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One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America
The provocative and authoritative history of the origins of Christian America in the New Deal era
We’re often told that the United States is, was, and always has been a Christian nation. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse reveals that the belief that America is fundamentally and formally Christian originated in the 1930s.
To fight the “slavery” of FDR’s New Deal, businessmen enlisted religious activists in a campaign for “freedom under God” that culminated in the election of their ally Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. The new president revolutionized the role of religion in American politics. He inaugurated new traditions like the National Prayer Breakfast, as Congress added the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance and made “In God We Trust” the country’s first official motto. Church membership soon soared to an all-time high of 69 percent. Americans across the religious and political spectrum agreed that their country was “one nation under God.”
Provocative and authoritative, One Nation Under God reveals how an unholy alliance of money, religion, and politics created a false origin story that continues to define and divide American politics to this day.
We’re often told that the United States is, was, and always has been a Christian nation. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse reveals that the belief that America is fundamentally and formally Christian originated in the 1930s.
To fight the “slavery” of FDR’s New Deal, businessmen enlisted religious activists in a campaign for “freedom under God” that culminated in the election of their ally Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. The new president revolutionized the role of religion in American politics. He inaugurated new traditions like the National Prayer Breakfast, as Congress added the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance and made “In God We Trust” the country’s first official motto. Church membership soon soared to an all-time high of 69 percent. Americans across the religious and political spectrum agreed that their country was “one nation under God.”
Provocative and authoritative, One Nation Under God reveals how an unholy alliance of money, religion, and politics created a false origin story that continues to define and divide American politics to this day.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published April 14, 2015
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About the author
Kevin M. Kruse
12 books290 followersKevin M. Kruse (PhD, Cornell University) is Professor of History at Princeton University. Dr. Kruse studies the political, social, and urban/suburban history of 20th-century America. Focused on conflicts over race, rights, and religion, he has particular interests in segregation and the civil rights movement, the rise of religious nationalism and the making of modern conservatism.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 395 reviews
December 26, 2020
Excellent book! By reading this well-researched book you will learn things like:
- A Christian minister, Francis Bellamy, wrote the original American Pledge of Allegiance without any mention of God because he thought that unifying church & state demeaned & insulted both. He also believed that Jesus taught economic equality and sided with the poor & working class. The original Pledge in 1892 reads,
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
- The phrase "One Nation Under God" wasn't added to the Pledge of Allegiance until the 1950s, when President Eisenhower's pastor -- who was strongly encouraged by corporate America in their campaign to unite religious piety with anti-government freedom in order to fight New Deal regulations -- urged Ike to add the phrase in 1954, who in turn urged Congress to pass legislation to include the phrase, which they did.
- "E pluribus unum," which is Latin for "One from many," is the phrase that was adopted as the de facto US motto by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, & Benjamin Franklin. The change for a new, official US motto came in the 1950s via the powerful economic influence of American corporations seeking to dismantle the New Deal by making government regulations anti-God. Hence, an Act of Congress made "In God We Trust" the USA's new official motto in 1956. That phrase was added to paper money in 1957.
- It was religious leaders who were not in bed with corporate America who had finally had enough and stopped prayer from being instituted in public schools in the 1950s because they found the marriage of church & state demeaning to their beliefs, much like Francis Bellamy thought when he did not include any mention of God when he authored the original Pledge.
Those are just a few of the many things you'll learn in this very informative historical book that has great relevance to contemporary American politics & culture. Read it!
- A Christian minister, Francis Bellamy, wrote the original American Pledge of Allegiance without any mention of God because he thought that unifying church & state demeaned & insulted both. He also believed that Jesus taught economic equality and sided with the poor & working class. The original Pledge in 1892 reads,
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
- The phrase "One Nation Under God" wasn't added to the Pledge of Allegiance until the 1950s, when President Eisenhower's pastor -- who was strongly encouraged by corporate America in their campaign to unite religious piety with anti-government freedom in order to fight New Deal regulations -- urged Ike to add the phrase in 1954, who in turn urged Congress to pass legislation to include the phrase, which they did.
- "E pluribus unum," which is Latin for "One from many," is the phrase that was adopted as the de facto US motto by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, & Benjamin Franklin. The change for a new, official US motto came in the 1950s via the powerful economic influence of American corporations seeking to dismantle the New Deal by making government regulations anti-God. Hence, an Act of Congress made "In God We Trust" the USA's new official motto in 1956. That phrase was added to paper money in 1957.
- It was religious leaders who were not in bed with corporate America who had finally had enough and stopped prayer from being instituted in public schools in the 1950s because they found the marriage of church & state demeaning to their beliefs, much like Francis Bellamy thought when he did not include any mention of God when he authored the original Pledge.
Those are just a few of the many things you'll learn in this very informative historical book that has great relevance to contemporary American politics & culture. Read it!
May 16, 2015
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, there's a lot of useful information about the emergence of religion as a central part of American political life in the years surrounding World War II. I learned a lot about the highly ideological "Religion in American Life" and "Freedom Under God" campaigns, both orchestrated by businesses threatened by FDR's New Deal. Similarly, I hadn't been aware of how important Eisenhower was in establishing "civic deism" in our political life--prayer breakfasts, etc. Not an accident that the Eisenhower era gave rise to the addition of the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance of the establishment of "One Nation Under God" as the national motto enshrined on our money. Kruse certainly establishes his thesis that the now-take-for-granted assertions that "America has always been a Christian country" are myths created to mask the origins of the Christian/political constellation which has grown in power fairly consistently since the 1950s.
But I have some problems with the book, reflected in the subtitle. At some points in the story, Kruse has a compelling case that the motivations for the emphasis on religion came from corporate sources. But once he gets to the 60s (which is my particular interest), he shifts to a much more general examination of places where religion enters into American politics: the Supreme Court cases regarding school prayer and Bible reading; the cynical Nixon use of religion as part of an appeal to the mythical "silent majority." There's certainly a connection between capitalism and a certain brand of Christianity, but Kruse takes the identification of Christianity with conservatism pretty much for granted and he never really considers the ways in which conservative Christians acted independently of corporate control. All of which is to say that while I found the book useful, it ultimately felt like Kruse had tilted his argument and analysis to create more buzz with the subtitle's questionable claim.
But I have some problems with the book, reflected in the subtitle. At some points in the story, Kruse has a compelling case that the motivations for the emphasis on religion came from corporate sources. But once he gets to the 60s (which is my particular interest), he shifts to a much more general examination of places where religion enters into American politics: the Supreme Court cases regarding school prayer and Bible reading; the cynical Nixon use of religion as part of an appeal to the mythical "silent majority." There's certainly a connection between capitalism and a certain brand of Christianity, but Kruse takes the identification of Christianity with conservatism pretty much for granted and he never really considers the ways in which conservative Christians acted independently of corporate control. All of which is to say that while I found the book useful, it ultimately felt like Kruse had tilted his argument and analysis to create more buzz with the subtitle's questionable claim.
November 17, 2023
This book illuminates things I never grasped, though they’ve been around me all my life. My parents and I watched the rise of Christian nationalism in the USA, till by the 1980s they quit their Methodist Texan church in futile protest against it. My dad was an idealistic socialist, from his childhood in the Great Depression to his service against the fascists in WWII. Then he watched a growing Christian nationalist movement increasingly demonize the ideals he believed in. We thought it was just a rise of prejudice and ignorance. But Kruse explores the roots of the “Christian America” movement, examining its origins as a business-led reaction to the Franklin Roosevelt administration’s New Deal controls on business.
In response to “socialistic” policies like unemployment insurance, old age pensions, or worker rights laws, a growing association of business leaders began protesting that tax burdens or administrative controls on business were anti-Christian. Christianity, they claimed, stood for freedom. It stood for freedom under God, as opposed to subjection to the man-made state. Instead of preaching that Christianity requires obedience to a moral law (perhaps with restrictions on alcohol or sexual promiscuity), these devout business leaders stood for “Christian libertarianism.” They claimed that both God and the U.S. Constitution guaranteed freedom, which no human power had the right to restrict.
Kruse examines how this movement for a “return to God” became a global crusade of freedom for business against Godless communism. He shows how this movement gained political victory in the 1952 election of Dwight Eisenhower, and how the new administration adopted numerous symbolic endorsements of Christian faith, such as placing the words “In God We Trust” on the dollar bill or holding National Prayer Breakfasts. These official displays of piety seemed to re-brand the government, so that it appeared to stand for Christianity rather than worship of the secular state. But if the state was now Christian, then patriotic support for the state seemed to be a Godly thing. If the state acted “under God,” then its unemployment insurance, old age pensions, or military spending seemed to be authorized by the right authority.
Concerning the following sixty years, Kruse traces the gradual rise of controversy over religious liberty. A more traditional kind of Christian moralism produced movements to impose moral laws—for endorsing Christian prayers in public schools, restricting abortion, or punishing homosexuality. The opponents of such policies claimed that they were the ones defending freedom, including religious freedom. And the Christian nationalists accused that anyone who opposed state endorsement for their religion was just being intolerant of Christianity.
Kruse gives a detailed exploration of the paradoxes of “freedom under God” and the culture wars over "the soul of the nation." But as his book concludes shortly before the presidency of Donald Trump, he does not squarely examine the contradictions between “libertarian Christianity” and “moralistic Christianity.” It seems obvious to me that Trump himself is a champion of libertarian Christianity, in which the main “religious” principle is that businesspeople should be free to pursue profit any way they want.
