Suggested Reading: Tad Delay, Against: What Does the White Evangelical Want?

Tad Delay’s alphabet skips from E to G, because he is out of F’s to give. 

Delay sees a world completely on fire. Whether it’s the climate crisis or the rise of fascism, the world has been set ablaze, and he knows who held the matches: White evangelicals. 

 Against is not for the lily-white snowflakes who melt by a little bit of sunlight. Delay’s book is disinfectant, because in his estimation the white evangelical project now has little daylight between itself and the alt-right. In such a stark reality he says, “Reasoning with the fascist cannot work.”

Delay’s book is an interdisciplinary exploration of why we’re in the current religio-political crisis. Relying upon psychoanalysis, philosophy, and political theory, Delay incisively describes a pretty grim picture of the past, present, and future of white evangelicalism, claiming it to be “a faith organized around fantasies curating the enjoyment of—not the flight from—turmoil and anxiety.”

In other words, though white evangelicals believe they are for Jesus, their approaches against knowledge, sexuality, reality, and even a livable Earth, have wrought punishing consequences for the world. Delay, if anything, knows how to market a book despite impending earthly doom, because his chapter titles are, excuse the pun, straight fire. 

[1] Against Future: Apocalypticism and Climate Collapse

[2] Against Knowledge: Racist Origins of Alternative Education

[3] Against Sexuality: Sadomasochism in Purity Culture

[4] Against Reality: The Persecution Complex, Media and Propaganda

[5] Against Society: Populism, Fascism, and Hierarchies of Contempt

Delay posits that desire, not belief, drives evangelical actions. Belief, it would seem, is a pliable concept that can be adapted to the politics of the day, and at the moment, white evangelicals care about winning. Delay says, “My claim is that [evangelicalism’s] desire is an inherently violent desire that dismisses any pain it doesn’t feel itself.” 

This means if evangelicals do not see it, or cannot conceive it, then it must not be anything to seriously consider: Public education? Doesn’t matter to shaping citizens. We pulled our kids from those schools long ago. Student loan debt? Should’ve paid attention to Dave Ramsey. Healthcare? Don’t be a socialist! Climate change? Jesus wants to rescue us from the Earth, so we can watch it burn together. 

Against is for me the academic equivalent of listening to hype music: I’m not in the mood to be agitated every day, but when I need to be shaken out of my gradualist autopilot, Delay’s work (among others) are like Run The Jewels on repeat. I’ll admit to thinking Delay’s approach is just too cynical at points, but the more I ponder Against—particularly against the backdrop of a global pandemic—the more I’m being nudged toward his position. Death cults form in a variety of ways, and when they attain the power to actualize their apocalyptic visions—shaped by limited theologies—they will eventually wreak havoc for the neighbors that they allegedly love. See (and file away for the future) Sarah Pulliam Bailey's recent story about “Patriot churches” right here in Knoxville.

Three favorite beats:

1.  Chapter Two on the history of “alternative education” was a fascinating read for me having taught at a private, Christian K-12 school. Delay details how many schools were founded in direct response to Brown v. Board and still serve as de facto segregation academies. As an initial step toward better institutions, current Christian school teachers and administrators would do well to learn and acknowledge their troubled histories. Only then can these schools inhabit their communities as bearers of good news.

2.  For those who endured True Love Waits ceremonies or college accountability groups, Chapter Three on purity culture will bring back cringey memories. 

3.  Delay’s analysis of the evangelical’s “persecution complex” is spot-on. White evangelicals often see themselves as victims, even though they still hold considerable power, particularly in the South. Delay says, “When you’re powerful, playing the victim justifies aggressiveness.” (See also Kristin Kobes DuMez’s stunning Jesus and John Wayne for more on this point).

One quibble, though: To make his point, Delay blatantly spoils God’s Not Dead…so 2020 just keeps getting worse.

Who should read this?

Anyone who is done, done, done with white evangelicalism and needs a catharsis. Those who still consider themselves part of the camp but can handle pointed criticism, this is for you, as well. If you’re an outsider to this weird world of white evangelicalism, and you want to know what all the hubbub is about—particularly why this group’s infighting spills out into the public square—then your schadenfreude will be spectacularly rewarded. 

Delay says, “White evangelicalism will not moderate. It may die off, but no new generation will moderate a religion built on whiteness, nostalgia, and chosenness.” Harsh? Not when you consider evangelical churches are leading the charge to fully re-open in the middle of a global pandemic, turning worship into super-spreader events while proffering “God’s will” as the theological sedative in painful times, be they epidemiological or economic. After all, if church doesn’t happen in-person and a Chili’s isn’t open to full capacity for the sanctified on Sundays, then for what reason did Lee Greenwood’s Jesus die? 

Taylor Swift’s "Exile" —the soundtrack to COVID btw—captures the feelings many of us have about evangelicalism right now, even if we maintain affection for the tradition that raised us.

I think I've seen this film before
And I didn't like the ending
You're not my homeland anymore
So what am I defending now?
You were my town
Now I'm in exile seeing you out
I think I've seen this film before

Bon Iver sings “you never gave a warning sign” to which Swift says, maybe for all of us, “I gave so many signs.” (Credit to my wife for all Taylor Swift exegesis).

Read Tad Delay’s Against and you’ll see the signs a bit more clearly. 

 Book/site link: http://taddelay.com/books

(© 2020, Justin Phillips)