the audio version of this book. Before I’d finished the first chapter, I knew I needed (not wanted…needed) it in hard copy as well. Dr. Butler distills, in the briefest but most insightful way possible, how “racism is a feature, not a bug, of evangelicalism.” This is a must-read for Christians committed to racial justice, for evangelicals (and ex-vangelicals) of color who are trying to make sense of their experiences, and for anyone who’s trying to “save” evangelicalism from itself. I will be adding this to the required reading list of the seminary course that I teach on race, racisms, and reconciliation.
December 7, 2020
This is a measured, clear exposition of the connections between evangelicalism and racism, with a side note of the persistent power of white males in fundamentalist denominations. Professor Butler, who teaches religious and Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania, earlier in her life traveled through the evangelical community and experienced subtle racism first hand. Her accounts of what she experienced add to the accessibility of her research. As others have said, I was struck from the start of Trump's candidacy and then presidency that he was a strange hero for the religious right. As time went on and cringe-worthy incidents accumulated, I couldn't imagine how they could continue to support him. This book will give you the answers, and show that Trump is only a current symptom of a festering problem that goes back decades.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a prepublication version of this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a prepublication version of this book.
May 30, 2021
I read this book immediately after reading Jesus and John Wayne. This one focuses solely on racism whereas Jesus and John Wayne is a more robust analysis of all the issues that evangelicalism had embraced in search of power. I think I preferred Jesus and John Wayne more, but both books are important reads.
The conclusion in this book is excellent. The author speaks directly to current evangelicals and asks them tough questions. I would like to hear the answers to those questions from people I know.
The conclusion in this book is excellent. The author speaks directly to current evangelicals and asks them tough questions. I would like to hear the answers to those questions from people I know.
February 13, 2021
I’m not one who needs to be convinced that the evangelical church is full of racist hypocrites; I’ve spent countless Sundays sitting right next to them.
That being said, this book was a disappointment. The author couldn’t seem to decide if she was writing a factual account or an editorial. She also wrote, often, about the feelings and motivations of people and institutions, stated as fact, without citing proof to back up her claims. I thought about jotting down some examples of this as I read, but then decided that I didn’t care enough. I just kept thinking that she would be skewered for this in an English 101 class. Lastly, and perhaps most sadly, she had nothing new to offer on the subject.
Thanks to #netgalley and #universityofnorthcarolinapress for this ARC of #whiteevangelicalracism in exchange for an honest review.
That being said, this book was a disappointment. The author couldn’t seem to decide if she was writing a factual account or an editorial. She also wrote, often, about the feelings and motivations of people and institutions, stated as fact, without citing proof to back up her claims. I thought about jotting down some examples of this as I read, but then decided that I didn’t care enough. I just kept thinking that she would be skewered for this in an English 101 class. Lastly, and perhaps most sadly, she had nothing new to offer on the subject.
Thanks to #netgalley and #universityofnorthcarolinapress for this ARC of #whiteevangelicalracism in exchange for an honest review.
July 5, 2021
I went in to this thinking it was along the lines of Jemar Tisby's The Color of Compromise or Kristen DuMez's Jesus and John Wayne, however Anthea Butler's contribution to this ever important conversation is more along the lines of an Op-ed. With that in mind, it more makes sense as I was disappointed that some of the claims made were not backed up by documentation. But having read much of the same information in the other two books mentioned-which were backed up by notations and footnotes, I was able to finish it with the posture of continuing to listen to Black voices and their experiences within Evangelicalism as well as the continuing influence of racism in the White American church. Her conclusion was a no holds barred call to account, even speaking to the point that if Conservative Christians got everything they wanted from the political realm(i.e over-turning Roe V. Wade, no gay marriage, etc,)there would still be racism because simply they don't care enough (or don't believe there is a problem) to want things to be any different on that issue. Pointed, emotional - this is her voice. For a more historically documented approach to the interwovenness of racism within white Evangelicalism, I heartily recommend Jemar Tisby's The Color Of Compromise.
