by Angela Denker
Broadleaf Books
3/25/2025, hardcover
SKU: 9798889830757
White boys and men are dangerous.
White boys and men are struggling.
Both of these statements are staggeringly true in America today. By far, most large-scale mass shooters are white men. White men also die by suicide more often than any other demographic. In this sensitive, searing, and unsparing look at American boyhood, journalist, mother, and pastor Angela Denker investigates the sometimes-tragic stories of boyhood across the United States.
Disciples of White Jesus is a comprehensive look at the rise in radicalization among young white men in America, especially focused on the role of right-wing Christianity in the increase of religious-based hatred and violence. Denker goes deep into the online rabbit holes of right-wing Christian influencers and conservative Christian ideology to understand how the preaching of "traditional gender roles" and "submission of women" has led to anger, outrage, loneliness, depression, and limiting identities for young white Christian men across America.
Casting her journalist's eye across the US, Denker retraces the steps of a racist South Carolina mass shooter and a Phoenix skinhead turned Evangelical pastor, interviews middle school teachers and coaches in the Midwest, and introduces us to young men across the country who will both confirm and confound our ideas about American boyhood--stories about boys and men who are forging new identities grounded in kindness, grace, respect, and even joy. A must-read for parents, grandparents, educators, coaches, faith leaders, researchers, and all who care about the state of American families, boys themselves, and the safety of American society at large.
Reviews:
"In a moment of chaos and ever-present danger, Denker has emerged as a vital and necessary voice. Her explorations into religious extremism and the mounting heresies of authoritarianism are invaluable. With Disciples of White Jesus, we see another volume in that work, but also something new and even more impressive and pressing. For anyone wanting to understand what we are facing, and what we must ultimately face, I cannot recommend Denker or this masterpiece any more highly." -- Jared Yates Sexton, author of The Man They Wanted Me to Be and American Rule
"This frank, bold book unflinchingly examines ways white boys and men are becoming radicalized within some forms of American Christian faith. Denker shows how Christian nationalist theology warps sons into celebrating dominance and grows them into men who revel in violence that lashes out widely--and often destroys the boys themselves in the process. This tale is told in the compassionate voice of a mother and pastor, who wraps it all in the piercing reporting of a veteran journalist." -- Sarah Stankorb, author of Disobedient Women
About the Author:
Rev. Angela Denker is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and a veteran journalist. Her first book, Red State Christians, was the silver winner in political and social sciences for the 2019 Foreword Indies Book of the Year awards. She is a columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune and has written for many publications, including Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, and Fortune magazine. She has also appeared on CNN, BBC, SkyNews, and NPR. Pastor Denker lives with her husband, Ben, and two sons in Minneapolis, where she is a sought-after speaker on Christian nationalism and its theological and cultural roots.