The Possibility of America: How the Gospel Can Mend Our God-Blessed, God-Forsaken Land

by David Dark

Published in the years following 9/11, David Dark's book The Gospel according to America warned American Christianity about the false worship that conflates love of country with love of God. It delved deeply into the political divide that had gripped the country and the cultural captivity into which so many American churches had fallen.


In our current political season, the problems Dark identified have blossomed. The assessment he brought to these problems and the creative resources for resisting them are now more important than ever. Into this new political landscape and expanding on the analysis of The Gospel according to America, Dark offers The Possibility of America: How the Gospel Can Mend Our God-Blessed, God-Forsaken Land. Dark expands his vision of a fractured yet redeemable American Christianity, bringing his signature mix of theological, cultural, and political analysis to white supremacy, evangelical surrender, and other problems of the Trump era.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Nonfiction, Politics

190 pages, Paperback

Published April 9, 2019

About the author

David Dark is the critically acclaimed author of "The Sacredness of Questioning Everything," "Everyday Apocalypse: The Sacred Revealed in Radiohead, The Simpsons, and Other Pop Culture Icons" and "The Gospel According To America: A Meditation on a God-blessed, Christ-haunted Idea." An educator, Dark is currently pursuing his PhD in Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University. He has had articles published in Paste, Oxford American, Books and Culture, Christian Century, among others. A frequent speaker, Dark has also appeared on C-SPAN’s Book-TV and in an award-winning documentary, "Marketing the Message." He lives with his singer-songwriter wife, Sarah Masen, and their three children in Nashville.

Reviews

[Brian Prentiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This rather slim book took me about a month to finish. Now, don't let that dissuade you from picking it up; I was reading a number of other things in parallel.

But, it was a slow read also because Dark has an unusual talent for writing thick but taut sentences while using an eclectic but efficient vocabulary and this makes for extremely potent sentences. His unusual phrasing doesn't come from utilizing unknown, exotic words like Cormac McCarthy, that send you fumbling for the dictionary. (Though sometimes!) But, he has a knack for finding just the right, relatively common word in an unusual way that allows him to cram a whole boatload of his intellectual property into one sentence.

There can be 2-3 reflection-worthy comments in one paragraph and I often found myself pausing to orient myself, flip back a few pages to review, or pulling out my journal to write a few reflections so as to resist the impulse to underline entire pages of the book.

As a pastor with a political background and current interest in politics I found much of great value here: there are innumerous ways that Dark talks about our cultural moment in light of God's redemptive posture that I wanted to inject into my preaching and writing, there are references to historical moments and persons that I was not sufficiently familiar with that this book made me want to explore further, and the book is a storehouse of life-altering quotes from and stories about truly interesting people.

I've finally "finished" the book, but I'm not finished with it. It's already dog-eared from use but it won't be a book that I put on the shelf immediately.

[George Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have liked most of David Dark's works. I think Everyday Apocalypse was his best. He occasionally gets bogged down summarizing someone's novel or a story and it becomes a bit weary for me. Still I like his analysis and his critique of American culture and politics.

[Ethan Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think of David Dark like the priest in The Exorcist, trying to cast out America’s demons – he keeps shouting, “The power of Christ compels you!” while America continually vomits pea soup in his face.

And yet, he is an incurable optimist. He diagnoses the nation’s spiritual pathologies with incisive prose – he understands Trump and Trumpism to be both quintessentially American and essentially demonic (“white supremacist antichrist poltergeist”) – yet he sees signs of spiritual life in every corner, coming from every conceivable medium, from The Simpsons to Kendrick Lamar to Kurt Vonnegut to The Day the Earth Stood Still to Incredible Hulk comics ... folk music and horror films and postmodern novels.

What really kept me reading were his riffs on classic authors – Melville, Hawthrone, Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Thomas Pynchon – as American prophets, sent to expose our hypocrisies and self-serving justifications. (It made me want to read his thoughts on other prophetic writers, like Dostoevsky, Flannery O'Connor, Cormac McCarthy.) His reading of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive somehow made that baffling film actually make sense.