In response to “socialistic” policies like unemployment insurance, old age pensions, or worker rights laws, a growing association of business leaders began protesting that tax burdens or administrative controls on business were anti-Christian. Christianity, they claimed, stood for freedom. It stood for freedom under God, as opposed to subjection to the man-made state. Instead of preaching that Christianity requires obedience to a moral law (perhaps with restrictions on alcohol or sexual promiscuity), these devout business leaders stood for “Christian libertarianism.” They claimed that both God and the U.S. Constitution guaranteed freedom, which no human power had the right to restrict.
Kruse examines how this movement for a “return to God” became a global crusade of freedom for business against Godless communism. He shows how this movement gained political victory in the 1952 election of Dwight Eisenhower, and how the new administration adopted numerous symbolic endorsements of Christian faith, such as placing the words “In God We Trust” on the dollar bill or holding National Prayer Breakfasts. These official displays of piety seemed to re-brand the government, so that it appeared to stand for Christianity rather than worship of the secular state. But if the state was now Christian, then patriotic support for the state seemed to be a Godly thing. If the state acted “under God,” then its unemployment insurance, old age pensions, or military spending seemed to be authorized by the right authority.
Concerning the following sixty years, Kruse traces the gradual rise of controversy over religious liberty. A more traditional kind of Christian moralism produced movements to impose moral laws—for endorsing Christian prayers in public schools, restricting abortion, or punishing homosexuality. The opponents of such policies claimed that they were the ones defending freedom, including religious freedom. And the Christian nationalists accused that anyone who opposed state endorsement for their religion was just being intolerant of Christianity.
Kruse gives a detailed exploration of the paradoxes of “freedom under God” and the culture wars over "the soul of the nation." But as his book concludes shortly before the presidency of Donald Trump, he does not squarely examine the contradictions between “libertarian Christianity” and “moralistic Christianity.” It seems obvious to me that Trump himself is a champion of libertarian Christianity, in which the main “religious” principle is that businesspeople should be free to pursue profit any way they want.
October 5, 2015
This is a very good account of the development of the concept of a "Christian nation" from its use as conservative propaganda against the New Deal to the present. The author interestingly shows how President Dwight D. Eisenhower transformed the idea from being simply part of the tool kit of big business to something that the anti-New Dealers had never intended: it took on a life of its own that has permeated American political culture ever since. Although the author does make an occasional bow to nineteenth-century developments, he sometimes seems to forget that the idea of a "Christian nation" was not invented in the twentieth century but rather in the nineteenth, specifically as part of the Second Great Awakening, which explicitly and implicitly opposed the separation of church and state consciously formulated by such Founders as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and embodied in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. For nineteenth-century developments, the reader is advised to consult David Sehat, The Myth of American Religious Freedom (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), which I have reviewed here and which Kruse himself cited in his book. See also Steven K. Green, The Second Disestablishment: Church and State in the Nineteenth Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), and Benjamin T. Lynerd, Republican Theology: The Civil Religion of American Evangelicals (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014). Although I do not agree with everything in these books, they are, along with Kruse's analysis, interesting histories of the anti-First Amendment meme in American history.
All of these authors focus on the combination of religion and politics characteristic of religious nationalism or "civil religion," which is really a throwback to seventeenth-century theocratic dogmas. I develop this theme at considerable length in my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience (2015). Roger Williams (ca. 1603-83) opposed, on both religious and secular grounds, all attempts to merge religion and government, considering them, among other things, blasphemous. All such blending of religion and government results, inevitably, in government using religion for political ends. Kruse's One Nation under God demonstrates exactly how religion has become politicized in this manner during the last several decades.
(Originally posted 5/4/2015; revised 10/5/2015)
All of these authors focus on the combination of religion and politics characteristic of religious nationalism or "civil religion," which is really a throwback to seventeenth-century theocratic dogmas. I develop this theme at considerable length in my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience (2015). Roger Williams (ca. 1603-83) opposed, on both religious and secular grounds, all attempts to merge religion and government, considering them, among other things, blasphemous. All such blending of religion and government results, inevitably, in government using religion for political ends. Kruse's One Nation under God demonstrates exactly how religion has become politicized in this manner during the last several decades.
(Originally posted 5/4/2015; revised 10/5/2015)
August 29, 2015
There were times I had to put this book down, because it made me so angry. It incenses me that there are so many Americans who think "In God We Trust" has always been on our money, and "Under God" has always been in the Pledge of Allegiance. This book is important, because it goes back to first causes, when big business intentionally tried to cloak their libertarianism in religion, in order to destroy FDR's New Deal. We see the monster they unleashed every day in American politics.
August 16, 2015
A very cogent account of how business and religious interests merged to establish a formidable and influential flank in the Republican Party, and it could be argued - have come to dominate it. Initially, much of the alliance was part of an anti-FDR and anti-New Deal coalition, and it had no shortage of Democrats in the mix. From Eisenhower on, it would be the Republicans who would attract the most reactionary elements of Christianity as they sought to obliterate the barrier of church-state separation. Aided by corporate moguls with deep pockets (Marriott, etc.) and likes of Billy Graham (who claimed to be non-partisan, but acted aggressively on behalf of a series of Republican presidents), and unholy alliance was forged. It was anti-union, anti-liberalism, anti-government programs, and vehemently anti-feminist. Nixon and Reagan would parlay that into electoral strength and in today's political climate, any type of moderation has become anathema in Republican ranks as they are beholden to the Pat Robertson strain of Christianity.
Dating back to Eisenhower where God became ensconced in the Pledge and on American currency, the United States as a " Christian nation" narrative has become part of the political fabric and dialogue, and no speech is complete without the mandatory " God bless you.", or some variation of that which invokes divine sanction for the candidate or policy in question. As Kruse shows, though some gestures are rather benign and part of the civic tradition, which was particularly true when America had a very active and large Christian population in the 50s, the modern incarnation has a disturbing theocratic strain that harbors anti-democratic impulses and contempt for compromise. When such factions are bankrolled by a wealthy elite, as they currently are, the very foundations of a pluralistic and representative form of government are imperiled.
Excellent tracking of the lineage and evolution of the Christian Right/business hydra, and very good analysis.
Dating back to Eisenhower where God became ensconced in the Pledge and on American currency, the United States as a " Christian nation" narrative has become part of the political fabric and dialogue, and no speech is complete without the mandatory " God bless you.", or some variation of that which invokes divine sanction for the candidate or policy in question. As Kruse shows, though some gestures are rather benign and part of the civic tradition, which was particularly true when America had a very active and large Christian population in the 50s, the modern incarnation has a disturbing theocratic strain that harbors anti-democratic impulses and contempt for compromise. When such factions are bankrolled by a wealthy elite, as they currently are, the very foundations of a pluralistic and representative form of government are imperiled.
Excellent tracking of the lineage and evolution of the Christian Right/business hydra, and very good analysis.
December 23, 2016
Fascinating, edifying, and sometimes horrifying. Kruse examines how certain aspects of religion in American government and institutions which are often taken to be “foundational” are actually relatively recent innovations. Beginning in the 1930's, with the efforts of conservative businessmen to counteract FDR's “New Deal,” Kruse looks at conflicts over Social Security, unions, prayer in schools, the Pledge of Allegiance, etc. From backroom deals between businessmen and preachers to courtroom battles, Congressional filibusters, Nixon's White House religious services, and Barack Obama's campaign speeches, Kruse reminds readers that the sort of nation we should be, which denomination, not to mention religion, if any, should dominate, what exactly we mean when we say “Under God,” are far from the settled issues which the famous phrase in his book's title would seem to suggest. (As a Christian reader who felt a bit of trepidation about possible anti-religious fervor before starting this, I will note that Kruse is not critical of religion or religious people but, rather, of those who calculatingly use the religious beliefs of their fellow citizens to manipulate their behavior to achieve their own economic and political ends.)
August 14, 2021
An interesting, easy read. Hard to put down. We all know that big business has teamed up with conservative Christians for political gains-- a continuing force to this day. The main surprise, for me, was that this unholy alliance began during the Great Depression, in the 1930s, to combat Roosevelt's "New Deal" that was putting people back to work. The corporations were bent on suppressing labor rights then, and still are. And social security, Medicare, and Medicaid, if they eventually get their way.
After the 30s, an even bigger religious-political surge occurred in the 50s. I didn't realize how much President Eisenhower promoted this movement. I knew he bowed down to The Family and their highly political Prayer Breakfast, but I thought he attended the Prayer Breakfast reluctantly (he was the first president to attend), and that he'd hesitated due to the First Amendment. Not so. He actively brought religion into government again and again, during his eight long years (only one religion, of course).
This unholy alliance of business and their ONE favored religion still dominates our politics today.
After the 30s, an even bigger religious-political surge occurred in the 50s. I didn't realize how much President Eisenhower promoted this movement. I knew he bowed down to The Family and their highly political Prayer Breakfast, but I thought he attended the Prayer Breakfast reluctantly (he was the first president to attend), and that he'd hesitated due to the First Amendment. Not so. He actively brought religion into government again and again, during his eight long years (only one religion, of course).
This unholy alliance of business and their ONE favored religion still dominates our politics today.
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July 18, 2025❧ audiobook review
A mind-blowing look at the way corporations and politicians used religion to gain power and money. Recommended reading for everyone.
