The Americanized Gospel: Can the American Catholic Church Remain Authentic under Nationalism?
Ebook
In this book I have tried to raise the awareness of mainly working Catholics regarding the spiritual pitfalls of excessive nationalism. Nationalism in this book is not synonymous with patriotism. Nationalism, carried to its natural conclusion, amounts to the "de facto worship" of the nation state. In our current state of collective anxiety, we can and will be easily victimized.
“This powerful, reasonable, and insightful book invites us to reject nationalism and the culture of violence and war, become more authentic disciples of Jesus and adherents of gospel nonviolence, and pledge allegiance to the God of peace as citizens of God’s reign of universal love and total nonviolence. Thank you, John Jerpe, for your wake-up call urging us to turn back to the gospel of Jesus and his way of peace and nonviolence.”
—John Dear, author of The Gospel of Peace: Reading Matthew, Mark, and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence
- Title: The Americanized Gospel: Can the American Catholic Church Remain Authentic under Nationalism?
- Author: John M. Jerpe
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2024
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9798385213054, 9798385213047, 9798385213030
- Resource ID: LLS:9798385213054
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-09T20:02:32Z
John M. Jerpe is a practicing Catholic, a retired attorney, and a political activist. As a member of Code Pink and Veterans For Peace, he speaks out against excessive nationalism. By extension, he works against what has come to be known as "a state of permanent warfare." He sees and speaks out against that network of arms manufacturers who perpetuate the "permanent warfare" by literally bribing legislators at our national level, and who have come to be known as the "military industrial complex." John sees his Catholic faith as a call to speak out against nationalism so extreme that it approximates idolatry, or what he calls "the de facto worship of the nation state." He writes to warn us about the appeal of authoritarian leaders, or demagogues in a time when fascism may be looming in America. Most importantly, he challenges his "institutional church" to awaken and to speak out of the danger. This is paramount to saying that the phrase "God and Country," when recklessly uttered, is taken to mean "God IS Country" in our psychic life. Equally important is the "deafening silence" of the ordained clergy on this vital and timely concern.