Erecting the Pulpit

Examines a powerful yet overlooked form of Christian Nationalism-one that fuses faith, masculinity, capitalism, and political power under the guise of moral leadership. Beginning with Theodore Roosevelt's "Muscular Christianity" and tracing the conceit of faithful and fit male leadership through figures like Billy Graham and cultural institutions like National Prayer Breakfasts and modern mega-churches, and flourishing under the administration of Donald Trump, Erecting the Pulpit reveals how religious rhetoric has been wielded to sanctify power and divide communities. Drawing on her firsthand experiences and years of conversations with participants-from Cowboy Churches to NASCAR chaplaincies and storefront churches with folding chairs to meetings with the parachurch group Young Life-theologian Amy Laura Hall examines the cultural and political forces that have made evangelicalism "ambient" while consolidating wealth and influence. At a time when politicians are expected to pray in public and religious themes shape public policy, Hall offers a vivid, incisive exploration of how religious expressions of faith in the United States have been strategically repackaged to sustain political and economic hierarchies and keep women subservient to men.

Amy Laura Hall is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University, where she has taught since 1999. She is the author of four books, including Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction (2007) and Laughing at the Devil: Seeing the World with Julian of Norwich (2018). A noted authority on Christianity and culture in the U.S., Hall has also contributed provocative essays on Protestantism and politics to Religion Dispatches and Religion News Service.

Preface Acknowledgments Introduction What Is Muscular Christianity? Why a Pulpit? What Is Mainstream Evangelicalism? Deciders "Dynamite or Gospel" Where Am I? Fathers Know Best? 1. Fitness "It Is the BRITISH WAY!" "Keeping Fit" Holy Husbandry "Westward Ho!" "Chaos in the Family, Chaos in the State" "Fit for Ministry?" 2. Brotherhoods Rewiring "the West" Memorials Matter "The Farmer and the Cowman" Poaching Vouching Oil Rich 3. Sovereignty and Submission Submit Supermarkets Measuring "Real" The Crotch Shot Entertain Us! News Matters Office Space 4. Mill Town Cathedrals Monuments Social Memory "Modern Times" "The Only Road to Salvation" Legacies 5. Leadership Vikings Agape An Infomercial from Yale Rulers Make Bad Lovers "Marketplace Men" On Your Knees No Hero Conclusion "The 4/14 Window"