I would recommend the book highly to anyone in America who is worried about Trumpism, scared for the future, wondering how we got here and what might be the way out. I think it should be required reading for American evangelicals (Dark himself is evangelical, and they draw much of his critique), a starting point for thinking about how the church has been captured to serve a right-wing political project. Even a Trump supporter might hesitate before putting this book down – Dark’s prose is lively, his perspectives unique, and I imagine he would be compelling even for those who disagree with him. Also, it’s clear that he cares deeply for the people he is arguing for and with, which goes a long way.

[Paul Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like the art venerated in the book. The threads of Dark's argument linger just below the surface. We can sense the beauty, but can't quite point to it.

Read my full review:
https://www.bgfg77.com/2019/07/30/rev...

[Audrey Stars in Her Eye · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish. Too wordy and dense for me to plunge through. This is more for the scholarly type.

[hauntedandholierthanthou · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was honestly expecting to roll my eyes more than I did. While at first I thought it would be more akin to pat-soc weirdness (although I would never assume Dark to be a fascist) I feel a little converted having finished it. "Patriotism" as Beloved Community is Detournement as Universalist Antifascism & Antifascist Universalism via pop culture & movement history & classic literature.

My 2 major concerns: First, I think Dark makes a serious category error when he suggests that maroons and Indigenous peoples are 'the real patriots', because I don't think 'patriotism' can ever be fully distinguished from nationalism. Second, a big thought that crossed my mind while reading it was the image of the sign at one entrance to Cop City saying "You are Now Leaving the USA" and how the futures I'm trying to be a part of midwifing are post-America. Likewise, in some international contexts, calling the U.S. "America" sounds like 'taking custody' of the entire 'New World'--and this was something I didn't knew before traveling abroad.

If what we're talking about is 'struggling for ideals' calling itself 'patriotism', I don't see why it's about 'America' (a colonial name) at all--what about Turtle Island and Abya Yala? If loving the land and its motley crew of people is like loving a prodigal child, rather than worshipping our convoluted, exclusionary ideas about America, what of healing what has been desecrated? How we address that has to be informed by the resurrection of lost knowlledges and languages and traditions, and the language of the Possible America, I fear, invites few people really marginalized by the Reigning Idea back into the places they've been cast out of. And let us never forget- that's an invitation that we can't make people accept. The building of a world where many worlds can fit isn't dependent on the resurrection of American ideals, but its actual, material death.

Still, I underlined so many sentences throughout, and I will be retracing Dark's steps through the bibliography. A lot of his own material *IS* great too. I don't want to be critical in ways that throw the baby out with the bathwater, because it is a book worth reading if you've ever felt like a citizen of the US.

[Jennifer Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Possibility of America: How the Gospel Can Mend Our God-Blessed, God-forsaken Land by David Dark is an examination of American culture, democracy and its spirituality. America had brought this great experiment in to the world and extended the argument that human beings owe one another the basics of respect and decency. Mr. Dark examines American patriotism as well as being honest about the darkness that is in American history. Any relationship cannot be at its best when its lying to itself about itself. Americans need to acknowledge its dark history as well as its flaws. Using examples from American movies, music, literature, television and its political figures, David Dark shows that America is on the right track with areas of improvement. He also uses these areas to show that God and Christian values, and even its faults, have been a part of the American fabric from the beginning. He advocates for the Beloved Community, an idea postulated by the late Martin Luther King Jr, in which a society is based on justice, equal opportunity, and love of one’s fellow man.
The Possibility of America is a difficult read as Mr. Dark goes into great depth and analysis in order to support his argument. He likes to use heavy vocabulary with sentences that seem to drag on. He often gets too bogged down in summarizing a book, movie or music before making his point. However, his points were eye-openers and I made notes in order to back and examine his examples on my own. It is a book that I will revisit again after I have made my own examination of his examples. It is a fairly short book, only 188 pages, but it is jampacked with information and insights. I recommend The Possibility of America for its honest look at America, it’s history, it’s culture and its spirituality.