January 27, 2021
Summary: An exploration of White Evangelicals and Racism, primarily focusing on recent history.
One of the complaints that Butler is clearly trying to avoid is the 'but not all White people' complaint. Repeatedly Butler affirms that she is talking about those White Evangelicals that she is talking about, not all of them. But she has strong words throughout the book because there is a willingness for many to be complicit.
Like many other historians, Butler suggests that the story of Evangelicalism in the US can't be told without discussing racism and that many evangelical historians do not want to tell that more complicated story. (p 12) With the recent analysis of President Biden's inauguration speech, there has been a discussion about the difference in the rhetoric of Christian Nationalism and what some see as potential positives of a type of civil religion.
Butler lays out a case that the use of civil religious language in opposition to communism is related to the type of civil religious language used to oppose the civil rights movement. Quoting Billy Graham in his 1949 LA revival when Graham connected Christianity, the love of American and nationalism, and anti-communism. "...you will never find a true born again Christian who is a communist or fellow traveler. You get a man born again, and he will turn from communism." (p42) The result is that when the civil rights movement was labeled as communist, instead of white Christians seeing Graham's rhetorical example as proof that fellow Christians should not be overly labeled as communists, many white Christians saw the label of communist as proof that the civil rights movement could not be Christian. (A move that is similarly being used today concerning Critical Race Theory.)
Butler notes that Graham simultaneously thought that the Evangelical church was behind on racial issues (in a speech to NAE in 1952) and that Graham was not in favor of much of the civil rights movement's methods even as he theoretically approved of the rough concept of integration. "[Graham] recognized the problem of racial injustice and evoked the pain caused by unjust social norms, but he was unwilling to break ranks with the white status quo." (p 44). This extended to the point where Graham refused a direct request by MLK to not appear on stage with a segregationist advocate in 1957 and spoke against the March on Washington and King's speech in 1963. Graham never went as far as Billy Hargis who argued that desegregation violated biblical principles or the John Birch Society. Still, one of the issues that Bulter is noting is that it is rare for any white Evangelical to disfellowship another white Evangelical over racism. So while some white Evangelicals were supportive of the civil rights movement, and some like Graham were supportive of the goals. Still, not the means, and some actively opposed the civil rights movement (like Jerry Fallwell Sr), all were still within a group that still broadly self-identified as Evangelical.
There is a group that objects to the very notion of white Evangelicals. Evangelical has a theological definition, and if you meet the theological definition, then you are an evangelical, regardless of racial background. The problem with this approach is apparent in the fact that many theologically affirm the ideas that make one evangelical theologically, but most racial minorities do self-identifying as evangelical. But many that are white and do not theologically agree with the theological definition of evangelical do self identify as evangelical. Many, but not all, self-identified Evangelicals who are racial minorities have in some level 'emulated whiteness.' (p60) Bill Pannell said in his 1968 book, My Friend, The Enemy:
There is a longer discussion about how that adoption of white norms, or how Black and other minorities were brought into white evangelical spaces under terms acceptable to maintaining racial hierarchies. For instance, Billy Graham's use of Black singers or athletes at his crusades or Ben Kinchlow acting as Pat Robertson's sidekick on the 700 Club gave cover against racism charges. Still, it did not subvert concepts of white superiority. As there has been some recognition that racial reconciliation efforts are necessary, those efforts often do not extend toward organizations or church leadership. And they do not extend changes in political activities outside of the church.
Overall I think that White Evangelical Racism is a helpful addition to the general literature, even as it is one of the shorter books in this area. But I wanted more discussion about why some white evangelicals were more engaged over racial issues than others and why some evangelicals are actively opposed to recognizing racial realities. I think at least part of this explanation is Christian Nationalism. But that is not a clear enough idea at this point for this to be the only answer.
