The Seven Deadly Sins of White Christian Nationalism

A big thank-you to Carter Heyward, for this brave, incisive and timely illumination of the historical roots and moral sins of contemporary Christian nationalism. Carter's lifelong values and voice of integrity and fierce compassion shine through as a beacon from within the church. This book is a wake up call and imperative to wise action for all Americans, Christian and non-Christian, who care about the future of America. This is a must-read!--Janet Surrey, Buddhist meditation teacher of Insight Dialogue, clinical psychologist, author and activist Carter Heyward sounds the alarm. Seven deadly sins are leading us down the road to Christofascism, the dangerous merging of right-wing Christianity and autocracy. But fear not, those who have been brutalized by narrow, individualistic views of sin. These seven deadly sins are those of white supremacy, misogyny or the lust for omnipotence and the like and they are set in their true context. But Heyward does not leave you with just the theological diagnosis. The latter part of the book gives the tools we need to help stop it. An absolute tour de force!--Dr. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, president emerita and professor emerita, Chicago Theological Seminary Carter Heyward's books are all works of consequence. But this one stands out as the harvest of a lifetime of wisdom. There is extraordinary historical depth (the sins of white Christian nationalism go way back) that is matched to corresponding breadth (the full range of our corporate lives) and a probing exposition of biblical and Christian faith. Not least, she offers action-focused responses to each deadly sin. I'm already making a list of those I will give this book as an urgent read.--Larry Rasmussen, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary, New York City Progressive theologian Carter Heyward is as fearless as she is brilliant in naming how our body politic is in political, moral, and spiritual crisis. After diagnosing what's gone wrong, she prescribes a way forward for our collective recovery. May her sound advice be heeded before it's too late.--Marvin M. Ellison, author of Making Love Just: Sexual Ethics for Perplexing Times What's most impressive about this book is Carter Heyward's ability to document and expose--without mincing words--White Christian nationalism as our country's true original sin. She displays our very own participation in the evil she describes, but does it in a pastoral way. Heyward never shouts in this lucid and timely book. Her words are supported by a penetrating critical vision, yes, but also by compassion, a clear sense of the collective nature of sin, and a deep love for a God that is always ahead of us, beckoning from the horizon of our best possibilities. This is the book we've been waiting for to make sense of our complicity as Christians in this season of censoring and suppression, when we are being arm-twisted to gloss over our history and to close our eyes to the increasingly active operations of White supremacy in the life of the country.--Pedro A. Sandin-Fremaint, author of And Yet... A Faith Journey