Trump and Political Theology
Unmaking Truth and Democracy
By: Jack David Eller, Darren M. Slade (Foreword by)
Paperback | 19 November 2020
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300 Pages
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For millennia, a fundamental question of culture and law has been the relationship between religion and ruler, or more recently between church and state. Although the term "political theology" was not always known, the question remained and was answered in various ways: theocracy, the divine right of kings, the mandate of heaven, the rule of jurists, and so forth. Almost a century ago, Carl Schmitt revived political theology and reshaped it into a less theological and more political subject with his famous notions of sovereignty and the exception. Schmitt highlighted the eternal struggle between power or authority on the one hand and positive law and political institutions on the other, arguing that law can never entirely legitimize or constrain power or authority and that the real site and source of law is the moment of exception and of "the decision."
Trump and Political Theology applies this Schmittian lens to Donald Trump, an exceptional president who seems to use his executive and decision-making power to flaunt law and truth, to cripple and discredit institutions, and to bend reality to his will. The book considers first whether Trump is an aspiring Schmittian sovereign and therefore a threat to democracy. But it goes beyond Trump and Trumpism to critique and rethink political theology in the light of contemporary, especially populist and authoritarian, politics. Finally, it compels us to critique and rethink theology itself as a tool for understanding and organizing politics and society, restoring the relevance of myth and ritual and of pre-Christian and non-Christian characters like the shaman and the trickster for modern politics and social theory.
Industry Reviews
"OMG. Wow. Here is an analysis of the Donald Trump phenomenon that goes deeper and wider than anything I've read. A must read no matter who the next president is because David Eller's discussion of "political theology" reveals so much about the craziness and ironic coherence of American politics."
-Mark Galli,
Former Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today
"In the void left by the death of God, Eller explores how the violence of language and the power of mediatic charisma can create a new politics of myth, ritual, and emotion: from this abyss Trump emerges as a figure of exception that reveals the contradictions of liberal democracies. This is a fundamental book to understand our age."
-Dr. Antonio Cerella, Kingston University, London,
Author of Genealogies of Political Modernity
"Eller highlights the inescapable significance of political theology to late modern discourse. His work combines a rich historical survey with a penetrating analysis of religious thought in twenty-first-century America."
-Dr. Benjamin T. Lynerd, Christopher Newport University,
Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science
"The Christian Bible knows naught of presidents and even less of republics and democracies; and neither republicans nor Republicans can be found within its pages. The thirteenth chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans commands us to be "subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." To understand how this relates to the apotheosis of Donald J. Trump, one needs to understand American political and religious history; the dynamics of conspiracy theories; the authoritarian character; True Believers; the identity and nature of Trump's supporters; as well as the importance of mendacity, disinformation, demagoguery, secrecy, and much, much more.
"Not only does Professor Eller supply such information as is needed to understand the Trump phenomenon, he provides an extremely enlightening discussion of "Agnotology and Agnomancy: Studying Ignorance and Conjuring Ignorance." Eller's discussion has reinforced my view that Ignorance-not Compound Interest as Albert Einstein is alleged to have quipped-is the strongest force in the universe. Because of this book, I expect that the name Jack David Eller will become the latest addition to the series Gustave Le Bon, mile Durkheim, Erich Fromm, Eric Hoffer, and Hannah Arendt."
-Frank R. Zindler, American Atheist Press
Preface xii
Introduction 1
⢠What is Political Theology? 2
⢠Modern Political Theology: Carl Schmitt 5
⢠The Problem of Legitimation 8
⢠Re- (or Un-)Thinking Political Theology in the Twenty-First Century 12
⢠Looking Forward (to Trump) 20
1 Political Theologies American Style 22
⢠The Problem of Political Theology in Pluralistic America 23
⢠Some Political Theologies throughout American History 30
⢠Conclusion: Republic, Religion, and Trump 43
2 Trump: Exception or Apotheosis? 46
⢠Trump the Exception 48
⢠Trump the Apotheosis 53
⢠Trump the Resonant Rupture 74
3 Right around the World: Right-Wing Populism and the Sacred Nation in Global Perspective 76
⢠What is Populism? 77
⢠Populist Leadership and Governance 83
⢠Right-Wing Populist Regimes, Illiberal Democracy, and the Sacred Nation 91
⢠Trump the Populist 108
4 1950s Wisdom for a 1950s President: On Agitators, Authoritarians, Totalitarians, and True Believers 111
⢠An Authoritarian Character: The Agitator 115
⢠The Authoritarian-Following Personality 119
⢠On the Origin of Totalitarian Species 123
⢠Beware the True Believer 127
⢠Trump, Agitator, Authoritarian 130
5 Who Trump's Supporters Are-and Are Not 136
⢠Race and Class in Trump Country 137
⢠Race, Rurality, and Resentment 143
⢠Evangelicals and Christian Nationalism 150
6 All the King's Hoaxes and All the King's Mendacity: Trump as Will and Representation 160
⢠Agnotology and Agnomancy: Studying Ignorance, Conjuring Ignorance 164
⢠Trump's Mendacity as Political Theology 184
⢠Trump: Schmittian or Schoperhauerian? 191
7 Myth America and Alt-Rites: Political Theology Beyond Belief 194
⢠Myth: Words that Create 198
⢠Ritual: Acts that Transform 203
⢠Political Ritual: Powerful Action, Acting Powerful 216
⢠Trump: The Man, the Myth, the Ritual 222
8 Trump, Shaman, Trickster: Political Theology beyond God 225
⢠Religion without God(s) 226
⢠The Oppressiveness of Order, the Excitement of Exception 230
⢠The Shaman: Mutable Multiplicity 235
⢠The Trickster: Chaotic Creator 240
⢠Hail to the (Mis)Chief 245
ISBN: 9780578807300
ISBN-10: 0578807300
Published: 19th November 2020
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number of Pages: 300
Audience: Professional and Scholarly
Publisher: GCRR Press
Dimensions (cm): 22.86 x 15.24 x 1.6
Weight (kg): 0.4
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