I think that Butler over-identifies Evangelicalism as the problem instead of directly implicating white superiority or Christian Nationalism within Christianity more broadly. Because of that, I think there is a bit of misidentification of the problem. I do not debate with Butler's main point that white Evangelicals have largely been either actively complicit in racism or at least tolerant in identifying with those that are complicit with racism. But while white Evangelicals are more likely to be Christian Nationalists or adjacent to Christian Nationalism or poll higher than average as xenophobic or racist or sexist, they are not the only white Christians to have issues here. White Catholics and mainline protestants and to some extent Eastern Orthodox also have similar tendencies in this direction, albeit lesser than white Evangelicals.
Anthea Butler is a professor of religion and history at the University of Pennsylvania. This is a book that I keep seeing advanced readers recommend. (White Evangelical Racism does not come out until March 22). In many ways, it feels like a good follow-up to Jemar Tisby's Color of Compromise because while both have some overlap, Color of Compromise primarily focuses on the complicity in racism by the church before the civil rights era with some content after that point. In contrast, White Evangelical Racism primarily focuses on Evangelicalism from the Moral Majority rise and after. Reading them together is complimentary.
One of the complaints that Butler is clearly trying to avoid is the 'but not all White people' complaint. Repeatedly Butler affirms that she is talking about those White Evangelicals that she is talking about, not all of them. But she has strong words throughout the book because there is a willingness for many to be complicit.
"...when evangelical writers claim to they not understand the overwhelming nature of evangelical support for right wing and sometimes downright scurrilous Republican canidates and politicos, they fail to reckon with evangelical history." (p9)
Like many other historians, Butler suggests that the story of Evangelicalism in the US can't be told without discussing racism and that many evangelical historians do not want to tell that more complicated story. (p 12) With the recent analysis of President Biden's inauguration speech, there has been a discussion about the difference in the rhetoric of Christian Nationalism and what some see as potential positives of a type of civil religion.
Butler lays out a case that the use of civil religious language in opposition to communism is related to the type of civil religious language used to oppose the civil rights movement. Quoting Billy Graham in his 1949 LA revival when Graham connected Christianity, the love of American and nationalism, and anti-communism. "...you will never find a true born again Christian who is a communist or fellow traveler. You get a man born again, and he will turn from communism." (p42) The result is that when the civil rights movement was labeled as communist, instead of white Christians seeing Graham's rhetorical example as proof that fellow Christians should not be overly labeled as communists, many white Christians saw the label of communist as proof that the civil rights movement could not be Christian. (A move that is similarly being used today concerning Critical Race Theory.)
Butler notes that Graham simultaneously thought that the Evangelical church was behind on racial issues (in a speech to NAE in 1952) and that Graham was not in favor of much of the civil rights movement's methods even as he theoretically approved of the rough concept of integration. "[Graham] recognized the problem of racial injustice and evoked the pain caused by unjust social norms, but he was unwilling to break ranks with the white status quo." (p 44). This extended to the point where Graham refused a direct request by MLK to not appear on stage with a segregationist advocate in 1957 and spoke against the March on Washington and King's speech in 1963. Graham never went as far as Billy Hargis who argued that desegregation violated biblical principles or the John Birch Society. Still, one of the issues that Bulter is noting is that it is rare for any white Evangelical to disfellowship another white Evangelical over racism. So while some white Evangelicals were supportive of the civil rights movement, and some like Graham were supportive of the goals. Still, not the means, and some actively opposed the civil rights movement (like Jerry Fallwell Sr), all were still within a group that still broadly self-identified as Evangelical.
