[RE]DOING CHRISTIANITY: AN IDEOLOGICAL AND RHETORICAL CRITIQUE OF THE 700 CLUB AND GOD’S POLITICS

[RE]DOING CHRISTIANITY: AN IDEOLOGICAL AND RHETORICAL CRITIQUE OF THE 700 CLUB AND GOD’S POLITICS

By Sarita J. Field

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Laura Lindenfeld

An Abstract of the Thesis Presented

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Master of Arts

(in Communication)

May, 2010

Among the many and diverse Christian movements that exist in the contemporary U.S. are two opposed groups: Conservative Christianity and Progressive Christianity.  Individuals from various evangelical denominations comprise these movements which thus cut across specific church affiliations.  Both movements have the stated goal of promoting authentic Christian lives pursuing God.  Both movements make use of the Christian Bible as the authoritative text in determining what exactly the “authentic Christian life” is.  That said, there are marked irreconcilable differences.  The similarities of and differences between these movements provide an interesting site of critical analysis. Through analysis that uncovers the unspoken underlying beliefs regarding race, gender, and class in two Christian texts, The 700 Club and God’s Politics, this thesis explores how the Conservative Christian movement and Progressive Christian movement both privilege the white male identity, albeit in different ways.  In addition, this thesis attempts to understand how God’s Politics as a Progressive Christian text, positions itself in response to Conservative Christianity.  I examine how the text subverts and/or affirms the ideology of Conservative Christianity.  I argue that The 700 Club seeks to erase the fractured nature of the U.S. Christian church and enacts oppressive white masculinity by framing Pat Robertson as a prophetic spiritual authority.  Second, I argue that God’s Politics embraces the fissured and diverse nature of the Christian church in the U.S. and attempts to subvert the ideology of the Christian Right.  Wallis does so by rearticulating a Christian political agenda and refocusing on issues such as poverty and social justice.  While God’s Politics does this, it also reiterates some of the racist, sexist, and heterosexist ideologies present within Conservative Christianity.  Falling into ideological traps of Conservative Christianity undermines Wallis’s stated goal of transcending partisan politics and bad theology.

Key words: Christianity, ideology, critical, religion, rhetoric