☆ Book Reviews | Bluesky | Twitter | Threads ☆
A mind-blowing look at the way corporations and politicians used religion to gain power and money. Recommended reading for everyone.
☆ Book Reviews | Bluesky | Twitter | Threads ☆
June 29, 2015
I was angry almost every minute I was reading this book. It's worth reading, but it's damn infuriating. I had no idea that Christian libertarianism had been around for so long. I will also have no more patience for people who say that removing "In God we trust" from the currency is a waste of time. That fact is used continuously to bolster that claim that this is a Christian nation.
June 3, 2015
The story of how the persisting myth that America is a Christian nation was born and aggressively disseminated in the 1950s with the enthusiastic assistance of Corporate America. A fascinating, lucid, engaging history and, for those who believe in the strict separation of church and state, quite disturbing.
February 6, 2019
Kevin M. Kruse's One Nation Under God looks at the rise of political evangelism in modern America, and its long history as a cat's paw for reactionary politics. Kruse's study focuses mainly on the period from the 1930s, when corporate and conservative interests embraced Christianity as a weapon against the New Deal, through the battles over the Pledge of Allegiance in the '50s and its evolution to stifle criticism during the Vietnam era. He views the whole thing as a largely cynical invention of opportunistic preachers and politicians looking to give a noble sheen to jingoism, greed and opposition to social progress. Kruse also argues that, in large part because of the Cold War, the idea of a "Christian America" became an unchallenged bipartisan consensus, to the point where even slight deviation from it became suspect - and when opponents of the status quo, be they mainstream liberals or Civil Rights advocates or antiwar protesters, were deemed not only "un-American" but ungodly (citing a particularly cynical Nixon speech in Knoxville where he shared the stage with Billy Graham to heckle and demean protesters). A more complete study might discuss earlier evangelical movements that shaped politics (19th century abolitionists, populists and progressives were, as he notes in passing, happy to embrace evangelism to endorse their ideas) but it's clear that the examples he cites are more directly relevant to our current situation. However many religious liberals and progressives exist, the Right has weaponized political Christianity to a pervasive, truly frightening degree, and Kruse's book is an invaluable study of how that came to pass.
August 24, 2015
Though the content was very compelling, I found the act of reading this book to be rather boring. I think the author did a great job on researching and sharing the information he gathered for this book, but the writing style to me was that of nonfiction that I tend not to dabble in. I found myself telling people as I was reading the book that I would have preferred to get this information in the form of a one hour podcast, rather than a 13 hour audio book. My two-star rating however is only a reflection of how much I enjoyed this book, rather than on the quality of the content or writing.
July 24, 2018
I really like Kevin Kruse and this story is an essential and interesting one, but the book did not feel entirely complete and coherent to me. I think I was perhaps hoping for more analysis instead of details about the different people and movements involved in the fusion of politics with religion. It's a historians history so by that metric, it's successful.
May 17, 2015
Kruse relies on particular, extensive research and storytelling to make his point, always preferable to nonfiction books that simply generalize about a time period or event. You learn a lot from reading Kruse's book: that businessmen in the 1930s used religion (and preachers) to overturn the New Deal, that the phrase "One Nation Under God" was added to currency as late as the mid-20th century and so is *not* part of a longstanding religious history as we've believed, that we've been arguing about prayer in schools for the last seventy years, that church leaders often opposed mandating (or even) having prayer in schools, unlike today. Perhaps the most interesting part was the final chapter on Nixon, in which Kruse charts the ways that Nixon consciously, deliberately used the forms of religion to his political advantage; given how the Nixon presidency ended, the chapter serves to reinforce biblical warnings against having prophets who are in league with the government, or paid by the government; there's real benefit in having Daniels and Nathans who will challenge authority.
Yet ultimately, the book does not entirely convince me its premise: that the idea we are "one nation under God" can be attributed largely to the corporate push against the New Deal. Yes, this is partly true, but it doesn't explain the fact that millions of everyday Americans were eager to see religion take a stronger hold in the public square, as religion's influence expanded beyond the New Deal to the Einsenhower presidency. Clearly religion was important to these people; having a religious country was important. Why? Since Kruse does not answer that question, we cannot wholly understand the reasons people see their country, specifically, as one of faith.
Yet ultimately, the book does not entirely convince me its premise: that the idea we are "one nation under God" can be attributed largely to the corporate push against the New Deal. Yes, this is partly true, but it doesn't explain the fact that millions of everyday Americans were eager to see religion take a stronger hold in the public square, as religion's influence expanded beyond the New Deal to the Einsenhower presidency. Clearly religion was important to these people; having a religious country was important. Why? Since Kruse does not answer that question, we cannot wholly understand the reasons people see their country, specifically, as one of faith.
March 25, 2020
This book does a great job explaining the history of the relationship between conservative economics & politics and evangelical Christianity in the United States. I always wondered why Jimmy Carter, who taught Sunday school and was a publicly faithful practitioner of Christianity, was rejected by self-identified “values voters” in favor of Ronald Reagan, an occasional church attender whose wife was better known for her astrological beliefs than anything approaching mainstream Christianity.
The possible answer: a decades-old concerted effort post-New Deal to link unfettered capitalism and Christian theology. The Cold War’s part in 1950s public faith (adding “under God” to the Pledge, etc.) was content with which I was familiar, but the documentation of corporate interests soliciting sympathetic Christian ministers from FDR to Eisenhower to Nixon and beyond was new to me.
It took me a relatively long time to finish this book, but it fills in gaps for me about confusing elements of conservative American positions on Christianity and faith. (It might also explains why the Beatitudes seem to get short shrift at GOP rallies). If you grew up Protestant in the USA, this will ring bells for you.
The possible answer: a decades-old concerted effort post-New Deal to link unfettered capitalism and Christian theology. The Cold War’s part in 1950s public faith (adding “under God” to the Pledge, etc.) was content with which I was familiar, but the documentation of corporate interests soliciting sympathetic Christian ministers from FDR to Eisenhower to Nixon and beyond was new to me.
It took me a relatively long time to finish this book, but it fills in gaps for me about confusing elements of conservative American positions on Christianity and faith. (It might also explains why the Beatitudes seem to get short shrift at GOP rallies). If you grew up Protestant in the USA, this will ring bells for you.
November 23, 2021
The triune brain theory says that human beings essentially have three brains stacked on top of one another. The first is the "lizard brain," composed of our brain stem, basal ganglia, and cerebellum. The cerebellum controls automatic functions like digestion, breathing, reproduction.
Next is the "mammal brain," our limbic system, governed by the amygdala, which houses the emotion center. It is the amygdala that kicks into gear when we feel fear, anger, or sadness. The limbic system is us at our most primal.
Finally is the "human brain," the cerebral cortex, which makes up more than 80 percent of our brain mass. This is the part of the brain that makes writing, language skills, and using logic and reason possible.
This book, One Nation Under God, doesn't talk about any of that. But this idea makes a fine introduction for talking about propaganda. The most effective propaganda sends unspoken messages right past the cerebral cortex into our emotional centers. The best propaganda probably goes even deeper, into our lizard brain.
One Nation Under God is the story of one of the most effective propaganda campaigns ever made. Its power remains unmatched even today. In fact, the propaganda campaign described in this book has the potential to destroy what little social cohesion that remains in our intensely divided nation.
Author Kevin Kruse begins his story with the Reverend James Fifield Jr. Fifield knocked the socks off a gathering of the Chamber of Commerce in December 1940. The titans of American industry were feeling glum because the Great Depression and the New Deal had made them the nation's whipping boys. All of their attempts to sell the message "New Deal Bad, Business Good," were met with contempt by people who had so recently seen for themselves what greed and capitalism had wrought.
Fifield was an innovator who managed to fuse a pro-business message to a blinkered Christian libertarianism. His message would eventually get boiled down to one catchy slogan "freedom under God." According to Fifield, Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal were encroaching on freedom and frequently broke the 10 Commandments. The answer, he said, was for business to "get religion."
The idea is simple. Even the rubes could see the clear self-interest betrayed when a businessman talks about how great business is. However, when we go to church and hear about how unions are bad, the New Deal is bad, and the Democrats are evil, those words hit a little different coming out of the mouth of a priest or minister. If you abuse the trust people have in the clergy, you can tell them anything and they'll swallow it whole. After all, the minister just wants you to get into heaven! In this situation, it's much easier for unpopular ideas to sail right past the old cerebral cortex.
The business leaders were sold. They couldn't hand over money fast enough for Fifield's "spiritual mobilization" campaign! Within 10 years Fifield had recruited 17,000 "minister representatives" to spread the good word about how unholy the New Deal was and exactly how much Jesus loved the capitalist system.
Then came Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ike saw a lot of personal upside in fusing God, Country, and the Republican Party. This was the period of time when "In God We Trust" was added to paper currency and "One Nation, Under God" was shoehorned into the Pledge of Allegiance. Mega ad agency J. Walter Thompson was paid millions to run ads simply telling people to go to church.
Eisenhower broadened the message beyond the New Deal. By the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan made "God bless America" the standard conclusion to every speech (a bipartisan tradition that lives on to this day), everyone had basically forgotten that it hadn't always been this way. Now complaints about the fusion of religion and politics bring up references to "the founding fathers" and their supposed religious devotion. Those claims don't quite add up - at least not in the way their supporters believe.
But belief is what it's all about, right? Logic and reason have no place in a discussion that starts from deep within the lizard brain.