There is a group that objects to the very notion of white Evangelicals. Evangelical has a theological definition, and if you meet the theological definition, then you are an evangelical, regardless of racial background. The problem with this approach is apparent in the fact that many theologically affirm the ideas that make one evangelical theologically, but most racial minorities do self-identifying as evangelical. But many that are white and do not theologically agree with the theological definition of evangelical do self identify as evangelical. Many, but not all, self-identified Evangelicals who are racial minorities have in some level 'emulated whiteness.' (p60) Bill Pannell said in his 1968 book, My Friend, The Enemy:
"I have no trouble believing you want me in your church to sing on Sunday. I have very little faith that you want me in your living room for serious discussion. Yet here is where the breakthrough may take place." (p62)
There is a longer discussion about how that adoption of white norms, or how Black and other minorities were brought into white evangelical spaces under terms acceptable to maintaining racial hierarchies. For instance, Billy Graham's use of Black singers or athletes at his crusades or Ben Kinchlow acting as Pat Robertson's sidekick on the 700 Club gave cover against racism charges. Still, it did not subvert concepts of white superiority. As there has been some recognition that racial reconciliation efforts are necessary, those efforts often do not extend toward organizations or church leadership. And they do not extend changes in political activities outside of the church.
Overall I think that White Evangelical Racism is a helpful addition to the general literature, even as it is one of the shorter books in this area. But I wanted more discussion about why some white evangelicals were more engaged over racial issues than others and why some evangelicals are actively opposed to recognizing racial realities. I think at least part of this explanation is Christian Nationalism. But that is not a clear enough idea at this point for this to be the only answer.
I think that Butler over-identifies Evangelicalism as the problem instead of directly implicating white superiority or Christian Nationalism within Christianity more broadly. Because of that, I think there is a bit of misidentification of the problem. I do not debate with Butler's main point that white Evangelicals have largely been either actively complicit in racism or at least tolerant in identifying with those that are complicit with racism. But while white Evangelicals are more likely to be Christian Nationalists or adjacent to Christian Nationalism or poll higher than average as xenophobic or racist or sexist, they are not the only white Christians to have issues here. White Catholics and mainline protestants and to some extent Eastern Orthodox also have similar tendencies in this direction, albeit lesser than white Evangelicals.
November 27, 2020
White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America by Anthea Butler is a clear and concise history of how contemporary Evangelicalism is not a sudden phenomenon but the result of the racism built into its early strands and maintained as a foundational element throughout.
There is a faux educator on Netgalley (unless maybe he works (mis)educating people for Breitbart) who can be counted on to spew nonsense whenever he stumbles across any book that supports anything other than white pseudo-Christian patriarchal society, and this is no exception. He pretends that Butler does not acknowledge that some early Evangelicals did lead the fight against slavery (she does acknowledge it). He cites an economist (though by the wrong first name, William is his middle name and not the one he publishes under) who won a Nobel prize for a theory on slavery, though that is not what Fogel is mentioned for. The book mentioned is questionable at best and, even giving some of it the benefit of the doubt, does not refute Butler's points at all. This bigoted faux-educator hopes that no one has read or is familiar with any previous scholarship or, for that matter, historical events and will not notice the stench coming from his mouth. And, since he is really just preaching to others like himself, they are probably as unfamiliar with the books and events as he is, he is clearly cribbing his racism from someone else, but he still spreads his filth on far too many good books that could help bring people together, except he has a narrow view of who qualifies as people.
Okay, I feel better now, cowards like that just irk me. This book disrupts what Evangelicals have been doing for generations not so much by uncovering new information but by bringing all of these things together so we can see the big picture. And the big picture is that racism is at the heart of white Evangelicalism in the United States and has been for many years. Once they finally left any Christianity behind and became a full-fledged cult intent on gaining power, they were no longer able, in a rational person's mind, to hide behind any form of morality.
Yes, this book fired me up because it makes very clear, in well argued and supported points, the things many of us have known and/or sensed for some time. Maybe someone who doesn't live in stupidity central (Lynchburg, VA, home of the faux university Liberty run by the cult Falwell) will be able to stand back and have their understanding improved by this book. I see this hatred and inbreeding daily and get fired up.
If I have offended anyone, too bad. Considering the people in cages, dead or dying, going hungry and/or homeless because of what these people do, I don't care if I hurt someone's little feelings. I am not worried since you're all cowards anyway.
