Blood and Faith: Christianity in American White Nationalism (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780815635444)

Beginning with Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign, the term "religious right" entered the popular lexicon, coming to signify a politically and socially conservative form of Christianity that informs American conservatism to this day. Less well known are other ideologies that have influenced the far right since well before 1980, including Odinism, Creativity, and racialized atheism. The rising popularity of these extreme groups and their philosophical grounding in racial politics and religious bigotry has caused a shift away from--and often hostility toward--even racist forms of Christianity among American white nationalists.

In Blood and Faith, Berry deftly explores the causes of this shift, rooted largely in response to racialized anxieties that are by no means exclusive to extremists in America. Focusing on the challenges these tensions pose for contemporary white nationalists seeking access to mainstream conservative politics, Berry also considers the recent rise of the so-called "alt-right" and the unifying issues of anti-multiculturalism and anti-immigration around which moderate and fringe groups have rallied. Blood and Faith is a provocative investigation of the complex, evolving role of white nationalism and an urgent reminder of the outsized influence of religion in American political life.

Author: Damon T. Berry
ISBN-10: 0815635443
ISBN-13: 9780815635444
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Language: English
Published: 09/26/2017
Pages: 284
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.29lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.75d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/10/2017
Library Journal 09/01/2017 pg. 124
Choice 05/01/2018