Spiritual Weapons: The Cold War and the Forging of an American National Religion (Religion, Politics, and Public Life Under the auspices of the Leonard E. Greenb) PDF
Preview Spiritual Weapons: The Cold War and the Forging of an American National Religion (Religion, Politics, and Public Life Under the auspices of the Leonard E. Greenb)
Spiritual Weapons RecentTitlesin Religion,Politics,andPublicLife TheFaithFactor:HowReligionInfluencesAmericanElections JohnC.Green TheEpiscopalChurchinCrisis:HowSex,theBible,andAuthorityareDividing theFaithful FrankG.Kirkpatrick God’sDemocracy:AmericanReligionafterSeptember11 EmilioGentile Spiritual Weapons The Cold War and the Forging of an American National Religion T. Jeremy Gunn Religion,Politics, and Public Life UndertheauspicesoftheLeonardE.GreenbergCenterfortheStudyof ReligioninPublicLife,TrinityCollege,Hartford,CT MarkSilk,SeriesEditor LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Gunn,T.Jeremy(ThomasJeremy) Spiritualweapons:theColdWarandtheforgingofanAmericannationalreligion/ T.JeremyGunn. p.cm.—(Religion,politics,andpubliclife,ISSN1934–290X) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978–0–275–98549–3(alk.paper) 1. Religionandpolitics—UnitedStates—History—20thcentury.2. UnitedStates—Religion. I.Title. BL2525.G86 2009 201’.72097309045—dc22 2008032930 BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable. Copyright©2009byT.JeremyGunn Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher. LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2008032930 ISBN:978–0–275–98549–3 ISSN:1934–290X Firstpublishedin2009 PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881 AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc. www.praeger.com PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 TheLeonardE.GreenbergCenterfortheStudyofReligioninPublicLifewasestablishedat TrinityCollegein1996toadvanceknowledgeandunderstandingofthevariedrolesthatreligious movements,institutions,andideasplayinthecontemporaryworld.Itisnonsectarianand nonpartisan. To:RichardL.Gunnforhis90th Melindaforher50th &Carolineforher20th This page intentionally left blank Contents SeriesForeword ix Acknowledgments xi Chapter1 LaunchingSpiritualWeapons 1 PartI Foundations 15 Chapter2 PresentattheCreation:TheAmerican 17 NationalReligion Chapter3 EnduringAmericanThemes 29 PartII AnAmericanNationalReligion 47 Chapter4 GovernmentalTheism:Religionasthe“FirstLine 49 ofDefense” Chapter5 AMilitarySecondtoNone 75 Chapter6 CapitalismasFreedom:TheBaptismof 107 FreeEnterprise PartIII DeployingAmerica’s“SpiritualWeapons”Abroad 131 Chapter7 Guatemala:CoupsandConsequences 133 Chapter8 ReligionandtheOriginsofAmericanInvolvement 155 inVietnam Chapter9 Conclusion:TheLessonsofHistory 197 viii Contents AppendixI PresidentHarryTruman’s1951Speech 211 AppendixII Chronologyof1954CoupinGuatemala 217 AppendixIII CIACableApril28,1954 223 Notes 227 Bibliography 279 Index 287 Series Foreword In1967,astheVietnamWarwasfastturningintoAmerica’snationalnightmare, the sociologist Robert Bellah published “Civil Religion in America,” a short articleforgeneralreadersthatatoncesoughttodescribethecountry’scommon faithandsummonitscitizenstoahighercalling.DrawingonRousseau’sfamous discussionofcivilreligionattheendoftheSocialContract,Bellahclaimedthat there was in fact “an elaborate and well-institutionalized civil religion in America” that existed alongside of but separate from “the churches.” It pos- sesseditsshrinesandsacredtexts,itsritualsandsaints,butaboveallitshighthe- isticideals.Atadarktimeinthenation’shistory,Bellahurgedareanimationof thesebetterangelsofthenation’snature. Fourdecadeslater,JeremyGunnhaswrittenwhatamountstoaripostetoBel- lah’soptimisticassessment.WhereBellahsawanobleiftroublednationalfaith transcendingparticulartheologies,Gunnpostulatesadarkercreed,anAmerican NationalReligionforgedduringtheColdWarandstillwithustoday.InGunn’s vision,thisreligionisastoolwiththreelegs,supportedequallybygovernmental theism,devotiontoamilitary“secondtonone,”andadoctrinairecommitmentto capitalismasfreedom.Citingchapterandverse,heshowshoweacharticleof faithwasassembledintoanideologicalconstructthathasbeennoeasiertochal- lengeinthemidstofnationaldisillusionmentwiththepost-September11warin IraqthanitwasduringtheColdWaratitsheight. Thegovernmentaltheismofthepostwarperiodmaybethebestknownofthe threespirituallegs.Rarely,however,haveitscomponentsbeensketchedsowell orputtogetherinsuchacompellingway.Fromtheenunciationofthecentrality of“faith”bytheleadingpoliticiansofthedaytotheapplicationof“God”toany andallavailablecoinsandpledges,thereisnoquestionthatAmericawasdeter- minedtocasttheconflictwithcommunismasareligiouscrusade.
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