Don't shut your brain off! Read this book and learn how God-fearing Americans have been manipulated for the secret benefit of capitalist profits for more than 80 years now.
Next is the "mammal brain," our limbic system, governed by the amygdala, which houses the emotion center. It is the amygdala that kicks into gear when we feel fear, anger, or sadness. The limbic system is us at our most primal.
Finally is the "human brain," the cerebral cortex, which makes up more than 80 percent of our brain mass. This is the part of the brain that makes writing, language skills, and using logic and reason possible.
This book, One Nation Under God, doesn't talk about any of that. But this idea makes a fine introduction for talking about propaganda. The most effective propaganda sends unspoken messages right past the cerebral cortex into our emotional centers. The best propaganda probably goes even deeper, into our lizard brain.
One Nation Under God is the story of one of the most effective propaganda campaigns ever made. Its power remains unmatched even today. In fact, the propaganda campaign described in this book has the potential to destroy what little social cohesion that remains in our intensely divided nation.
Author Kevin Kruse begins his story with the Reverend James Fifield Jr. Fifield knocked the socks off a gathering of the Chamber of Commerce in December 1940. The titans of American industry were feeling glum because the Great Depression and the New Deal had made them the nation's whipping boys. All of their attempts to sell the message "New Deal Bad, Business Good," were met with contempt by people who had so recently seen for themselves what greed and capitalism had wrought.
Fifield was an innovator who managed to fuse a pro-business message to a blinkered Christian libertarianism. His message would eventually get boiled down to one catchy slogan "freedom under God." According to Fifield, Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal were encroaching on freedom and frequently broke the 10 Commandments. The answer, he said, was for business to "get religion."
The idea is simple. Even the rubes could see the clear self-interest betrayed when a businessman talks about how great business is. However, when we go to church and hear about how unions are bad, the New Deal is bad, and the Democrats are evil, those words hit a little different coming out of the mouth of a priest or minister. If you abuse the trust people have in the clergy, you can tell them anything and they'll swallow it whole. After all, the minister just wants you to get into heaven! In this situation, it's much easier for unpopular ideas to sail right past the old cerebral cortex.
The business leaders were sold. They couldn't hand over money fast enough for Fifield's "spiritual mobilization" campaign! Within 10 years Fifield had recruited 17,000 "minister representatives" to spread the good word about how unholy the New Deal was and exactly how much Jesus loved the capitalist system.
Then came Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ike saw a lot of personal upside in fusing God, Country, and the Republican Party. This was the period of time when "In God We Trust" was added to paper currency and "One Nation, Under God" was shoehorned into the Pledge of Allegiance. Mega ad agency J. Walter Thompson was paid millions to run ads simply telling people to go to church.
Eisenhower broadened the message beyond the New Deal. By the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan made "God bless America" the standard conclusion to every speech (a bipartisan tradition that lives on to this day), everyone had basically forgotten that it hadn't always been this way. Now complaints about the fusion of religion and politics bring up references to "the founding fathers" and their supposed religious devotion. Those claims don't quite add up - at least not in the way their supporters believe.
But belief is what it's all about, right? Logic and reason have no place in a discussion that starts from deep within the lizard brain.
Don't shut your brain off! Read this book and learn how God-fearing Americans have been manipulated for the secret benefit of capitalist profits for more than 80 years now.
March 31, 2024
Eye-opening look at some of the mechanisms that brought about our modern Christian right.
The essential argument here is that back in the 1930s and 1940s, a bunch of rich conservatives got together and wanted to know what to do about the bad PR that made them the bad guys that caused the Depression. They hated, nay, loathed the New Deal and wanted to end it. Progressives had the Social Gospel movement on their side, an interpretation of Christianity that Jesus would want us to care for the sick and poor among us. Jesus was a socialist...shocking! These rich greedy capitalists wanted to get God on their side, at least publicly, and had some conservative pastors willing to help. Thus began a long game PR campaign to make Jesus pro-capitalism and pro-America, and to equate American with Christian (or Judeo-Christian when they were trying to be more ecumenical).
As the book progresses, the campaign appears to be a run-away success...but it also runs away a bit from its wealthy funders. President Eisenhower enacts a new public religion and presides over the new motto "In God We Trust" and adding "under God" to the pledge, but isn't as interested in rolling back New Deal components like Social Security, which proved rather popular with the people. Instead you get the rise of Billy Graham and a religious revival, with more church going Americans than ever before. Later you get the equating of religion and anti-Communism, with atheists and agnostics vilified as un-American. And even later the more obvious use of religion for political gain under Nixon wooing the Silent Majority, and continuing into modern election cycles, but with an angry lay population that is a little harder to control in the post-1960s than in the 1950s. (pages 140-148).
There are so many examples I'd love to pull out, from Walt Disney's Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A, as a created representation of the ideal conservative, capitalist, and religious American society (pages 127-130), to Cecil B. DeMille's culmination as a devout conservative in the making of and marketing of his "biblical blockbuster" "The Ten Commandments" (1956). The marketing of the latter resulted in the placement of nearly four thousand monuments of the Ten Commandments across America, many on public property.
This marketing of religion as American greatly changed the way my parents grew up in the 1950s and started or at least widened the great divide we currently face in our country. And it isn't just that the religious right had more religiosity. They just seem to be better at mobilizing it with push-button issues like school prayer and abortion. Reagan won the so-called Moral Majority as a divorced actor who rarely attended church, over Jimmy Carter who faithfully attended worship services but appointed people who were "pro-abortion."
We were not originally a Christian nation. But through a deliberate marketing scheme, we now are a nation with a lot of people who believe we are a Christian nation and want to keep it that way.
The essential argument here is that back in the 1930s and 1940s, a bunch of rich conservatives got together and wanted to know what to do about the bad PR that made them the bad guys that caused the Depression. They hated, nay, loathed the New Deal and wanted to end it. Progressives had the Social Gospel movement on their side, an interpretation of Christianity that Jesus would want us to care for the sick and poor among us. Jesus was a socialist...shocking! These rich greedy capitalists wanted to get God on their side, at least publicly, and had some conservative pastors willing to help. Thus began a long game PR campaign to make Jesus pro-capitalism and pro-America, and to equate American with Christian (or Judeo-Christian when they were trying to be more ecumenical).
As the book progresses, the campaign appears to be a run-away success...but it also runs away a bit from its wealthy funders. President Eisenhower enacts a new public religion and presides over the new motto "In God We Trust" and adding "under God" to the pledge, but isn't as interested in rolling back New Deal components like Social Security, which proved rather popular with the people. Instead you get the rise of Billy Graham and a religious revival, with more church going Americans than ever before. Later you get the equating of religion and anti-Communism, with atheists and agnostics vilified as un-American. And even later the more obvious use of religion for political gain under Nixon wooing the Silent Majority, and continuing into modern election cycles, but with an angry lay population that is a little harder to control in the post-1960s than in the 1950s. (pages 140-148).
There are so many examples I'd love to pull out, from Walt Disney's Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A, as a created representation of the ideal conservative, capitalist, and religious American society (pages 127-130), to Cecil B. DeMille's culmination as a devout conservative in the making of and marketing of his "biblical blockbuster" "The Ten Commandments" (1956). The marketing of the latter resulted in the placement of nearly four thousand monuments of the Ten Commandments across America, many on public property.
This marketing of religion as American greatly changed the way my parents grew up in the 1950s and started or at least widened the great divide we currently face in our country. And it isn't just that the religious right had more religiosity. They just seem to be better at mobilizing it with push-button issues like school prayer and abortion. Reagan won the so-called Moral Majority as a divorced actor who rarely attended church, over Jimmy Carter who faithfully attended worship services but appointed people who were "pro-abortion."
We were not originally a Christian nation. But through a deliberate marketing scheme, we now are a nation with a lot of people who believe we are a Christian nation and want to keep it that way.
July 10, 2015
One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America by Kevin Kruse
“One Nation Under God" is an even-handed book that makes the record clear on where America’s religious identity came from. Professor Kevin Kruse makes the compelling historical case that America’s religious identity had its roots in the domestic politics against Roosevelt’s New Deal of the 1930s and 1940s. This scholarly 386-page book includes eight chapters broken out into the following three parts: I. Creation, II. Consecration, and III. Conflict.
Positives:
1. Interesting and well-written book. Fair and respectful treatment.
2. A fascinating premise, how Corporate America invented a Christian America.
3. Kruse does not waste time in establishing his thesis for the book. “This book argues, the postwar revolution in America’s religious identity had its roots not in the foreign policy panic of the 1950s but rather in the domestic politics of the 1930s and early 1940s.”
4. The origins of the union of Christianity and capitalism. “At First Congregational and elsewhere, the minister reached out warmly to the wealthy, assuring them that their worldly success was a sign of God’s blessings and brushing off the criticism of clergymen who disagreed.”
5. The anti-New Deal movement. “For Fifield and his associates, the phrase “freedom under God”—in contrast with what they saw as oppression under the federal government—became an effective new rallying cry in the early 1950s.”
6. The role that Billy Graham played in American politics. “As the Washington crusade began in January 1952, Graham made clear his intent to influence national politics.”
7. It’s always interesting to read about the fathers of prominent politicians and religious leaders of today or recent past. See how many you find.
8. Political opportunism illustrated. “Vereide recognized that the tensions of the Cold War could be exploited to win more converts to his cause.”
