Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-19-2020
Abstract
This article investigates the response to the coronavirus crisis by Evangelical Christian nationalists in the USA. The article outlines the curious mediaverse of religious nationalism—its post-truth and fake news aspects in particular—links religious nationalism to American exceptionalism, and analyzes conflicts between secular and religious authorities. Drawing upon some lessons from the past, the article addresses the wider implications of Christian nationalism on American politics, and capitalist ideology, as it has been played out virally in the corporate media. The article shows that the ideological underpinnings of evangelical Christianity prevent its proponents from understanding the virus in an historical and materialist manner and points toward more epistemically sound approaches to relationships between science and religion. It concludes that privatization, austerity capitalism, and ‘gig economy’ need to be replaced by socialist alternatives and seeks inspiration in theory and practice of Marxism and South American liberation theology.
Recommended Citation
McLaren, P. Religious Nationalism and the Coronavirus Pandemic: Soul-Sucking Evangelicals and Branch Covidians Make America Sick Again. Postdigit Sci Educ (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00122-7
Peer Reviewed
1
Copyright
Springer
Included in
American Politics Commons, Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Christianity Commons, Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Other Communication Commons, Other Religion Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, Social Media Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, Sociology of Religion Commons
Comments
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Postdigital Science and Education in 2020 following peer review. The final publication may differ and is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00122-7.
A free, read-only version of this article is available through the Springer Nature SharedIt content sharing initiative at https://rdcu.be/b4j9g.
This scholarship is part of the Chapman University COVID-19 Archives.