By Rev. Erin Jones
When I first found out that my first-born was biologically male, I had a small freak-out. Even though I believe gender is a social construct and I logically know that gender takes many forms beyond the binary, I was confident in my skills to parent a strong, confident girl into womanhood, seeing as I am a (fairly) strong, confident woman (thanks to my own parents, mentors, therapists, Jesus, etc.). But I had little idea about what it would look like to help a young boy navigate the mystifying trek of masculinity, toxicity, and violence. Having a second biological male child has not helped my confidence. Add in knowing the statistics about mass shooters and working in ecumenical and antiracist relationships meant to counter the legacy of a church soaked in white supremacy and patriarchy, and I have had many days where I preemptively mourn for the enormous challenge in front of my little boys.
Especially after the November 2024 election, and the analyses that followed about how young white men overwhelmingly supported right-wing nationalist sentiments and candidates, I have felt a near constant terror that my sweet, passionate, empathetic boys could someday turn into the cold, vindictive, callous political and cultural leaders that dominate media narratives about masculinity.
Which is why I wept when I started reading Angela Denker’s Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood. Not because she offers easy answers or a guarantee that the boys “will be alright.” But she writes from my own standpoint, as a mother concerned for her sons’ well-being and the well-being of all children of God, and as a fellow Lutheran pastor struggling with a church’s legacy in promoting racism and violence. I wept because her book meant I was not alone in seeing the many challenges facing our young men, and not alone in hoping for a different way for them.
Denker shows her gifts as a pastor and journalist by centering stories of boys and men she has met across the United States. Through these stories and the relationships she has built, she helps us understand the paradox revealed by the two true, if competing, statements:
- White men and boys are dangerous
- White men and boys are struggling
She argues that media narratives tend to only focus on one of these statements, meaning we usually read stories that only focus on how men and boys are violent OR how men and boys are being left behind. Very few narratives take into account the whole picture. By incorporating the two herself, Denker offers insights into ways in which we can both counter the violent tendencies our culture forces onto young boys and cultivate spaces of care and vulnerability for them to fully flourish as their authentic selves.
Denker’s stories also point to the importance of truth-telling: she doesn’t shy away from the intersections of masculinity, misogyny, racism, and colonization. We cannot address one without acknowledging the ways in which the church has been complicit in so many levels. Once again, her foundation as a Lutheran pastor means this comes across as a gracious invitation to confession and reconciliation, and not a didactic lecture that could elicit a defensive stance.
By reading Disciples, I found myself encountering a wealth of grace. Denker tells the stories with which she’s been entrusted with deep care and invites the reader into deeper empathy. I read about experiences of men and boys that I had never thought about before, and I was invited to see the complexity of masculinity in the U.S. in new ways. In that, I found myself feeling more grace for men and boys in general, more grace for myself and others struggling to raise boys in this time, and more grace for news stories I would have previously read with a knee-jerk reaction.
Ultimately, Denker’s main offering is to continue to live into the promise of grace, and to reclaim narratives and theology that accurately reflect the love of God as we know in Jesus – the one who rejected the sword, washed feet, wept, and suffered on the cross rather than engage in the violence of this world. She shows us how to approach the issue of white men and boys with compassion for the real people we encounter, and to invite all into deeper community, where grace and new life is found.
Disciples of White Jesus is not for the faint of heart. It is not for people who are new to understanding racism and sexism and colonialism in intersectional ways. But, if you have been wondering what you can do, or how you as an ally can raise, teach, and be in community with white men and boys counteracting the forces of violence that seem to dominate our current political and social landscape, this book is a great accompaniment for starting that journey.
Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood by Angela Denker (2025) is published by Broadleaf Books, an imprint of Augsburg Fortress.
Erin Jones is an ordained minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). She serves with Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania, living in Pittsburgh with her husband and two sons.
