Embodied Idolatry : A Critique of Christian Nationalism

This book is a critique of Christian nationalism and an analysis of Christian theological ethics and practice in the US. Utilizing Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology and René Girard’s mimetic theories, Haden identifies the problematic dynamics of US Christians embodying idolatrous ideological beliefs and calls for Christian conversion from such practices.

Embodied Idolatry is an examination of the effect of Christian nationalism on Christian practice in the United States. The author focuses on the mechanisms by which such beliefs become sedimented into the emotional, embodied structures of the church and the individual. Using a variety of disciplines, the author thus identifies and highlights how such beliefs and practices are, in fact, idolatrous and inhabit an anti-Christian theological and ethical space. The volume, in this, describes the formative process and mechanisms by which social and cultural values are acquired through imitation, by the individual and within ecclesial communities. As a constructive countermeasure, the volume investigates Jesus’ practice in his own social, cultural, political, religious, and economic context, and argues that Christian nationalism is a betrayal of Jesus’ teachings in light of his own practice of hospitality and table fellowship. The volume, thus, calls Christians to conversion, putting loyalty to the kingdom of God over that of the nation.