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Biblical Promise and Threat in U.S. Imperialist Rhetoric, Before and After 9/11

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Interventions

Abstract

Given that conservative Protestantism is all too apparently alive and well in the United States, it may be prudent to consider how common interpretations of the Bible become part of the political calculus. Many people on the Left bemoan the Christian Right without paying attention to precisely how biblical interpretations get incorporated into right-wing discourse, and what recognizing biblical influence on politics might mean for engaging bellicose, imperialist rhetoric such as that of the younger Bush administration. In other words, I am urging consideration of the way in which the primacy of the Bible—particularly, belief in the absolute, inerrant truth and authority of the Bible, and adherence to “fundamentals” of the faith therein—affects policy and military decisions on the part of government, and acceptance of those decisions by the American people. The public’s response to the U.S. wars since 9/11 may be affected by the overlap between longstanding, biblically inflected, national discourses on the one hand, and personalized understandings of the Bible popular in conservative Protestant circles on the other.

Much of the analysis of the apocalyptic nature of the rhetoric discussed here was initially worked out in the preparation of an arrested piece of street theatre called “the burning bush,” conceived with Michael Casey, Daniel Lang/Levitsky, and Meredith Slopen. My development of these ideas has been greatly assisted through conversations with Elizabeth Castelli and Jennifer Glancy, and through the critical eyes, cast upon earlier drafts, of Michael Casey, Tanya Erzen, and Scott Kline.

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Authors
  1. Erin Runions
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Elizabeth A. Castelli Janet R. Jakobsen

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© 2004 Elizabeth A. Castelli and Janet R. Jakobsen

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Runions, E. (2004). Biblical Promise and Threat in U.S. Imperialist Rhetoric, Before and After 9/11. In: Castelli, E.A., Jakobsen, J.R. (eds) Interventions. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981561_9

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