About the Book:
Scott Coley exposes the inner workings of the religious right’s propaganda—and how Christians can resist it.
Good
evangelical Christians are Republican. It seems like it’s always
been this way.
That means the propaganda is working.
Scott
Coley trains a critical eye on the fusion of evangelicalism and
right-wing politics in Ministers
of Propaganda.
This timely volume unravels rhetoric and biblical prooftexting that
support Christo-authoritarianism: an ideology that presses Christian
theology into the service of authoritarian politics. Coley’s
historically informed argument unsettles evangelical orthodoxy on
issues like creation science or female leadership—convictions not
as unchanging as powerful religious leaders would have us
believe.
Coley explains that we buy into propaganda because of
motivated reasoning, and when we are motivated by perceived
self-interest, the Christian message is easily corrupted. But if we
recover Jesus’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves,
right-wing propaganda will lose its power. Any reader troubled by
American evangelicals’ embrace of racism, misogyny, and other
unchristian views will find answers and hope in these pages.
My Review:
This is an eye opening book. Coley opened my eyes to the motivational reasoning behind wanting to believe the Bible promotes something (e.g. slavery) because of the benefits (financial, psychological, for example). He looks at legitimizing concepts by drawing on religion, specifically American evangelical Christianity. He shows how the Bible has been interpreted to support practices and institutions benefiting ones self (often to the detriment of marginalized people).
He explores a number of topics including the belief in a six day creation and complimentarianism (and that it sounds so much nicer than patriarchy). My favorite topic was the theological justification for capitalism and how it was promoted. (I wondered how capitalism could come out of the New Testament). He is clear about the results of a free market economy in a morally degenerate (sinful) society. He also points out Regan's enduring economic legacy enriched the top 0.1 percent of Americans and eviscerated the middle class. (163)
“In the span of a few decades,” Coley writes, “conservative evangelicals who purport to embrace objective morality have claimed biblical sanction for totally contrary positions on such issues of moral salience as segregation and abortion... The arc of that moral evolution wasn't drawn by objective moral truth or God's word; it was shaped by white evangelicals who remitted their collective conscience to the care of religious authorities tasked with deciding what constitutes the 'biblical' view of gender, race, science culture, and politics – which views tend to coalesce around whatever serves the interests of the evangelical culture war machine at a given moment.” (193) He notes the southern evangelical change of view on segregation was not based on theology or moral principal but on the possibility of their churches losing tax exempt status. (193)
He asks some great questions. “So whose understanding of Scripture is definitive? Whose prooftexts carry the day?” (198) While I would like to think the Truth of Scripture is the same for all time, Christians have drawn contradictory truths from the Bible over time.
This book is going to irritate Christians who have accepted the current American evangelical message about history and current affairs. It is certainly worth reading to find objectivity and reality.
My rating: 5/5 stars.
About the Author:
Scott M. Coley is a lecturer in philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s University. His research interests include philosophy of religion, moral epistemology, and political philosophy.
(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)
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