The Possibility of America
is available in paperback and eBook

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tremendous book, regardless of your belief system. Dark devotes much of his book to the idea of "Beloved Community," a concept he spoke of in an interview for the website Chapter 16: A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby:

"Beloved Community names the hope that those too estranged from their best selves to receive real hospitality and an accompanying sense of responsibility might enter into community someday anyway. Beloved Community is one way of fleshing out the idea that America itself is a long, sometimes righteous, sometimes catastrophic argument over what people owe each other."

We are a broken, rather than a beloved community, clinging to not only our differences, but also our prejudices without even entertaining the thought that we might have something to learn, that we might seek the good of others (including those different from ourselves) and not retreat to safe places stockpiling arguments and evidence (possibly scant or non-existent) against those who see things (especially political things) differently. Dark addresses the need to correct this through chapters that deal not only with our politics and faith (which are sometimes indistinguishable), but with our music, literature, movies, and more. Dark is a challenging writer and a deep thinker. Like many things in life that may be initially hard, he is worth the effort.

[Read-n-Bloom · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book I didn’t get. So it must not have been reaching out to me. It talked about God and Jesus and America, but nothing I was relatable to. I just didn’t get it at all. It kept talking about a Beloved Community. What is that? It sounds like they’re trying to make a new, like a new world order America? and though America has it’s failures, it has it’s moments of love, compassion, and triumphs as well. So, I I just didn’t get the book.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off with an interesting premise, however, it seemed to lose it's way in the middle. It was supposed to be a book that analyzed the current state of affairs in our country through the lens of religion. However, the author spent a lot of time talking about pop culture references. A strong start, and an exceptional ending, but the middle was disappointing.

[Justin Lonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful puckish yet hopeful shot across the bow of lazy certainties, unkind generalizations, and the conflation of politically compatible groups with the beloved community of Jesus.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many things to ponder. I like how Dr. Dark sees redemptive narratives and value in many things I would not see those same things in.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the title and the premise but was disappointed. My understanding of a good essay, or a nonfiction book directed to a stated point, is that you introduce your thesis, your share your arguments and then you wrap up your points with a conclusion. Sadly, in my opinion, this book failed in all three elements. If the subtitle was the point or goal of this book it did not succeed in presenting that premise clearly although it meandered around the topic.

I found this work to be esoteric and full of lengthy, confusing sentences. It reminded me of the saying that someone is “so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.” He challenges “truth” as presented by the news, stating (in a 52-word sentence) that “… it’s as if our ability to see and think clearly is constantly compromised by an endless diversion from the facts on the ground.” I may well agree with that statement, but I didn’t find where he gives a solution or suggestion to overcome this. (My solution is to watch at least two versions of the news and often read articles on topics trying to pick out the actual facts.) Mr. Dark also states: “Politics is how we govern ourselves. It’s the way we conduct our lives.” I do not agree with this generalization. There is certainly an element of the American public that fall under this statement, but many do not. Particularly I would argue that the lives of true Christ-followers are not governed by politics.

The author quickly (and repeatedly) slips into sharing bias, bitterness and convoluted statements that I found inappropriate for a book purporting to want to foster the Gospel. There are several comments bashing American founders, President Trump, and even evangelicals as “white supremacists”. He states that “evangelical” in America might be “so definitively thought to refer to a sleeper cell of the Republican Party and thereby to be tied to the ideology of white supremacy and climate denial that to say it aloud is to court misunderstanding.” I can’t agree more that such statements “court misunderstanding”. I can sense that not only many Republicans would find this implied generalization offensive, but I think it is even more offensive to American evangelists whom I think would be part of the book’s intended audience. At 62% in the book, Mr. Dark, while discussing one of his author icons, Toni Morrison, states: “True witness knows no division. Labels be damned.” And oh, how I wished Mr. Dark had left labeling out of his ‘effusion’ (a more fitting description than ‘treatise”).

