Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1428391 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 392 pages

Synopsis
Tracing the current ascendancy of the missionary enthusiasm for crusading war in the U.S. to Biblical traditions present since the dawn of American history, Jewett (New Testament studies, U. of Heidelberg, Germany) and Lawrence (emeritus, philosophy, Morningside College, US) argue that the comic book manicheanism of the "war on terror" is a civil r

Customer Reviews

An excellent book that will have you reaching for the valium
These two author's earlier work "The Myth of the American Superhero" explored the presentation of Justice as needing a redeemer figure replete with an arsenal of `righteous' weaponary and how this image has affected the US idea of politics. This earlier book represents the `secular' aspects. In "Captain America and the Crusade against Evil" Jewett and Lawrence show how this mindset coupled with the US's puritan backdrop has made this monomyth into a national obsession bearing all the hallmarks of Civil Religion (Civil that is unless you disagree with it)!

When I first heard the thesis of this book in a presentation by one of the authors my thoughts were dismissive. While the hegemony of the US is something I abhor for the thesis to work the US must be full (en masse) of some incredibly stupid and gullible people. After reading the first installment this impression remained. However, in this book, particularly in their discussion of the various forms of zeal, a more nuanced and convincing portrayal is offered. Even where people clearly don't believe the hype US foreign policy is locked into a mindset that cannot accept any inference of inferiority without the collapse of the American Ideal.

As such I found this book generally convincing and therefore extremely depressive. If the world social forum is correct in its hope that `another world is possible' this book makes clear that this is only with a radical re-assessment of the US self-understanding.

savior of the universe
This is a book with many important points to make. Other reviewers have done a fine job, so I'll point out just a few.

OK, here's the disclaimer first. I am not saying we should not fight terrorism, nor am I denying that "jihad" is a term usually used in reference with making the "world of war" submit to the "world of Islam". That said, I still find the central points of this book very much worth considering, since it seems our nation's foreign policy is in some ways mirroring the jihadist's foreign policy.

The book's cases in point? OBL and Bush both have these commonalities in terms of foreign policy. One, both see God as blessing their worldviews. Two, both have enemies in grip of the devil (Great Satan is us for OBL, Iran etc and the Axis of Evil is OBL, NK, Iran, Iraq and everyone who doesn't help us). Three, victory is measured by killing or converting the Other. Thus four: violence is a means to do this, and God blesses it as in some way redemptive.

With much of the Republican Party being a wing of the conservative, pro-Israeli Christian movement (no longer interested in "Reaganesque" small government), Captain America is revived from the dusty pages of the comics to fly again, this time for the cause of God- are we not the city on the hill?

These and other points raised in the book should cause us to pause for a moment, and question both our real motives for our policies and to really think about their affect upon the rest of the world. This doesn't excuse terrorism's evil reality, but it may help us be more thoughtful in our response to the underlying causes of "why they hate us" so much, instead of a muscular, steroidal reaction which is actually playing right into the hands of the Islamist revolutionaries' playbook with a "see, I told you so" response leading to 1000 more OBLs.