Reviewer Kristen Rabe Interviews Philip Deloria, Son of Vine Deloria Jr., Author of God Is Red: A Native View of Religion: 50th Anniversary Edition
Over the months of FTW Thursdays, we’ve talked many times about the declining numbers of white evangelical Christians in the USA—from 23 percent of the population in 2006 to 13.9 percent in 2022—but we really haven’t heard a good explanation for why it’s happening. Today’s featured book offers a stunning theory: “Christianity might be ineffective outside of the holy land. It’s not really cut out for the Americas.” In other words, “Christianity’s success as a world religion reflects its strategic alliances with several empires in various ages of imperialism, rather than its spiritual efficacy.” Now there’s a shot across the bow. Philip Deloria, how about another revolutionary idea from your dad’s book. “The [spiritual place] argument also suggests that Native spiritualities, as practiced in their home landscapes, have continuing power, even after centuries of hard history in which settlers tried to suppress those practices. That provocative viewpoint sits at the core of the book: it is a critique of Christianity and an assertion of the importance of Indigenous spirituality.” On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of God Is Red, Vine Deloria Jr.’s seminal work on Native religion, son Philip agreed to take a few questions from Kristen Rabe, she who reviewed the anniversary edition of the book in Foreword’s July/August issue. Continue reading...
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