So, highly recommended for those who want to learn. For those who don't, well, you probably wouldn't be able to read it anyway, there are polysyllabic words in the book.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
There is a faux educator on Netgalley (unless maybe he works (mis)educating people for Breitbart) who can be counted on to spew nonsense whenever he stumbles across any book that supports anything other than white pseudo-Christian patriarchal society, and this is no exception. He pretends that Butler does not acknowledge that some early Evangelicals did lead the fight against slavery (she does acknowledge it). He cites an economist (though by the wrong first name, William is his middle name and not the one he publishes under) who won a Nobel prize for a theory on slavery, though that is not what Fogel is mentioned for. The book mentioned is questionable at best and, even giving some of it the benefit of the doubt, does not refute Butler's points at all. This bigoted faux-educator hopes that no one has read or is familiar with any previous scholarship or, for that matter, historical events and will not notice the stench coming from his mouth. And, since he is really just preaching to others like himself, they are probably as unfamiliar with the books and events as he is, he is clearly cribbing his racism from someone else, but he still spreads his filth on far too many good books that could help bring people together, except he has a narrow view of who qualifies as people.
Okay, I feel better now, cowards like that just irk me. This book disrupts what Evangelicals have been doing for generations not so much by uncovering new information but by bringing all of these things together so we can see the big picture. And the big picture is that racism is at the heart of white Evangelicalism in the United States and has been for many years. Once they finally left any Christianity behind and became a full-fledged cult intent on gaining power, they were no longer able, in a rational person's mind, to hide behind any form of morality.
Yes, this book fired me up because it makes very clear, in well argued and supported points, the things many of us have known and/or sensed for some time. Maybe someone who doesn't live in stupidity central (Lynchburg, VA, home of the faux university Liberty run by the cult Falwell) will be able to stand back and have their understanding improved by this book. I see this hatred and inbreeding daily and get fired up.
If I have offended anyone, too bad. Considering the people in cages, dead or dying, going hungry and/or homeless because of what these people do, I don't care if I hurt someone's little feelings. I am not worried since you're all cowards anyway.
So, highly recommended for those who want to learn. For those who don't, well, you probably wouldn't be able to read it anyway, there are polysyllabic words in the book.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
November 21, 2020
I agreed with the ideas expressed in this book, especially
At Kindle location 602, the author references this 2014 article by Randall Balmer in Politico Magazine which, Butler writes,
(Digression: Thinking about the facts in the previous paragraph led me to wonder: Who first said “When somebody says 'It's not the money, it's the principle of the thing', …. it's the money.”? Find the answer here.)
At Kindle location 1234, the author briefly mentions the Supreme Court case of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd., v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which was decided in favor of a cake shop that refused to provide a wedding cake to a gay couple. It's an interesting case, and again I agree with the conclusion that Butler drew from the facts. To know more about the facts of this case, read two good articles about it on the site Scotusblog. One was written before the decision, the other after.
Thank you to Netgalley and University of North Carolina Press for making a free electronic galley copy of this book available to me for review.
… evangelicalism is not a simply religious group at all. Rather, it is a nationalistic political movement whose purpose is to support the hegemony of white Christian men over and against the flourishing of others (Kindle location 1289).If you don't agree with this view or others like it, I suggest that this book is still worth reading, because it is short and clearly written. If you wish to build up an argument against people you disagree with, the best place to start with is the writer who has confidence in her argument and does not bury her views under a mountain of blather.
At Kindle location 602, the author references this 2014 article by Randall Balmer in Politico Magazine which, Butler writes,
debunked one of the most durable myths in recent history, the conceit that the religious right, fundamentalism, and conservative evangelicals emerged as a political movement in response to the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973.This is an important argument in this book. I think it would be worth it to read this article before or while you read this book. The real reason that conservative evangelicals emerged as a political force, Balmer says (and Butler agrees), is that evangelicals wished to exact revenge on the federal government, because the feds forced segregated schools to integrate by threatening to revoke religious schools' tax-exempt status. Again, I found this convincing.
