Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right

Scott Coley exposes the inner workings of the religious right’s propaganda--and how Christians can resist it.

Good evangelical Christians are Republican. It seems like it’s always been this way.

That means the propaganda is working.

Scott Coley trains a critical eye on the fusion of evangelicalism and right-wing politics in Ministers of Propaganda. This timely volume unravels rhetoric and biblical prooftexting that support Christo-authoritarianism: an ideology that presses Christian theology into the service of authoritarian politics. Coley’s historically informed argument unsettles evangelical orthodoxy on issues like creation science or female leadership--convictions not as unchanging as powerful religious leaders would have us believe.

Coley explains that we buy into propaganda because of motivated reasoning, and when we are motivated by perceived self-interest, the Christian message is easily corrupted. But if we recover Jesus’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves, right-wing propaganda will lose its power. Any reader troubled by American evangelicals’ embrace of racism, misogyny, and other unchristian views will find answers and hope in these pages.

Scott M. Coley is a lecturer in philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s University. His research interests include philosophy of religion, moral epistemology, and political philosophy.