The End of White Christian America

April 11, 2016
Providing an obituary of “white Christian America,” a eulogy, and a look at stages of grief over its death, Jones, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute and online columnist for the Atlantic, urges America to come to grips with the fact that it is no longer a nation composed mostly of white Christians. Jones follows the emergence and rise of what he calls white Christian America (WCA), often with some interesting, little-known tidbits, and then examines how that majority has disappeared. His thoughts focus on white men, however, leaving readers to ponder how discontented women play into the declining WCA numbers on top of the increasing numbers of non-white Christians. In addition, Jones never thoroughly considers whether Christians refusing to change their attitudes toward same-sex marriage, for example, might be doing so because of solid belief in the scriptures rather than because they don’t want to join non-whites who support marriage equality. Jones’s assumption that white Christians are having a harder time getting elected because they represent an old way of thinking fails to consider that voters might think those particular politicians are incompetent regardless of their race. The book is full of facts, figures, charts, and illustrations, but even as Jones opines that the death of white Christian America is a good thing, he never fully engages with the source of this transformation. Agent: Roger Freet, Foundry Literary & Media.

May 1, 2016

Demographic and cultural shifts over the past few decades have led to a changing America in which the majority of people are not white Christians. Jones (Progressive & Religious), founding CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, examines this new reality and how it developed. Christian here includes both the mainline and Evangelical branches of Protestantism, each of which has increasingly lost political and social influence and power in recent years. Jones's analysis is an insightful combination of history, sociology, religious studies, and political science. Topics explored include same-sex marriage and religious liberty, the end of the GOP's "White Christian Strategy" (an outgrowth of its "Southern Strategy"), and the relationship between white Christian Americans and race. Throughout, Jones remains dispassionate, neither celebrating nor grieving these changes but meticulously documenting his claims with statistics and helpful graphics. He ends hopefully, with ways in which this population might explore different roles in American society. VERDICT This book will be of interest to a wide range of readers across the political spectrum who are interested in politics and religion. [See Prepub Alert, 1/11/16.]--Brian Sullivan, Alfred Univ. Lib., NY

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.