Homeland Mythology: Biblical Narratives in American CulturePenn State Press, 10. sep. 2015 - 289 sider Since 9/11, America has presented itself to the world as a Christianist culture, no less antimodern and nostalgic for an idealized past than its Islamist foes. The master-narrative both sides share might sound like this: Once upon a time, the values of the righteous community coincided with those of the state. Home and land were harmoniously united under God. But through intellectual pride (read: science) and disobedience (read: human rights), this God-blessed homeland was lost and is now worth every drop of blood it takes, ours and others’, to recover. For Americans, the prime source for this once-and-future-kingdom myth is the Bible, with its many narratives of blessings gained, lost, and regained: the garden of Eden, the covenant with Abraham, the bondage in Egypt, the exodus under Moses, the glory of David and Solomon’s realm, the coming of the promised Messiah, his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, his apocalyptic return at the end of history, and his establishment of the earthly kingdom of God. As Homeland Mythology shows, these biblical narratives have, over time, inspired a multitude of nationalist narratives, myths ingeniously spun out to justify a number of decidedly unchristian policies and institutions—from Indian genocide, the slave trade, and the exploitation of immigrant workers to Manifest Destiny, imperial expansionism, and, most recently, preemptive war. On March 25, 2001, George W. Bush shared a bit of political wisdom: “You can fool some of the people all of the time—and those are the ones you have to concentrate on.” The cynical use of religion to cloak criminal behavior is always worth exposing, but why our leaders lie to us is no longer a mystery. What does remain mysterious is why so many of us are disposed to believe their lies. The unexamined issue that this book addresses is, therefore, not the mendacity of the few, but the credulity of the many. |
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... Israel. The Puritans brought this exceptionalist mythology with them, and the early republic elaborated it. Manifest Destiny was understood as God's own compassionate plan, for it would have to be here, in this ample American homeland ...
... Israel out of the land which I have given them . . . and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people” ( Kings : – , italics added). In the biblical world, the addressees (the You) are subject to a pronominal anxiety ...
... Israel and that the present-day Jews are impostors. A related myth maintains that the white race is the true seed of Adam, that Jews are descendants of Eve and Satan, and that all other races are subhuman. According to this narrative ...
... Israeli Far Right in its quest to ethnically cleanse the state of Israel and, by force of arms, to expand its borders to that of David's kingdom three thousand years ago. According to what they call God's “prophetic time table,” only ...
... Israel, a persecuted people of faith. The history of America, accordingly, was not to be accounted for in economic, political, or social terms: nothing short of Divine Providence could explain its victories over the British Empire, its ...
Indhold
1 | |
23 | |
3 Myths of Curses Myths of Blessings | 59 |
4 Narratives of the Night | 91 |
5 Abduction Narratives | 121 |
6 Homeland Nostalgia and Holy War | 153 |
7 Secular Modernism Biblical Style | 189 |
Notes | 225 |
Bibliography | 249 |
Index | 257 |
Back Cover | 264 |
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