9. A comprehensive look at the history of the National Day of Prayer. “In an apparent nod to the previous year’s “Freedom Under God” observance, which was set to be repeated in 1952, Truman selected the Fourth of July as the date for the first National Day of Prayer.”
10. Eisenhower unlikely role as the spiritual leader of a nation. “Eisenhower’s relationship with the Freedoms Foundation ran back to its founding. In his first meeting with Belding in September 1948, he discovered that the ad man shared his belief that the free enterprise system was in desperate need of defense.” “FOR EISENHOWER, THE “GOVERNMENT UNDER God” theme of the first prayer breakfast became a blueprint for his entire administration.”
11. Key stats that show the influence of religion and politics. “The decade and a half after the Second World War, however, saw a significant surge: the percentage claiming a church membership climbed to 57 percent in 1950 and then spiked to an all-time high of 69 percent at the end of the decade.”
12. The drive to declare the United States as one based on the Bible. In God We Trust. “In July 1953, the National Association of Evangelicals arranged to have Eisenhower, Nixon, and other high-ranking officials sign a statement declaring that the United States government was based on biblical principles.”
13. Interesting tidbits about our founding fathers. “The founding fathers had felt no need to acknowledge “the law and authority of Jesus Christ,” and neither had subsequent generations of American legislators.”
14. A comprehensive look at the history of the Pledge of Allegiance. “THE ORIGINAL PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, much like the Constitution itself, did not acknowledge the existence of God. Its author, Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister from Rome, New York, was a decidedly religious man, but when he wrote the pledge in the 1890s he described himself as something that would seem an oxymoron in Eisenhower’s America: a ‘Christian socialist’.”
15. Interesting history on the need to create an illusion of historical accuracy.
16. Separation of church and state. “The justice reached back to borrow a metaphor coined in a letter to his fellow Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut, two and a half centuries before. “In the words of Jefferson,” Black wrote, “the clause against establishment of religion by laws was intended to erect ‘a wall of separation between church and state.” “Religious liberty was essential, he told his wife, because “when one religion gets predominance, they immediately try to suppress the others.”
17. A look at the quest for school prayer amendment. The tactics used by both sides. “The issue is that agencies of government cannot avoid favoring one denomination and hurting another by the practical decisions that have to be made by government authority on what version of the Bible shall be imposed and what prayer. The churches know this and that is why they are against the Becker Amendment.”
18. Prayers at the White House. “In creating a “kind of sanctuary” in the East Room, Nixon committed the very sin the founders had sought to avoid.”
19. Republicans use of religion for political gain. “Much as Reagan used school prayer as a partisan issue, Bush used the pledge.”
20. An excellent epilogue.
21. Notes included. A section of abbreviations.
Negatives:
1. Interesting but on the dry side. The book is scholarly but the author lacks flare.
2. Lacks conviction. The book feels more like a cold report than an engaging thesis.
3. Charts and timelines would have added value.
4. No formal bibliography.
5. At $14.92 for a Kindle book when the Hardcover was available for $15.70 at time of purchase may hurt some trees.
In summary, this is really a 3.5 star book but I’m feeling generous. On the one hand, it’s an interesting topic that is covered in a fair and respectful manner while on the other hand it lacks panache. Kruse provides great insights into the evolution of the religious right and makes a compelling case of their true origins. A worthwhile book to read, I recommend it!
Further recommendations: “Why the Religious Right Is Wrong about Separation of Church and State” by Robert Boston, “Nonbeliever Nation” by David Niose, “The Dark Side of Christian History” by Helen Ellerbe, “Birth Control, Insurance Coverage, & the Religious Right” by A.F. Alexander, “The God Argument” by A.C. Grayling, “Freethinkers” by Susan Jacoby, “Moral Combat” by Sikivu Hutchinson, “Republican Gomorrah” by Max Blumenthal, “American Fascists” by Chris Hedges, “Doubt” by Jennifer Michael Hecht, and “Society Without God” by Phil Zuckerman.
“One Nation Under God" is an even-handed book that makes the record clear on where America’s religious identity came from. Professor Kevin Kruse makes the compelling historical case that America’s religious identity had its roots in the domestic politics against Roosevelt’s New Deal of the 1930s and 1940s. This scholarly 386-page book includes eight chapters broken out into the following three parts: I. Creation, II. Consecration, and III. Conflict.
Positives:
1. Interesting and well-written book. Fair and respectful treatment.
2. A fascinating premise, how Corporate America invented a Christian America.
3. Kruse does not waste time in establishing his thesis for the book. “This book argues, the postwar revolution in America’s religious identity had its roots not in the foreign policy panic of the 1950s but rather in the domestic politics of the 1930s and early 1940s.”
4. The origins of the union of Christianity and capitalism. “At First Congregational and elsewhere, the minister reached out warmly to the wealthy, assuring them that their worldly success was a sign of God’s blessings and brushing off the criticism of clergymen who disagreed.”
5. The anti-New Deal movement. “For Fifield and his associates, the phrase “freedom under God”—in contrast with what they saw as oppression under the federal government—became an effective new rallying cry in the early 1950s.”
6. The role that Billy Graham played in American politics. “As the Washington crusade began in January 1952, Graham made clear his intent to influence national politics.”
7. It’s always interesting to read about the fathers of prominent politicians and religious leaders of today or recent past. See how many you find.
8. Political opportunism illustrated. “Vereide recognized that the tensions of the Cold War could be exploited to win more converts to his cause.”
9. A comprehensive look at the history of the National Day of Prayer. “In an apparent nod to the previous year’s “Freedom Under God” observance, which was set to be repeated in 1952, Truman selected the Fourth of July as the date for the first National Day of Prayer.”
10. Eisenhower unlikely role as the spiritual leader of a nation. “Eisenhower’s relationship with the Freedoms Foundation ran back to its founding. In his first meeting with Belding in September 1948, he discovered that the ad man shared his belief that the free enterprise system was in desperate need of defense.” “FOR EISENHOWER, THE “GOVERNMENT UNDER God” theme of the first prayer breakfast became a blueprint for his entire administration.”
11. Key stats that show the influence of religion and politics. “The decade and a half after the Second World War, however, saw a significant surge: the percentage claiming a church membership climbed to 57 percent in 1950 and then spiked to an all-time high of 69 percent at the end of the decade.”
12. The drive to declare the United States as one based on the Bible. In God We Trust. “In July 1953, the National Association of Evangelicals arranged to have Eisenhower, Nixon, and other high-ranking officials sign a statement declaring that the United States government was based on biblical principles.”
13. Interesting tidbits about our founding fathers. “The founding fathers had felt no need to acknowledge “the law and authority of Jesus Christ,” and neither had subsequent generations of American legislators.”
14. A comprehensive look at the history of the Pledge of Allegiance. “THE ORIGINAL PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, much like the Constitution itself, did not acknowledge the existence of God. Its author, Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister from Rome, New York, was a decidedly religious man, but when he wrote the pledge in the 1890s he described himself as something that would seem an oxymoron in Eisenhower’s America: a ‘Christian socialist’.”
15. Interesting history on the need to create an illusion of historical accuracy.
16. Separation of church and state. “The justice reached back to borrow a metaphor coined in a letter to his fellow Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut, two and a half centuries before. “In the words of Jefferson,” Black wrote, “the clause against establishment of religion by laws was intended to erect ‘a wall of separation between church and state.” “Religious liberty was essential, he told his wife, because “when one religion gets predominance, they immediately try to suppress the others.”
17. A look at the quest for school prayer amendment. The tactics used by both sides. “The issue is that agencies of government cannot avoid favoring one denomination and hurting another by the practical decisions that have to be made by government authority on what version of the Bible shall be imposed and what prayer. The churches know this and that is why they are against the Becker Amendment.”
18. Prayers at the White House. “In creating a “kind of sanctuary” in the East Room, Nixon committed the very sin the founders had sought to avoid.”
19. Republicans use of religion for political gain. “Much as Reagan used school prayer as a partisan issue, Bush used the pledge.”
20. An excellent epilogue.
21. Notes included. A section of abbreviations.
Negatives:
1. Interesting but on the dry side. The book is scholarly but the author lacks flare.
2. Lacks conviction. The book feels more like a cold report than an engaging thesis.
3. Charts and timelines would have added value.
4. No formal bibliography.
5. At $14.92 for a Kindle book when the Hardcover was available for $15.70 at time of purchase may hurt some trees.
In summary, this is really a 3.5 star book but I’m feeling generous. On the one hand, it’s an interesting topic that is covered in a fair and respectful manner while on the other hand it lacks panache. Kruse provides great insights into the evolution of the religious right and makes a compelling case of their true origins. A worthwhile book to read, I recommend it!
Further recommendations: “Why the Religious Right Is Wrong about Separation of Church and State” by Robert Boston, “Nonbeliever Nation” by David Niose, “The Dark Side of Christian History” by Helen Ellerbe, “Birth Control, Insurance Coverage, & the Religious Right” by A.F. Alexander, “The God Argument” by A.C. Grayling, “Freethinkers” by Susan Jacoby, “Moral Combat” by Sikivu Hutchinson, “Republican Gomorrah” by Max Blumenthal, “American Fascists” by Chris Hedges, “Doubt” by Jennifer Michael Hecht, and “Society Without God” by Phil Zuckerman.