If a reader pushes through the confusion of the first 30% of the work, the reader will find a rather interesting discussion of classic literature, science fiction authors, movies and musicians. There is a detailed discussion of moral and religious issues presented in Moby Dick and The Scarlet Letter. Mr. Dark also discusses like themes from many authors including Shakespeare (Macbeth), John Milton, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell, William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying), Octavia E. Butler (Kindred), Thomas Pynchon (Gravity's Rainbow), Phillip K. Dick and more. On the music exploration, Mr. Dark includes comments on Bob Dylan, Sly and the Family Stone, Bambara, Aretha Franklin, Woody Guthrie, Kris Kristofferson, Pixies, Patti Smith, Chance the Rapper and others. Movies that get some discussion include The Body Snatchers, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Patch Adams, Sunset Boulevard and Mulholland Drive. TV series mentioned include Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone and even The Simpsons.

I did find some nuggets (maybe 5) buried in the slog. Mr. Dark laments that “…our capacity for right worship and right listening for functioning democracy is compromised” due to the loss of willingness or ability “to hear, read, or listen to any version of history that can’t be contained in a sound bite or a put down…”. (Another 50-word sentence.) He notes that we need “the skills to understand and locate ourselves…” but he doesn’t give any reason for the loss or a recommendation to change it. I would suggest that we have a crisis in educating our children in history, civics, and morality. I would question why college students are quick to shut down or protest presentations and open dialogue with those of different views.

The book is peppered with references to The Beloved Community which I believe the author intends to be the basis for the “possibility” of America. He doesn't make this clear. About 77% into the book, in Chapter Seven, Mr. Dark discusses the Catholic Worker Movement and finally shares some thoughts on how the underlying Christian directive to “love they neighbor” would change the atmosphere of America.

I chose this as my First Book for 2020. Sadly, I was disappointed. I would recommend the book to those who might enjoy the literature discussions as long as the reader isn’t looking (like I was) for a work to support the subtitle.

Source: NetGalley.

[Steve Matney · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me, The Possibility of America is a love letter with three recipients.

1. To America; her promise and her process.
2. To the church in America—at times a missive to a distant, disconnected love —but more often a prophet husband’s plea, calling her home to the good work of his topic: Beloved Community.
3. To American art; its texture and breadth and its indelible stamp on David, and on the heart of every dreaming American kid, and truly on the world.

David Dark’s prose feels distinctly aimed at me, or at least someone like me; a once-Christian kid, now-Christian adult listening for someone who will give new life to the familiar phrases and cadence of the Christian language. Dark is certainly one doing so, using the dialect in a way that forcibly sheds the dogma of fundamentalism and reshapes the fire-and-brimstone tongue into a call to retake the cross of neighbor-love.

But it’s not only that. His writing effortlessly and nimbly crosses implied boundaries, from beatnik to Christian brother to cowboy to beleaguered-but-persistent priest. I’ve never read “Christian” writing like it.

David’s book is a tour de force, but if I have one critique, it’s that I didn’t find a distinct direction in it. I felt no clear, single “point”, the book seeming to vacillate from a call to join Beloved Community, to describing Beloved Community, and then to Dark describing his own experience and influences. All of these things were great, but at the end of it, I wasn’t sure exactly what I was supposed to take away.

Perhaps, though, that’s the goal. Art is often what the audience takes from it more than what the creator puts in.

David Dark is—as his Twitter discourse insists—a person and a process, never simply an ideological symbol; never able to be captured and boxed up in a quote Tweet. This book is that on the grand scale: complex and beautiful, all full of disquiet and comfort. Dark’s love and longing for America and for her embrace of Beloved Community is infectious, and I’ve found myself almost accidentally joining the cause. For me, The Possibility of America has illuminated all the reasons that it’s indeed a cause worth joining.

[Daniel Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title and subtitle are misleading. He basically argues that life is messy and nobody has a stranglehold on truth- we need to wrestle with the challenges of our age together. The book then becomes a meandering and repetitious account of looking at pop culture examples (books, songs, movies) that wrestle with different issues. Sometimes eloquent and profound, I was ultimately disappointed in the meandering and repetitious nature. There's not a lot to sink your teeth into in terms of application.