Evangelical masculinity doctrine was enacted through purchased rites and consumer experiences

Evidence

Books on evangelical masculinity were not meant for mere armchair reading. Christian fathers designed initiation rites for sons modeled on medieval knighthood involving expensive steak dinners and commemorated with symbols of great value, such as “a Bible, a shotgun or a plaque.” Knights, after all, were “the Promise Keepers of the Middle Ages.” Christian men retreated to the “wilderness” to participate in Wild at Heart Boot Camps or engage in “weekend paintball wars,” or they fashioned their own events featuring homegrown “Braveheart Games,” with activities ranging from changing tires on a car to throwing axes and chasing greased pigs. Larger organizations followed suit. At frenzied BattleCry youth rallies, evangelist Ron Luce warned students that communists, feminists, gays, and Muslims threatened to destroy the nation’s morality as surely as Osama bin Laden had destroyed the Twin Towers. In language rife with militaristic imagery, Luce called for a “wartime mentality,” for young people to awaken to the dangers of “culture terrorists.” — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 418

Categorization

• XREF: Concrete catalog of commodities and events exemplifying the cultural-apparatus thesis — the consumer goods (steak dinners, shotguns, boot camps) are evidence for how a religious identity gets transmitted through commerce rather than theology.