(Digression: Thinking about the facts in the previous paragraph led me to wonder: Who first said “When somebody says 'It's not the money, it's the principle of the thing', …. it's the money.”? Find the answer here.)
At Kindle location 1234, the author briefly mentions the Supreme Court case of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd., v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which was decided in favor of a cake shop that refused to provide a wedding cake to a gay couple. It's an interesting case, and again I agree with the conclusion that Butler drew from the facts. To know more about the facts of this case, read two good articles about it on the site Scotusblog. One was written before the decision, the other after.
Thank you to Netgalley and University of North Carolina Press for making a free electronic galley copy of this book available to me for review.
April 11, 2021
An interesting read that I hope sparks conversations in many circles, especially evangelical ones. I wish this book was a little longer and had more background on evangelicalism. I feel like laying out the foundational concepts before getting into the history and intricacies would have helped because the word "evangelical" is thrown around in many different contexts.
Key takeaways:
-"Color-blind conservatism rested on the idea that since the government was "taking care" of race reform, there was no need for conservatives to discuss racial issues in depth, detail, or sincerity" (59).
-Framing evangelicals as a "persecuted minority" & how this narrative remains today
-Intersection of racism and capitalism: "Capitalism and Christianity in America melded with free enterprise in the twentieth century. This affinity created an interesting synergy in the twenty-first century, supplanting the values of caring for the poor and the indigent with the values of free markets, individual responsibility, and a sense that the government should not provide assistance to those who Teavangelicals viewed as unable to manage in the marketplace, whatever the reason may be" (123).
-Inherent racism in evangelicalism: "Even when Black Christians were killed, evangelicals' responses did not address racial injustice" (133). (Dylann Roof and murder of Black parishioners in South Carolina)
Key takeaways:
-"Color-blind conservatism rested on the idea that since the government was "taking care" of race reform, there was no need for conservatives to discuss racial issues in depth, detail, or sincerity" (59).
-Framing evangelicals as a "persecuted minority" & how this narrative remains today
-Intersection of racism and capitalism: "Capitalism and Christianity in America melded with free enterprise in the twentieth century. This affinity created an interesting synergy in the twenty-first century, supplanting the values of caring for the poor and the indigent with the values of free markets, individual responsibility, and a sense that the government should not provide assistance to those who Teavangelicals viewed as unable to manage in the marketplace, whatever the reason may be" (123).
-Inherent racism in evangelicalism: "Even when Black Christians were killed, evangelicals' responses did not address racial injustice" (133). (Dylann Roof and murder of Black parishioners in South Carolina)
December 5, 2021
3.5 stars
I wanted to love this, because I agree with its thesis that racism is a feature rather than a bug of American Evangelicalism and that Christianity needs to confront its racism much more head-on than it has hitherto. Maybe that's part of why the book did not impress me as much as I hoped: I already knew about some of this history and agreed with the book's claims, so I didn't find much new in the book. While it gestures at the theological and philosophical underpinnings of American racism, it's primarily a whirlwind tour through American history rather than an analysis. I would have liked more depth of analysis, especially in places where Butler mentions African American Evangelicals and their varied responses to Evangelical ideology. Overall, I think this is a good introduction to Evangelical racism and a fairly succinct answer to those who still ask why Evangelicals embrace and worship a blatantly racist con man. Perhaps it is ultimately in the book's favor that I wanted more analysis amd more detailed history; this is a vitally important topic that deserves many explorations and this book provides a fairly short and not-over-foot-noted way in.
