The book list continues…
"Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation" by Kristen Kobes Du Mez
I read this book mostly in two feverish sessions during two very long plane rides over the summer. It blew my mind, made me cry, unleashed a huge amount of anger and hurt that I had been bottling up, brought both clarity and sympathy to the evangelical Christian tradition that I grew up in, and, most of all, gave me a tremendous sense of relief.
What is it? It's an exploration of the history of modern American evangelicalism, piecing together the narrative of this brand's* origins, development, constant state of "embattlement," and how it has morphed and changed through the years. (*The book pretty persuasively argues that evangelicalism is more of a brand than a theological framework.) It focuses especially on how evangelicalism's identity has been shaped by its concept of masculinity.
The book is extremely in-depth, giving incredible insight into how the American ideal of a Real Man— a John-Wayne type who isn't afraid to pull out his six-shooter to defend his woman and his country from the "others" who are attacking— became codified in evangelical imagination, and how that has affected politics and culture for the past hundred years or so (up to and including the election of former President Trump).
The book contained plenty of information to rage about, but it also encouraged a much deeper sense of compassion, both for people I currently disagree with and my past self. For instance, I was able to make sense of how militantly patriarchal I was in my early 20s, drawing lines between that and the cultural moment of complementarianism that reared its head around the same time. (It also gave me some insight on why authors Stasi AND John Eldridge both seemed to have a crush on Mel Gibson.) Being able to frame my and others' evangelical beliefs within these cultural forces is enormously helpful. And, most of all, being able to read the history of this brand as just that— history— allowed me to make sense of many things that had been nebulous, swirling around in myself as emotions rather than pieced together into a story.
This is definitely one of my top books of the year, and highly recommended for anyone in the evangelical sphere, whether current or ex.
"Terraform: Building a Better World" by Propaganda
A mixture of poetry, prose, and memoir, this book reflects on the concept of how we not only change the world, but invent and create it with our words, thoughts, and particularly the stories we tell. The book gives a lot of food for thought about the nature of reality, the way we practice theology, and how we participate in the creation of culture and cultural norms. I'll admit, the writing style isn't my favorite (a bit too rambly for me), but the poetry (interspersed with the prose to expand on the themes) was absolutely gorgeous, and the book is worth checking out just for that.
Another self-help book my therapist assigned me, this book from the early 90s presents a psychological framing of identifying "lifetraps"— patterns of negative, toxic, or unhealthy behavior caused or triggered by the way you grew up. My therapist said I would like it because there were quizzes and writing exercises, and she was right.
The book begins with an introduction to the method, followed by a series of quizzes that help you identify what your lifetraps might be. Then each following chapter discusses each of the lifetraps in turn, giving examples, detailed suggestions for how to deal with it, and lots of helpful advice.
I personally found this to be incredibly helpful. Self-understanding doesn't come naturally to me, so formats like this can give me tools for getting a handle on my own thoughts and emotions. Without going into too much detail, what I learned from this book ended up leading me to some very painful but necessary self-realizations, and while it was hard to face up to them, my life is healthier now for facing it.
If you, like me, are into "quizzes and writing exercises," you might benefit from this book.
"The Way Home: Tales from a Life Without Technology" by Mark Boyle
Known as the "Moneyless Man" who spent several years without spending a dime, Boyle is back with another book, this one about his adventures in giving up modern technology (which, he admits, is a wishy-washy category) and living for a year in a cabin in rural Ireland. A modern-day "Walden"-type story (which deserves all the skepticism and critique that the original "Walden" should inspire), it was fascinating to read.
He wrote the book in pencil and later transcribed it with little editing, so there isn't much of a cohesive storyline, just an account of his everyday actions and thoughts. He chops wood, learns how to dress and butcher a road-killed deer, plays penny-whistle at music night at the local tavern, tries to have a healthy relationship with his girlfriend, dries herbs and brews mead, grows lots of vegetables, helps his neighbors mend fences and stack firewood, learns to fish, relates some history of Irish settlers who lived in a similar way, and struggles to figure out what "technology" means and how he's supposed to relate to the world in a way that makes the most sense.
As I said, there's a lot to criticize, both here and in his other books. His perspective, for instance, doesn't make room for people who must rely on technology, such as some disabled people: how are they supposed to exist in his ideal post-technological world? And some might argue that most of the book just boils down to him mumbling, "Technology bad."
However, there is something irresistible about someone who sees the chaos and destruction and utter inhumanity of the modern world and says, "There's got to be a different way of doing things." People tell him he's extreme, but his response is always some version of "Am I really the extreme one? People have been living like this for tens of thousands of years! Is it not the average Western lifestyle that is the extreme one?"
Regardless of the answer, I think that question is incredibly important to ask.
Others in this series:
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