From Megyn Kelly's claim that Jesus is white to former President Trump's claim that he is the "chosen one" or the "King of Israel," there is serious trouble in paradise. Contemporary manifestations of white Christian nationalism are deeply entangled in political issues from women's political rights over their own bodies to the rejection of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Carrying Christian signs and crosses, protestors at the Capitol insurrection on January 6th were not only fighting with a sense of white nationalist duty but fighting with a religious zeal, making this a pressing moment in the current time to which this volume speaks. This edited collection invites scholars share frustration, anger, interrogation, and conceptual clarity with readers regarding this toxic form of Christianity that fights not in the name of love, but in the name of political domination and out of deep fear and hatred. Attention is also brought to Christianity's counter-voice, one predicated upon love, and its effectiveness to resist not just deep political pro-white forces at work, but also its capacity to focus emphasis upon Christian love. The text is designed to speak to the contemporary moment with respect to the explicit and implicit ways in which white nationalism and white Christianity continue to be entangled and reinforce one another. Contributors are asked to articulate what is behind this racially, politically, ideologically, psychically charged whiteness of Christianity in the US, and to articulate what is beyond the whiteness of Christianity for both Christians and non-Christians alike concerned with the rise of white Christian nationalism.
George Yancy is the author, editor, and co-editor of over 20 books, including Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly About Racism in America. He is known for his influential essays and interviews in the New York Times' philosophy column, The Stone. Yancy lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is professor of philosophy at Emory University. Bill Bywater is emeritus professor of philosophy at Allegheny College. He has published in aesthetics and media studies including a book on the English art critic Clive Bell. His most recent work on social justice, education and democracy can be found in edited volumes by Solymosi and Schook, by Hanes and Weisman, by Yancy, and by Ducey, Headley, and Feagin as well as an interview with Noelle McAfee in the Kettering Review. He is a pragmatist in the tradition of John Dewey. J. Kameron Carter is professor of religious studies, English, and African American studies at Indiana University Bloomington. He is co-director of Indiana University's Center for Religion and the Human. He is author of Race: A Theological Account, The Anarchy of Black Religion: A Mystic Song, and The Religion of Whiteness: An Apocalyptic Lyric.
Foreword by J. Kameron Carter Introduction by George Yancy Introduction by Bill Bywater Opening Poem Mary Magdalene Sings Becky Thompson White Christians and the U.S. Corporate Warrior State Mark Lewis Taylor White Mob Logic Karen Teel The "Promised Land" in Christian Nationalist Rhetoric: The Persistent Vision of Christianity as a Religion of Conquest Brock Bahler Discipleship or Duplicity? A Christian "No" to white Christian Nationalism Anna Floerke Scheid White Christians Warring against Democracy: A Long History Joe Feagin The Pedagogy of Hegemony: A History of Christian Nationalism's Narrative Wars and School Dominance Todd M. Mealy Who do you say that I am? Laurie Cassidy The Theological Irony of White Christian Nationalism: A View from the South Leah Kalmanson Christian Churches in North America and the Imperatives of the Dialogue of Action Toward Restitution and Restorative Justice for Blacks, Latinos/Latinx, and Native Americans Marinus Chijioke Iwuchukwu Legitimate Political Discourse": January 6th and the Brutality of White Theodicy Biko Mandela Gray Philosophical Ends and Theological Beginnings: The Logos, the Nigger, and Whiteness in American Christianity Timothy Golden Misogyny and the Stench of White Supremacist Christianity Traci C. West "Where Is the Love?": Christian Nationalism and the Politics of Exclusion Kathy Glass The Life and Death of Queen Elizabeth II: Defender of the Faith, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and Manifestation of the White Colonial Gaze Kimberley Ducey "The Order" of the Day: Lessons, Philosophical and Otherwise, from Childhood at the Heart of American Christian Nationalism James Garrison Victims of the Cross: Violence and Apocalyptic Discourse in Christian Nationalism Sheldon George White Solidarity on Campus and The Sin of Neutrality Elisabeth Vasko Can White Christian Nationalists and Donald Trump Be Overcome? Josiah Ulysses Young III Revolution and the Soul of White Christianity Dean J. Johnson The Hidden White Flesh of White Christian Nationalism: Anthropological Docetism and the Forging of Idols Jose Francisco Morales Torres On White Christian Violence Anthony Paul Smith Closing Poem ORIGINAL SIN Michael Simms Index About the Contributors
In Sheep's Clothing is a collection of compelling essays that dig at the roots of white Christian nationalism. Especially in this threatening moment of American history, with Christianity occupying center stage, George Yancy and Bill Bywater have drawn together well-researched, intelligent resources that revolutionary lovers of justice can turn to repeatedly for moral and political wisdom. I know I will. -- Carter Heyward, Professor Emerita of Theology, Episcopal Divinity School, and author of The Seven Deadly Sins of White Christian Nationalism: A Call to Action
