Ep. 2: American Christianity’s Unholy Trinity
Show Notes
Episode Summary
Is it possible that the American Church stopped worshipping God a long time ago and began worshipping something else? What if we’ve begun bowing down at the altar for a substitute, an “unholy trinity,” rather than bowing to the real Trinity? In this episode, Gary Alan and Melanie look at the 3 “P”s of fundamentalism, demonstrate how they’ve influenced Christianity in the United States, and consider the possibility that the Church as a whole may have aligned itself with this Unholy Trinity.
Quotables
“Fundamentalism is a religion of fear.” (tweet this)
“Fundamentalist beliefs and tactics have become far more pervasive than we want to admit.” (tweet this)
“Let’s just be honest: Make America Great Again has always meant Make America White Again.” (tweet this)
“The inability to force your views on others isn’t persecution; it’s just called being a decent human being.” (tweet this)
“Unfortunately, we want to be in control of culture, we don’t necessarily want to serve culture.” (tweet this)
“When we look at the historical Jesus, He rejects any notion that His Kingdom or salvation will come through power, control, or coercion.” (tweet this)
Timestamps and References
[03:51]—Pope Francis’ quote about fundamentalism: “Fundamentalism is a sickness that is in all religions … Religious fundamentalism is not religious, because it lacks God.”
[04:06]—“Religion of rage” comes from page 216 of Karen Armstrong’s book, The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
[04:37]—For more on Dr. Tamás Pataki’s research on the characteristics of fundamentalism, check out his book, Against Religion.
[10:05]—“Purity culture creates a world with sharp social and spiritual boundaries between pure and impure, righteous and sinner, whole and not whole, male and female, rich and poor, jew and Gentile,” from Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith by Marcus Borg.
[20:23]—From Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez: “Evangelicals hadn’t betrayed their values. Donald Trump was the culmination of their half-century-long pursuit of a militant Christian masculinity. He was the reincarnation of John Wayne, sitting tall in the saddle, a man who wasn’t afraid to resort to violence to bring order, who protected those deemed worthy of protection, who wouldn’t let political correctness get in the way of saying what had to be said or the norms of democratic society keep him from doing what needed to be done. Unencumbered by traditional Christian virtue…He was the latest and greatest high priest of the evangelical cult of masculinity.”
[22:30]—For some background about Jerry Falwell, Sr. and the “Moral Majority,” Phyllis Schlafly, Ronald Reagan, and others, check out each person’s respective episodes on the podcast Behind the Bastards.
[24:38]—Mark Galli’s quote: “The more conservative evangelical you are, the more you tend to get attracted to authoritarian figures.”
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Credits
This episode was written by Gary Alan Taylor and Melanie Mudge (read their bios here) and produced by The Sophia Society.
Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound levels were mixed by Joshua Mudge and Melanie Mudge.
