Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation is a powerful, deeply researched exploration of how a movement rooted in spiritual devotion evolved into a political and cultural powerhouse defined by patriarchy, nationalism, and a fascination with masculine strength. With over seventy-five years of history under her microscope, Du Mez traces how the image of Jesus has been gradually replaced by that of a warrior-king a “spiritual badass” modeled more after John Wayne than the Jesus of the Gospels.
The question driving this book is one that confounded many Americans in 2016: how could a man like Donald Trump, whose personal life and character seem utterly at odds with Christian teaching, win 81 percent of the white evangelical vote? Du Mez’s answer is both startling and convincing: Trump did not betray evangelical values; he embodied them.
Drawing on decades of popular culture, from books like Wild at Heart to the patriotic films that glorify violence and dominance, Du Mez paints a portrait of a faith reshaped by the myth of the strongman. For generations, evangelicals have celebrated figures who project toughness, authority, and defiance qualities embodied in icons like John Wayne, Oliver North, Mel Gibson, and Ronald Reagan. These heroes stood in stark contrast to the compassionate, peace-seeking Jesus of Scripture. Over time, masculinity became the defining virtue of evangelicalism, intertwined with political conservatism, militarism, and a nostalgia for a “Christian America” that never truly existed.
Reviewer Laura captures the book’s emotional impact perfectly. She admits that while the research deserves five stars, reading it was often painful a confrontation with uncomfortable truths. The deeper the narrative moves into recent history, the harder it is to continue, precisely because it hits so close to home. Du Mez’s argument that evangelicalism has become inseparable from commercialism and politics is not just persuasive; it is devastating. By the final chapters, readers are left with grief and a sobering question: where does the church go from here?
David Wineberg, another reviewer, underscores how thoroughly Du Mez documents the hypocrisy and contradictions within evangelical culture. He recounts how the movement has consistently celebrated flawed “tough guy” heroes from John Wayne to Trump while sidelining the humility and compassion at the heart of Christianity. His summary of Du Mez’s work reveals an astonishing pattern: a theology of dominance masquerading as faith. Evangelicals, in their zeal for authority and strength, have too often embraced sexism, racism, and the idolization of power.
Rex, writing from personal experience as a former evangelical, finds Du Mez’s thesis both heartbreaking and illuminating. He recalls how the 2016 election felt like a betrayal, only to realize that the groundwork for such an outcome had been laid decades earlier. Evangelicalism’s alignment with patriarchal authority and militant nationalism made the rise of Trump not an anomaly, but an inevitability. For Rex, Du Mez’s greatest contribution lies in showing how deeply this cultural identity runs how it has shaped everything from gender roles to political loyalties and why true reform must begin with humility and repentance.
Jesus and John Wayne is not just a book about politics or religion; it is a study of identity, power, and the dangerous ways faith can be distorted when culture takes precedence over conviction. It will challenge readers of all beliefs to confront uncomfortable realities about gender, race, and the ways in which power has been sanctified in the name of God.
This is not an easy book to read, but it is a necessary one. Du Mez has written a work of scholarship that will be studied for years to come a mirror held up to American evangelicalism, reflecting both its past glories and its current moral disarray. For anyone seeking to understand how faith and politics became so deeply entangled in the United States, this book is essential reading.
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