But what, to paraphrase, hath Jesus to do with John Wayne? In many corners of white evangelicalism, the answer is this: a great deal. John Wayne could not be made into Jesus, so Jesus was made into John Wayne. Not “a wuss who took a beating and spent a lot of time putting product in his hair,” as one popular preacher explained; nor a “neutered and limp-wristed popular Sky Fairy,” in another’s words. Instead, Jesus became tall and strong, fair and handsome, a warrior and fighter, a leader and an entrepreneur, in word as well as deed. He became, in effect, Straight White American Super Jesus.18
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