May 2, 2023
This is a dense book with a lot of well sourced information. It tells the history of evangelical Christianity, right-wing politicians, and corporate America collusion. Each had its own agenda;
the evangelicals want theocracy, right-wing politicians are authoritarian friendly and are fine using evangelicals to obtain power, and corporate America wants, and has received, is capitalism as a sacred system. (The book documents how Billy Graham preached the gospel of capitalism as enthusiastically and nearly as often as he preached any other gospel).
Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bush I and II and Clinton all used religion as a political weapon. Trump did so extensively but the time covered by the book doesn't include his Presidency. Eisenhower, Bush II, and Clinton, had ligit personal religious histories but the rest was pure cynicism. They helped create the myth of a religious founding of America. They've taken popular movements of the 50's and projected them back to the founding where they have no place.
the evangelicals want theocracy, right-wing politicians are authoritarian friendly and are fine using evangelicals to obtain power, and corporate America wants, and has received, is capitalism as a sacred system. (The book documents how Billy Graham preached the gospel of capitalism as enthusiastically and nearly as often as he preached any other gospel).
Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bush I and II and Clinton all used religion as a political weapon. Trump did so extensively but the time covered by the book doesn't include his Presidency. Eisenhower, Bush II, and Clinton, had ligit personal religious histories but the rest was pure cynicism. They helped create the myth of a religious founding of America. They've taken popular movements of the 50's and projected them back to the founding where they have no place.
September 26, 2019
Kevin M Kruse, a historian at Princeton University, does an excellent job of showing how politics and religion have intermingled since the 1930s. However, the argument suggested in the subtitle -- that corporate American played a large role in this entanglement -- largely falls flat. Devout lawmakers of that time and evangelical preachers like Graham were more than capable of arousing passionate religious sentiment in their constituency that led to the legislating of morality. And thus while icons of corporate America do appear in his narrative, they played only a minimal role in launching many of the 1950s initiatives he describes, such as the modification of the pledge of allegiance to include "one nation under god" and the push to introduce school prayer. Still the book is well worth reading, even if at times it oversells some of its arguments.
April 10, 2016
One Nation Under God is an important book. We — Christians and Americans — need to understand our history. This history consists of far more than the agenda-driven narratives promulgated by advocacy groups, it also includes word and events and motivations that have all too often been conveniently forgotten. In One Nation Under God, Kruse offers us a potent reminder of where we have come from, and, perhaps more importantly, how far we still have to go.
Read my full review here: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unfundamentalistchristians/2015/04/one-nation-under-god-how-corporate-america-invented-christian-america/
Read my full review here: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/unfundamentalistchristians/2015/04/one-nation-under-god-how-corporate-america-invented-christian-america/
April 12, 2015
Excellent. thoroughly researched and organized. Confirms what I have surmised all along. The profound impact of using religion, not only as a means for corporate America to propogate their own agenda, but to drive a wedge between those in this nation deemed as "the morale majority" and those on the "godless" immoral left, cannot be overstated.
April 28, 2015
It's a shame that this book was so short. The author easily could have added another 200+ pages if he had gone into the Reagan administration and on in more detail. I think there's an interesting story of change and resistance to the theocracy from Eisenhower to George Bush Sr.
Hoping for a part two of this story!
Hoping for a part two of this story!
June 18, 2017
This is a significant book for Christians to read through, in particular when contemplating their own personal deeply held private beliefs in conjunction with the overtly political ostentation that often passes for Christianity in America. Does ostentation equate piety? Does bending down on a public football field in front of forty thousand people in the stadium (and who knows how many watching on TV), does praying demonstrably in front of the entire nation during a sports event make you more or less Christian?
(Mat 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.)
Is a president more or less Christian if -- he rarely darkens the door of a church -- but he likes to put on pious displays of religious leaders during all public ceremonies of state? (Meet Ronald Reagan)
The book is well-documented (academically speaking), and one character that stands out to me is Billy Graham the ardent supporter of Richard Nixon, he was basically the White House pastor during those years. I did not realize the extent to which Graham was politicizing his Christianity during the 50s and 60s. I had been under the impression that his crusades were more neutral politically.
The other 'character' that stands out is corporate America, the moneyed influences that shape political events, support political characters, and influence public thinking on many issues.
The sections on prayer in school are significant not just for their thorough historical detail, covering arguments on both sides of the issue during the 50s and 60s. It was a complicated matter where there were pious men and women on both sides of the issue. DO we want a national watered down one-size-fits-all prayer in school that is devoid of content, in order to say (show) that we prayed? Some devout people said no. Prayer has to belong in the private realm because making prayer public makes it meaningless because we do not agree on what it should say. (A side rarely explained today where prayer being absent in the public schools is seen as a lack of godliness).
If you have always wondered why Christians tend to vote with people who are pro-oil, anti-environment, pro-business, anti-government regulation, look here. It starts with abortion as a lithmus test, it continues with those who advocate against abortion having all those other interests (oil, tobacco, sugar, etc.), and then you as an abortion opposer swallow the whole rest of that party platform. -- It is politics as a brilliant stroke.
This book is a hard read. It is long. It has almost too many documented details in it. (Took me 6 months to read gradually at night, a snippet now and then). -- It does leave me with the sense that while I remain deeply committed to Christianity and consider myself religiously conservative, given the currently political climate where we are wrapping a not-so-holy president both in the flag and (as far as we can) around the cross, I want to retreat privately and not be wedded to party or ostentation, because it seems to me that in all things American the bigger it gets and the more political it gets, the more moneyed interests are infused (on either side of the political aisle) the less Christian it really is.
Next, I would like to read about about the corporate or lobbying interests that control the left of the political spectrum, of their brushings with Christianity, and their ostentation.
(Mat 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.)
Is a president more or less Christian if -- he rarely darkens the door of a church -- but he likes to put on pious displays of religious leaders during all public ceremonies of state? (Meet Ronald Reagan)
The book is well-documented (academically speaking), and one character that stands out to me is Billy Graham the ardent supporter of Richard Nixon, he was basically the White House pastor during those years. I did not realize the extent to which Graham was politicizing his Christianity during the 50s and 60s. I had been under the impression that his crusades were more neutral politically.
The other 'character' that stands out is corporate America, the moneyed influences that shape political events, support political characters, and influence public thinking on many issues.
The sections on prayer in school are significant not just for their thorough historical detail, covering arguments on both sides of the issue during the 50s and 60s. It was a complicated matter where there were pious men and women on both sides of the issue. DO we want a national watered down one-size-fits-all prayer in school that is devoid of content, in order to say (show) that we prayed? Some devout people said no. Prayer has to belong in the private realm because making prayer public makes it meaningless because we do not agree on what it should say. (A side rarely explained today where prayer being absent in the public schools is seen as a lack of godliness).
If you have always wondered why Christians tend to vote with people who are pro-oil, anti-environment, pro-business, anti-government regulation, look here. It starts with abortion as a lithmus test, it continues with those who advocate against abortion having all those other interests (oil, tobacco, sugar, etc.), and then you as an abortion opposer swallow the whole rest of that party platform. -- It is politics as a brilliant stroke.
This book is a hard read. It is long. It has almost too many documented details in it. (Took me 6 months to read gradually at night, a snippet now and then). -- It does leave me with the sense that while I remain deeply committed to Christianity and consider myself religiously conservative, given the currently political climate where we are wrapping a not-so-holy president both in the flag and (as far as we can) around the cross, I want to retreat privately and not be wedded to party or ostentation, because it seems to me that in all things American the bigger it gets and the more political it gets, the more moneyed interests are infused (on either side of the political aisle) the less Christian it really is.
Next, I would like to read about about the corporate or lobbying interests that control the left of the political spectrum, of their brushings with Christianity, and their ostentation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2018
One Nation Under God is a book that should be of interest to a lot of people. One can gather from the subtitle, How Corporate America Invented Christian America, that it’s approaching the topic from a left-leaning point of view, but don’t let that put you off - Kruse’s coverage of the issue is surprisingly even-handed.
The book paints a fairly ugly picture of how a cabal of shrewd, rich, white men commandeered American Christianity and forcibly injected a new, strident, politically loaded flavor of it into public life for their own ends, leaving inconvenient portions of the faith on the cutting room floor along the way. Middle America, hungry for a religious revival, or at least willing to believe they should be, jumped aboard without looking too closely at what they were buying into, and readily accepted the new brand of public religion without noticing that it came with some pretty heavy political baggage. The new religion-infused form of American politics, and the politics-infused form of American Christianity, snowballed from there.
Kruse doesn’t editorialize much while telling this story. He doesn’t have to – the real outrage is not so much, “look what those right-wingers did,” but the simple fact of how religion was intentionally politicized and how the new Christian brand was aggressively (and successfully) marketed to the nation. It would be an equally ugly story no matter who did it. It makes me extra mad that right-wingers did it to advance a right-wing agenda that I don’t remotely agree with, and it also makes me extra mad that in the process of politicizing religion, they stirred up religious division that harms religious minorities like me, but it should make anyone mad, including Christians. It’s not in any way anti-Christian, but a lot of the story may be hard for Christians to accept… because who wants to hear that the version of their religious faith they’ve been taught all their lives is very likely a product that was carefully and expertly edited, packaged, and marketed to the public for someone else’s political gain?
Viewed another way, One Nation Under God is simply a history of a certain aspect of American politics. Many of us, including many of my conservative friends, have noticed that the modern Republican party seems to consist of a couple of different elements whose messages sometimes get mixed and even seem to conflict: There are the fiscal conservatives who believe in hands-off government, and that the government should be less involved in telling people how to live their daily lives. And then there is the religious element who have very firm ideas about how people should live from a religious moral perspective and don’t mind legislating their religious principles into law. More than one of my conservative friends have told me, “I’m a real conservative, and to me that means less government intrusion in people’s lives – I don’t really think all of this religious and moral stuff should be in politics at all.”
