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Blood and Faith
Christianity in American White Nationalism
Damon T. Berry
Hardcover $60.00L
| 978-0-8156-3544-4
| 2017
Paper $29.95s
| 978-0-8156-3532-1
| 2017
ebook 978-0-8156-5410-0
Explores the complex relationship between Christianity and American
white nationalists.
"Berry’s groundbreaking debut traces the history of the "alt-right"—an offshoot of conservatism that mixes white nationalism and populism—while unpacking its relationship to the religious right and the tension between them. Certain branches of Christianity have long shared space with the nationalist movement in the U.S., but Berry provocatively posits that racialized Christian mythologies are not the only religious ideologies influencing white racist activists. Berry cites Odinism (a Norse-inspired paganism) and Creativity (a new age racialized movement that began in the 1970s) as the two main examples. Berry stresses that understanding this trend away from Christianity in racialized, right-wing politics is particularly important due to rising "pan-European ethnonationalism committed to the survival of the imagined global white racial community." The chosen medium for the movement is the internet, and its goal is to undermine the mainstream political establishment. Berry’s primary mission is to examine why white nationalists are rejecting historical connections to racist Christianity in favor of a new Odinism, racialist Paganism, and other Euro-Aryan ideologies that are providing “spiritual” foundations for the larger goal of "white racial survival." This is a must-read for all Americans who want to understand the shifting spiritual allegiances of the strengthening white nationalist movements throughout the U.S. and Europe."—Publishers Weekly starred review
"Berry does a fine job bringing together the ideological,
‘biological,’ and theological strands of belief that
form the bones and sinews of the race movement in
the United States."—Jeffrey Kaplan, School of International and Public Affairs,
Jilin University, Changchun, China
"A powerful, original, and extremely timely book. Tracing the history
of white nationalism in the United States, Berry examines a series of
hugely influential but today little known figures and movements, revealing
their key role in the broader landscape of American religious,
political, and racist discourses. Perhaps most importantly, Berry’s book
also highlights the continuities between these twentieth-century racist
currents and our own historical moment, with the rise of the alt-right
movement, and the resurgence of white nationalism."—Hugh Urban, author of The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion
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Damon T. Berry is assistant professor in the religious studies department at St. Lawrence
University in Canton, New York. He has published articles in the Journal of Hate
Studies and Security Journal.
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Book Description »[Close »]
Since the 1980 US presidential races, the term "religious right" has come to signify
a politically and socially conservative form of Christianity. This term implies
a joining of socially conservative evangelical Christianity with conservative politics
that continues to shape the Republican Party to this day. But this relationship
is hardly new in American history; certain forms of Christianity have long
shared space with the political and nationalist right in the United States.
Less well known, however, are the various other religions that have influenced
white racist activities in America. The recent popularity of these ideologies
has caused a shift away from, and resulting hostility toward, Christianity
among white nationalists. In Blood and Faith, Berry explores the causes of
this shift, as well as the challenges it has created for contemporary white nationalists
who seek access to the conservative American political mainstream.
Building on Michael Barkun’s landmark study of racist Christianity, Religion
and the Racist Right, Berry takes a fresh look at the complex and evolving
relationship between American white nationalists and religion.
View other books on Religion and Politics.
6 x 9, 280 pages, notes, bibliography, index
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