Red-Haired Ash Reads

This book is hard to rate because Du Mez has clearly done her research but I do think some of the content was a bit repetitive, especially with the repetitive discussions of men and women’s place in society. As a non religious person, this book really helped me to understand the current political environment and the rise of Christian nationalism. 

This book goes over the rise in Christian nationalism by discussing the past 75 years of the movement and how it grew and became what it is today. It covers the rise of militant masculinity, submissive femininity, family values, purity culture, homeschooling, elections of presidents, religious abuse scandals and cover ups, and how it all led to the current election of Trump. 

“But family values politics was never about protecting the well-being of families generally. Fundamentally, evangelical “family values” entailed the reassertion of patriarchal authority. At its most basic level, family values politics was about sex and power.”

I found this book both fascinating and horrifying. I am horrified that a religious group has this much power and uses their influence to basically destroy the lives of those who are not a part of their circle, especially women and minorities. After reading this book, it now makes sense why in recent years we have seen a rise in backlash against women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and immigration. They finally have their champion to tear down everyone’s rights and they are wasting no time trying to revert everything to 100+ years ago. 

Overall, this book was informative and infuriating at the same time. I highly recommend it if you are questioning how the Christian nationalist movement became so powerful and how a person like Donald Trump could win the presidency. 

TW: racism; misogyny; war and torture; sexual abuse and rape; victim blaming; child abuse; grooming; domestic abuse and rape;

---

Goodreads | The Storygraph | Amazon

---