If you’ve ever wondered how these two disparate elements came to be represented under the same banner, One Nation Under God tells the story of how those two very different factions got in bed together and founded today's religious right. The link between religion and right-wing politics is a shorter history than you might think because it doesn’t start with the Founding Fathers, as the belief is commonly cultivated today. It starts in the 1930s, during the Great Depression and the era of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. A little surprisingly to me, Kruse doesn't delve deeper. I suspect he decided he didn't need to. Once you hear the story of what happened in the 1930s and 1940s, it's obvious enough that this was an utterly new development in American history, regardless of arguments about whether America was intended to be a “Christian” nation from its founding. Even as the orchestrators of the new religious right were building it, they were busily telling themselves and everyone else that they were only reviving the public religiosity that the nation's founding fathers had always intended.
The new religious right slipped “under God” into the pledge of allegiance and “In God We Trust” onto the money almost before anyone could notice, and within twenty years most people willingly forgot what recent developments those had been and quickly came to consider them cornerstones of the American way. They defined taxation as a violation of the eighth commandment (“thou shalt not steal”) and any support for government programs designed to help the poor as a violation of the tenth (“thou shalt not covet”), and thus buried the Social Gospel under a wave of libertarianism, with a thin frosting of religion.
This history of political religion in the 20th century is also necessarily a history of fighting over it. It quickly became apparent that there had been good reasons to keep religion out of politics. While simple things like “under God” in the pledge and “In God We Trust” on the money smacked of a vague and relatively inoffensive “ceremonial deism” that only atheists and pagans could object to (and who cares what they think, riiiiight???[/sarcasm]), things quickly became more complicated when it came to actual religious observances like prayer and Bible readings in public schools. In the new, ultra-pious environment, a popular push sprang up for more and more public demonstrations of faith, and schools became a major target. Just about everyone wanted more religion in schools, but funnily enough, Catholics, Jews, and Protestants couldn't seem to agree on exactly what form prayer and Bible readings should take.
Surprisingly enough, the ones who complained the loudest were the Catholics. By papal decree, the King James Bible was and still is considered non-authoritative, and Catholics refused to even hear of their children reading from it at school. But out of the ensuing infighting, they got a result that made Catholics, Jews, and Protestants all co-equals in unhappiness – NO official prayers or Bible readings in public schools. The hilariously ironic thing about this outcome is that they hoisted themselves with their own petards - prayer and Bible readings in schools had been going on basically forever, sporadically and determined at a local, school-by-school level, and no one had ever thought to fight over it because each school (and individual schools were generally pretty homogeneous in those days) did what worked for it. But the new religious right was so keen to legislate religion on a statewide or even national basis that they drove too hard to the basket and fouled. And yet they've been loudly blaming other people for “expelling God from public schools” ever since. So next time someone bitches about how the "godless heathens" or whatever kicked God out of school, you can point out with confidence that in fact it was primarily Christians who kicked God out of school because they couldn't agree on exactly what form God should take in a public school.
The book paints a fairly ugly picture of how a cabal of shrewd, rich, white men commandeered American Christianity and forcibly injected a new, strident, politically loaded flavor of it into public life for their own ends, leaving inconvenient portions of the faith on the cutting room floor along the way. Middle America, hungry for a religious revival, or at least willing to believe they should be, jumped aboard without looking too closely at what they were buying into, and readily accepted the new brand of public religion without noticing that it came with some pretty heavy political baggage. The new religion-infused form of American politics, and the politics-infused form of American Christianity, snowballed from there.
Kruse doesn’t editorialize much while telling this story. He doesn’t have to – the real outrage is not so much, “look what those right-wingers did,” but the simple fact of how religion was intentionally politicized and how the new Christian brand was aggressively (and successfully) marketed to the nation. It would be an equally ugly story no matter who did it. It makes me extra mad that right-wingers did it to advance a right-wing agenda that I don’t remotely agree with, and it also makes me extra mad that in the process of politicizing religion, they stirred up religious division that harms religious minorities like me, but it should make anyone mad, including Christians. It’s not in any way anti-Christian, but a lot of the story may be hard for Christians to accept… because who wants to hear that the version of their religious faith they’ve been taught all their lives is very likely a product that was carefully and expertly edited, packaged, and marketed to the public for someone else’s political gain?
Viewed another way, One Nation Under God is simply a history of a certain aspect of American politics. Many of us, including many of my conservative friends, have noticed that the modern Republican party seems to consist of a couple of different elements whose messages sometimes get mixed and even seem to conflict: There are the fiscal conservatives who believe in hands-off government, and that the government should be less involved in telling people how to live their daily lives. And then there is the religious element who have very firm ideas about how people should live from a religious moral perspective and don’t mind legislating their religious principles into law. More than one of my conservative friends have told me, “I’m a real conservative, and to me that means less government intrusion in people’s lives – I don’t really think all of this religious and moral stuff should be in politics at all.”
If you’ve ever wondered how these two disparate elements came to be represented under the same banner, One Nation Under God tells the story of how those two very different factions got in bed together and founded today's religious right. The link between religion and right-wing politics is a shorter history than you might think because it doesn’t start with the Founding Fathers, as the belief is commonly cultivated today. It starts in the 1930s, during the Great Depression and the era of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. A little surprisingly to me, Kruse doesn't delve deeper. I suspect he decided he didn't need to. Once you hear the story of what happened in the 1930s and 1940s, it's obvious enough that this was an utterly new development in American history, regardless of arguments about whether America was intended to be a “Christian” nation from its founding. Even as the orchestrators of the new religious right were building it, they were busily telling themselves and everyone else that they were only reviving the public religiosity that the nation's founding fathers had always intended.
The new religious right slipped “under God” into the pledge of allegiance and “In God We Trust” onto the money almost before anyone could notice, and within twenty years most people willingly forgot what recent developments those had been and quickly came to consider them cornerstones of the American way. They defined taxation as a violation of the eighth commandment (“thou shalt not steal”) and any support for government programs designed to help the poor as a violation of the tenth (“thou shalt not covet”), and thus buried the Social Gospel under a wave of libertarianism, with a thin frosting of religion.
This history of political religion in the 20th century is also necessarily a history of fighting over it. It quickly became apparent that there had been good reasons to keep religion out of politics. While simple things like “under God” in the pledge and “In God We Trust” on the money smacked of a vague and relatively inoffensive “ceremonial deism” that only atheists and pagans could object to (and who cares what they think, riiiiight???[/sarcasm]), things quickly became more complicated when it came to actual religious observances like prayer and Bible readings in public schools. In the new, ultra-pious environment, a popular push sprang up for more and more public demonstrations of faith, and schools became a major target. Just about everyone wanted more religion in schools, but funnily enough, Catholics, Jews, and Protestants couldn't seem to agree on exactly what form prayer and Bible readings should take.
Surprisingly enough, the ones who complained the loudest were the Catholics. By papal decree, the King James Bible was and still is considered non-authoritative, and Catholics refused to even hear of their children reading from it at school. But out of the ensuing infighting, they got a result that made Catholics, Jews, and Protestants all co-equals in unhappiness – NO official prayers or Bible readings in public schools. The hilariously ironic thing about this outcome is that they hoisted themselves with their own petards - prayer and Bible readings in schools had been going on basically forever, sporadically and determined at a local, school-by-school level, and no one had ever thought to fight over it because each school (and individual schools were generally pretty homogeneous in those days) did what worked for it. But the new religious right was so keen to legislate religion on a statewide or even national basis that they drove too hard to the basket and fouled. And yet they've been loudly blaming other people for “expelling God from public schools” ever since. So next time someone bitches about how the "godless heathens" or whatever kicked God out of school, you can point out with confidence that in fact it was primarily Christians who kicked God out of school because they couldn't agree on exactly what form God should take in a public school.
January 19, 2020
During the Great Depression in the 1930’s, industrialists tried to counter the selflessness of the Social Gospel but failed. They said the welfare state was a “perversion of Christian Doctrine” and that the focus of Christianity was instead salvation. These industrialists created what is called Christian Libertarianism. They greeted each other with “Hail Capitalism… err, I meant Christianity, you know the guy with the beard.” One of their leaders, Fifield, said that to enjoy fish you have to take the bones out and so he takes out all the wealth and poverty stuff of the bible to create a new lean version, so that he can “morally” pedal financial success devoid of helping others. Economic success thus became a “sign” of God’s blessings. These Christian Businessmen (I’ll call them CB) had deep soul-searching questions – would Jesus want me to be a slumlord to better receive his financial blessings? Or, God willing, would he prefer I gentrify and quickly evict for greater long-term profit, in your Holy Name, My Lord? CB focused on stopping the growth of government. Their mantra, “Glorification of the state is a denial of God” meant the U.S. giving welfare and anything to humans to end the Depression was somehow a denial of God. They were all consciously New Deal killers with such successful infantile taunts as “The battle to collectivize America!” and “Will you be free to celebrate Christmas in the future?”
