Evangelical leaders treated tenderness in Jesus as a heresy undermining national defense

Evidence

The church wasn’t helping matters; by emphasizing “feminine traits” like tenderness, compassion, and gentleness, churches had neglected the equally spiritual but masculine traits of aggressiveness, courage, and standing on the truth. Again Farrar castigated the church for feminizing Jesus. Songs about Christ’s “beauty” were especially galling. As he wrote, “If you went up to John Wayne and said he was beautiful, he would separate several of your molars and bicuspids into a new world order.” Mel Gibson’s film The Passion offered a good antidote to the image of a wimpy Christ, but more needed to be done. Farrar didn’t shy away from the fact that he was advocating a more militant turn. The trend had been to “major on the ‘tender’ and minor on the ‘warrior,’” but “in the trenches you don’t want tenderness.” — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 414

Categorization

• SHARE: The John Wayne molar line is exactly the kind of vivid artifact worth sending to someone following the book’s argument.
• XREF: Contrasts with the peaceable Jesus of the Gospels; relevant to the reader’s assessment of whether this is THE white evangelicalism or a dominant strand. — connects to: Armed Christianity treats Jesus as a conqueror needing weapons — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 489; American conservative Christianity exalts a hypermasculine, militarized image of Jesus. — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 347