I wanted to love this, because I agree with its thesis that racism is a feature rather than a bug of American Evangelicalism and that Christianity needs to confront its racism much more head-on than it has hitherto. Maybe that's part of why the book did not impress me as much as I hoped: I already knew about some of this history and agreed with the book's claims, so I didn't find much new in the book. While it gestures at the theological and philosophical underpinnings of American racism, it's primarily a whirlwind tour through American history rather than an analysis. I would have liked more depth of analysis, especially in places where Butler mentions African American Evangelicals and their varied responses to Evangelical ideology. Overall, I think this is a good introduction to Evangelical racism and a fairly succinct answer to those who still ask why Evangelicals embrace and worship a blatantly racist con man. Perhaps it is ultimately in the book's favor that I wanted more analysis amd more detailed history; this is a vitally important topic that deserves many explorations and this book provides a fairly short and not-over-foot-noted way in.
March 3, 2023
A very good history and overview of racism within the evangelical movement. Definitely worth the read if you are interested in this subject.
A former evangelical herself, Butler has some sympathy for her subject but doesn't let that get in the way of telling her story. She traces the rise of evangelicalism within the US political system since the 1950's showing how racism, overt and covert, played a central role. It also goes a long way in explaining the movement's attraction to Donald Trump. According to Butler evangelical Christianity is a fascist political movement masquerading as a religion.
A former evangelical herself, Butler has some sympathy for her subject but doesn't let that get in the way of telling her story. She traces the rise of evangelicalism within the US political system since the 1950's showing how racism, overt and covert, played a central role. It also goes a long way in explaining the movement's attraction to Donald Trump. According to Butler evangelical Christianity is a fascist political movement masquerading as a religion.
March 18, 2021
An important book that takes the reader through the evangelical movement starting in the nineteenth century to show that racism has always been imbedded in white evangelicalism. The book goes a long way to ensure that we understand that what many have seen as a radial change in the movement over the last several years has actually been the movement being true to its history and roots. As Professor Butler points out at this point in our historical moment, “evangelicals are not being persecuted in America. They are being called to account.”
April 23, 2021
Wow, this concise text packs a wallop! Ms. Butler, black and a former Evangelical herself, qualifies and quantifies things that I have felt intuitively with compelling history and facts. She makes clear links that result in unavoidable conclusions.
And this book isn't merely about a religious group (that makes up a huge chunk of our citizenry). This gets to the bedrock of our culture and our politics. A quick and very enlightening read!
And this book isn't merely about a religious group (that makes up a huge chunk of our citizenry). This gets to the bedrock of our culture and our politics. A quick and very enlightening read!
May 17, 2021
A group-by-group examination of different far-right extremist groups in American history leading up to modern times with the cult of Trump, suicide cults, Oathkeepers ,Proud Boys, and the III-percenters. Important read. A quick read also.
April 3, 2021
I read it in one setting. Such a thoughtful book on the history that those academics writing from the center of white evangelicalism have largely left out.
July 19, 2022
A completely cartoonish book. Read it, just to enjoy it, like sucking in helium from a balloon. Its stupid right, but its kinda fun.
January 19, 2024
I heard about this book at a panel on racism as a public health issue at the 2023 APHA conference. That panel was fantastic and so is this book. I had hoped to better understand how some of the people I know and love, who consider themselves godly people, can reconcile their support of Trump, and that is exactly what I got. I loved that the author admits to being a former evangelical and explains what happened to change that, but that is only a small part of this already small book. Most of the book is about the history of evangelicalism and how they became the racist political machine they are today. The last chapter was written to current evangelicals imploring them to examine their stance and make changes, but sadly I doubt many (or any) evangelicals make it that far into the book. I highly recommend this short book especially right now as we head into another election cycle.
February 4, 2025
can't recommend this enough for context on the evolution of the "evangelical" movement in relation to politics and how it got us to where we are now.
unfortunately, the people who need to read this the most never will.
unfortunately, the people who need to read this the most never will.
July 20, 2025
cancellable take I fear…my rating has less to do with the quality of this book and more to do with me being annoying. You should definitely read this but this is my Goodreads and I can rate things however I please.
August 6, 2024
A compelling, incisive indictment of the racism endemic in American evangelicalism, and Butler offers ample historical and current receipts to support her thesis.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 341 reviews