1/ I've been revisiting the intellectual history of proslavery Christianity, and it is becoming increasingly clear to me that the kind of "John Wayne Christianity" that @kkdumez analyzes so brilliantly is much older than I had realized. It can be traced back well beyond 1776.

2/ It is rooted in Indian warfare and slaveholding and the need to justify them in theological terms. One justification was explicitly anti-democratic and appealed to upper-class paternalism rooted in "natural" hierarchy. The other was based on male fraternity and OT warriors.

3/This may seem far removed from our current politics. But it's not. It explains the paradoxical form of anti-statist, avowedly Christian authoritarianism that is part of Trump's evangelical "base." See @JesseKellyDC recent Tweets for examples.

4/ The underlying ideal, I think, is a brotherhood of strong, white Christian men, a state that does not interfere with their dominance, and a leader qua Big Brother who performs public dominance rituals on their behalf. Whence the outrage at "cancel culture", gay marriage etc.

5/ This ideal is fundamentally at odds with most versions of Christianity and gives rise to heterodox forms of "muscular Christianity." One finds similar (if not identical) forms of pseudo-Christianity in Nazi Germany though. Which raises again the question of Fascism...