Next stop was reframing the Declaration of Independence as “a purely libertarian manifesto”. To Kevin, the Declaration was not first a demand to be free from government, but was a demand for the exact government the colonists needed and followed a long list of their grievances about the LACK of government. Walt Disney started championing the little guy with Mickey Mouse, the Three Little Pigs and the Seven Dwarves but Walt took a right turn in the 40’s. Billy Graham invented a new swing dance – first you give labor the cold shoulder, then wave goodbye to the Social Gospel, and you smile and bend over for business. Now you’re doing the Graham Cracker! Billy thought labor strikes were “inherently selfish and sinful”. He was Christian Cold War paranoia generator #1. “He insisted that the poor in other nations, like those of his own, needed no government assistance.” All they needed was Christ he said – although a Christ who wouldn’t dream of picking them up if they fell. Of these such CB men, Eisenhower wrote, “their number is negligible and they are stupid.” And so, Eisenhower would not roll back the “welfare state” they despised. However, it was Eisenhower who sacralized the state, started the odious Pledge of Allegiance with the Bellamy Salute and prayer breakfasts, and who put God on the dollar bill (my grandfather HAW put the pyramid on the back on the dollar bill and I think that’s way cooler). “The state was now suffused with religion.” And you can thank Eisenhower for the greatest misallocation of energy wealth in human history (James Howard Kunstler): the creation of Suburbia and the Interstate Highway System. Thank you for starting us all living away from our jobs and food sources and friends and away from instead an Interstate Train System that uses shared energy (multiple riders) as well as far less energy than Otto’s engine!
By 1953, did you know that one out of ten books sold in the U.S. were religious in nature? Luckily, I have some of those 1953 CB titles: “Is Mammon for You?”, “The Bible - minus the Commie Pinko bits”, “Christian Charity Stays at Home”, “If Your Priest Denies it, it Didn’t Happen”, “The J Man wants those Money Changers Back In”, “Last Supper Recipes”, “Why Jesus is White, but Not Too Good Looking”, “Herod was Horrid, and other Poems”, “How Long is God’s Beard? and other religious questions”, “Jesus Told Me to Bomb Korea’s Food Supplies”, “Turning Water into Wine for Profit” and the big hit, “Enforcing Jim Crow While Loving Christ -4th Edition”.
Attention U.S. patriots: We don’t need outsiders trying to destroy our democracy and our freedoms – we are doing that perfectly well by ourselves, thank you very much. Cecil B. DeMille despised the New Deal and so the Old Testament films became his focus. For Justice Hugo Black, supporting the ethics of Jesus was more important than personal divinity. JFK backed off from the church and state thing but Nixon was a master of manipulating religion as a political instrument.” His aide Charles Colson said, “One of my jobs was to romance religious leaders… I found them to be about the most pliable.” Historically, James Fifield and Abraham Vereide were the biggest names in providing “the right with its own brand of public religion that could challenge the Social Gospel of the Left.”
Reagan was divorced and rarely attended church – what a perfect candidate to be re-spun into “the” religious candidate. In a 1980 Gallup Poll half of Americans thought the Bible was unerring (God help us) and 80% thought Jesus was divine (especially in lip gloss with a little rouge). Anyway, after reading about that extremely depressing poll about the intelligence level of the average American, the book ended. A good solid book, that taught me what I told you.
Next stop was reframing the Declaration of Independence as “a purely libertarian manifesto”. To Kevin, the Declaration was not first a demand to be free from government, but was a demand for the exact government the colonists needed and followed a long list of their grievances about the LACK of government. Walt Disney started championing the little guy with Mickey Mouse, the Three Little Pigs and the Seven Dwarves but Walt took a right turn in the 40’s. Billy Graham invented a new swing dance – first you give labor the cold shoulder, then wave goodbye to the Social Gospel, and you smile and bend over for business. Now you’re doing the Graham Cracker! Billy thought labor strikes were “inherently selfish and sinful”. He was Christian Cold War paranoia generator #1. “He insisted that the poor in other nations, like those of his own, needed no government assistance.” All they needed was Christ he said – although a Christ who wouldn’t dream of picking them up if they fell. Of these such CB men, Eisenhower wrote, “their number is negligible and they are stupid.” And so, Eisenhower would not roll back the “welfare state” they despised. However, it was Eisenhower who sacralized the state, started the odious Pledge of Allegiance with the Bellamy Salute and prayer breakfasts, and who put God on the dollar bill (my grandfather HAW put the pyramid on the back on the dollar bill and I think that’s way cooler). “The state was now suffused with religion.” And you can thank Eisenhower for the greatest misallocation of energy wealth in human history (James Howard Kunstler): the creation of Suburbia and the Interstate Highway System. Thank you for starting us all living away from our jobs and food sources and friends and away from instead an Interstate Train System that uses shared energy (multiple riders) as well as far less energy than Otto’s engine!
By 1953, did you know that one out of ten books sold in the U.S. were religious in nature? Luckily, I have some of those 1953 CB titles: “Is Mammon for You?”, “The Bible - minus the Commie Pinko bits”, “Christian Charity Stays at Home”, “If Your Priest Denies it, it Didn’t Happen”, “The J Man wants those Money Changers Back In”, “Last Supper Recipes”, “Why Jesus is White, but Not Too Good Looking”, “Herod was Horrid, and other Poems”, “How Long is God’s Beard? and other religious questions”, “Jesus Told Me to Bomb Korea’s Food Supplies”, “Turning Water into Wine for Profit” and the big hit, “Enforcing Jim Crow While Loving Christ -4th Edition”.
Attention U.S. patriots: We don’t need outsiders trying to destroy our democracy and our freedoms – we are doing that perfectly well by ourselves, thank you very much. Cecil B. DeMille despised the New Deal and so the Old Testament films became his focus. For Justice Hugo Black, supporting the ethics of Jesus was more important than personal divinity. JFK backed off from the church and state thing but Nixon was a master of manipulating religion as a political instrument.” His aide Charles Colson said, “One of my jobs was to romance religious leaders… I found them to be about the most pliable.” Historically, James Fifield and Abraham Vereide were the biggest names in providing “the right with its own brand of public religion that could challenge the Social Gospel of the Left.”
Reagan was divorced and rarely attended church – what a perfect candidate to be re-spun into “the” religious candidate. In a 1980 Gallup Poll half of Americans thought the Bible was unerring (God help us) and 80% thought Jesus was divine (especially in lip gloss with a little rouge). Anyway, after reading about that extremely depressing poll about the intelligence level of the average American, the book ended. A good solid book, that taught me what I told you.
July 22, 2024
A must read for understanding American politics and its pseudo-Christian infatuations
February 9, 2022
Riveting history that helps shed light on the rise of civic religion in America, esp. in the 1950s.
October 28, 2017
In 1954, Congress followed Eisenhower's lead, adding the phrase "under God" to the previously secular Pledge of Allegiance. A similar phrase, "In God We Trust," was added to a postage stamp for the first time in 1954 and then to paper money the next year; in 1956, it became the nation's first official motto. During the Eisenhower era Americans were told, time and time again, that the nation not only should be a Christian nation but also that it had always been one. They soon came to believe that the United States of America was "one nation under God."
And they've believed it ever since.
I could write an endless review praising this book but not even that would do this book justice.
Kruse has done his research remarkably well on this topic. He goes through the years to show the stages of how America's history was rewritten to fit the Christian narrative. It begins to show how business leaders back in the 30s decided to overturn the New Deal since they felt it imposed on their rights - or perhaps their money, most likely. And through the 40s where businessmen joined with Christian leaders to convince America's citizens they should embrace Christianity and capitalism, because the way they saw it, these two were intertwined; capitalism only worked under God. It continued through the 50s and culminated in Eisenhower's presidency and has continued ever since.
It wasn't that easy, which Kruse shows. It might be difficult to imagine today that back in the mid-1900s several religious leaders were firmly against Bible reading in schools or mandatory praying in schools as well. Back in those days, many religious leaders, Christian as well as Jewish, firmly believed in the separation of church and state. Several opposed the "one nation under God" and "in God we trust" since they either felt this devalued their own faith or that such general terms were an offense, a least common denomination religious phrase that had no meaning, and if it had no meaning, why use it at all? They opposed endorsement of one particular faith from the government and thus, if say Catholics wanted "their" sanctioned Bible version to be used for mandatory reading, that would impose on the other student's faiths if their faith required a different Bible, or a different Holy text.
As said, much of this might be hard to grasp in today's political climate (in the U.S.) where a presidential candidate more or less "have" to be religious, or at least claim to be. Also as said, my review won't do this book justice, for Kruse packs the book with facts; it leaves no stone untouched. He also puts no personal opinion on the matter; he merely states the facts and connects the dots without taking shots at either religion, secularity, or others. It simply shows how the Christian right and capitalists in the form of business leaders worked to shape the country's perception of itself.
This history reminds us that our public religion is, in large measure, an invention of the modern era. The ceremonies and symbols that breathe life into the belief that we are "one nation under God" were not, as many Americans believe, created alongside the nation itself. Their parentage stems not from the founding fathers but from and era much closer to our own, the era of our own fathers and mothers, our grandfathers and grandmothers. This fact need not diminish their importance; fresh tradition can be more powerful than older ones adhered to out of habit. Nevertheless, we do violence to our past if we treat certain phrases - "one nation under God," "In God We Trust" - as sacred text handed down to us from the nation's founding. Instead, we are better served if we understand these utterances for what they are: political slogans that speak not to the origins of our nation but to a specific point in its not-so-distant past. If they are to mean anything to us now, we should understand what they meant then.
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