Making America Great Again in Christian Schools

Using Historical Narratives of Chaos and Order to Make “Real Americans”

in Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society
Author:
Neall Pogue University of Texas, Dallas Neall.Pogue@utdallas.edu

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Abstract

This article explores the historical narrative developed by the two most popular Christian school publishers (A Beka Book and Bob Jones University Press) at their founding in the mid-1970s. Specifically, they promoted the idea that it was exclusively white Anglo-American men who heroically created the United States by separating order from chaos. The publishers utilized this story to direct the home and Christian school pupil to save and protect what their ancestors created. The importance of such messages gave meaning and ideology to white conservative evangelicals who have come to think of themselves as “real Americans” fighting the ongoing culture wars.

Contributor Notes

Neall Pogue is an assistant professor of instruction at the University of Texas at Dallas. Email: Neall.Pogue@utdallas.edu

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