Ron DeSantis, Robin DiAngelo, and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Puritan Echoes and Progressive Tides
Every time I sift through the layers of American thought and culture, a thought strikes me. It’s nothing new: I think there's a fascinating echo between the Puritanism of Jonathan Edwards and today's progressive identity politics of "diversity, equity, and inclusion." This echo rings especially true as I watch the pushback against what's sometimes called the "new progressive religion" in places like Florida, led by figures like Governor Ron DeSantis.
Jonathan Edwards was a heavyweight in the 18th-century Great Awakening, famous for his hellfire sermons. His most notorious one, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," was a masterclass in stirring guilt and urging moral reform among his mainly white congregations. His brand of Puritanism, with its intense focus on personal sin and the need for moral integrity, has seeped into the American psyche, influencing our narratives about guilt and moral righteousness in all spheres, whether we live on the political right or left.
Fast forward a few centuries, and Robin DiAngelo's "White Fragility" still tops bestseller lists. DiAngelo, in her own way, taps into a similar vein of thought as Edwards. She calls for a moral and societal reckoning on racial inequalities, striking a chord in today's context much like Edwards did in his. This new progressive ideology, which zeroes in on systemic racism and social justice, feels like a secular cousin to the Puritan call for societal reform and moral accountability.
The recent book bans and Governor DeSantis's campaign against so-called "wokeness" in Florida mirror historical patterns of resistance to ideological shifts. It's not just a reaction to specific ideas or books; it's a full-blown resistance to a progressive moral framework. DeSantis isn’t simply a panic over teaching about the truths of slavery. He and his party are in a panic over the idea of mainstream society demanding accountability from European colonizers and settlers for sins of the past, driven by a pluralistic society instead of minorities he could more easily dismiss. He and his followers fail to recognize that efforts to uphold “American Culture,” whereby everyone adopts the values, speech, dress, food and manners of “ideal” white Europeans is, in essence, the embodiment of white supremacy.
Meanwhile, the Puritan doctrine of original sin, with its focus on introspection, fault acknowledgment, and moral betterment, profoundly influences how many liberal white Americans perceive and respond to thought leaders like DiAngelo. Puritan heritage, emphasizing predestination and moral rectitude, forged a societal framework that highly values self-correction in response to moral failings. DiAngelo’s approach, drawing upon this cultural narrative, encourages her white audience to view their racial attitudes through a lens akin to religious introspection. Her call for racial awareness and societal reform echoes Edwards' use of divine wrath to drive his followers towards salvation. The discomfort and guilt elicited by confronting racial issues in DiAngelo's narrative find a parallel in the Puritanical response to sin, underscoring a continued legacy of Puritan influence in shaping American responses to moral and social challenges.
The current debates over book bans and critical race theory are more than academic squabbles; they're the latest chapter in a long story of American ideological battles, influenced by the historical religious narratives that defined European colonization of America and shaped by present-day issues.