Via Sullivan, we see Calvinism is having a bit of a revival:
But what is new about Driscoll is that he has resurrected a particular strain of fire and brimstone, one that most Americans assume died out with the Puritans: Calvinism, a theology that makes Pat Robertson seem warm and fuzzy.
At a time when the once-vaunted unity of the religious right has eroded and the mainstream media is proclaiming an “evangelical crackup,” Driscoll represents a movement to revamp the style and substance of evangelicalism. … Yet his message seems radically unfashionable, even un-American: you are not captain of your soul or master of your fate but a depraved worm whose hard work and good deeds will get you nowhere, because God marked you for heaven or condemned you to hell before the beginning of time. Yet a significant number of young people in Seattle — and nationwide — say this is exactly what they want to hear. Calvinism has somehow become cool, and just as startling, this generally bookish creed has fused with a macho ethos.
Wanna bet they’re opposed to book lernin’ too?
What bothers Driscoll — and the growing number of evangelical pastors who agree with him — is not the trope of Jesus-as-lover. After all, St. Paul tells us that the Church is the bride of Christ. What really grates is the portrayal of Jesus as a wimp, or worse. Paintings depict a gentle man embracing children and cuddling lambs. Hymns celebrate his patience and tenderness. The mainstream church, Driscoll has written, has transformed Jesus into “a Richard Simmons, hippie, queer Christ,” a “neutered and limp-wristed popular Sky Fairy of pop culture that . . . would never talk about sin or send anyone to hell.”
When you see religious or political (or the inevitable fusion of the two) movements that start going on about how religion or society or the nation has been feminized, be aware of the role this sentiment has played in authoritarian thinking. But you can see why this would be. If the feminization of (insert noun here) has made it weak, then “manning up” will make it strong. If Jesus is a wuss because some churches have focused upon his love - then perhaps his masculine followers need to work up a healthy hatred. Hatred for the sin - but of course, not the sinner. Right? It would never bleed over.
Follow the thinking. If peace is wimpy - war is better, as real men are forged in the crucible of war. War is good for societies. And somehow this makes us more righteous. It also makes a lot of people more dead.
And let’s be real. The cult of masculinity is also why the likes of Rush or Hannity so appeal to conservative. Because they come off as tough and uncompromising - as bullies. That appeals greatly to a crowd that feels emasculated. It’s also what throws them for the biggest loop when, instead of playing the part of the cringing liberal, you stand up to them and (rhetorically) smack them right back in the mouth. Does not compute.
Probably an instinctual desire, this belief that faith or society or a nation itself can be “masculine” or “feminine.” But people in the grip of that belief, over the centuries, have caused more trouble than any other.
