"Kevin Kruse in his book One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America details how industrialists in the 1930s and 1940s poured money and resources into an effort to silence the social witness of the mainstream church, which was home to many radicals, socialists and proponents of the New Deal. These corporatists promoted and funded a brand of Christianity—which is today dominant—that conflates faith with free enterprise and American exceptionalism. The rich are rich, this creed goes, not because they are greedy or privileged, not because they use their power to their own advantage, not because they oppress the poor and the vulnerable, but because they are blessed. And if we have enough faith, this heretical form of Christianity claims, God will bless the rest of us too. It is an inversion of the central message of the Gospel. You don’t need to spend three years at Harvard Divinity School as I did to figure that out."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Activists from the United StatesPhilosophers from the United StatesHuman rights activistsHarvard University alumniJournalists from Vermont
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
"The Suicide of the Liberal Church" Truthdig (January 24, 2016)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chris_Hedges
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Chris Hedges
Christopher Lynn Hedges (born September 18, 1956) is an American journalist, Presbyterian minister, and visiting Princeton University lecturer. His books include War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. In 2002, Hedges was one of eight reporters at T
185 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Chris Hedges →
Related Quotes
"There will be no economic or political justice for the poor, people of color, women or workers within the framework o…"
"Technocratic human beings are spiritually alive. Their objective is to fully utilize our technological capabilities f…"
"Neoliberalism as economic theory was always an absurdity. It had as much validity as past ruling ideologies such as t…"
"Amazon workers, like many American workers, endure appalling work conditions. They are forced to work compulsory 12-h…"
"Global capitalists have turned back the clock to the early days of the Industrial Revolution. The working class is in…"
"The long campaign against Julian and WikiLeaks is a window into the collapse of the rule of law, the rise of what the…"
"The architects of imperialism, the masters of war, the corporate-controlled legislative, judicial and executive branc…"
"Political, economic and social dysfunction define the American empire. Our staggering inability to contain the pandem…"
"I'm more optimistic because I see the resistance in the streets... That's where hope lies.... They're mostly young, i…"
"The tinder that could soon ignite widespread violent conflagrations throughout the United States lies ominously stack…"