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Recovers the religious origins of the War on Drugs
Many people view the War on Drugs as a contemporary phenomenon invented by the Nixon administration. But as this new book shows, the conflict actually began more than a century before, when American Protestants began the temperance movement and linked drug use with immorality.
Christian Nationalism and the Birth of the War on Drugs argues that this early drug war was deeply rooted in Christian impulses. While many scholars understand Prohibition to have been a Protestant undertaking, it is considerably less common to consider the War on Drugs this way, in part because racism has understandably been the focal point of discussions of the drug war. Antidrug activists expressed—and still do express--blatant white supremacist and nativist motives. Yet this book argues that that racism was intertwined with religious impulses. Reformers pursued the “civilizing mission,” a wide-ranging project that sought to protect “child races” from harmful influences while remodeling their cultures to look like Europe and the United States. Most reformers saw Christianity as essential to civilization and missionaries felt that banning drugs would encourage religious conversion and progress.
This compelling work of scholarship radically reshapes our understanding of one of the longest and most damaging conflicts in modern American history, making the case that we cannot understand the War on Drugs unless we understand its religious origins.
"There is a long history to the war on drugs that began in the Nixon administration, and it is one closely tied to Protestant Christianity, argues Monteith. This groundbreaking work will be appreciated particularly by scholars, but those with an interest in history or Christian history will likely find it engaging as well."
"
Quite thorough in its scope and features theological, legal, racist, and cultural trends as they
related to the war on drugs. . . . Solid historically, important culturally and politically, and eye
opening religiously.
— Gary Laderman, Goodrich C. White Professor of American Religious History and Cultures, Emory College
"
A superb analysis of one of America’s most enduring social problems. Monteith’s historical
research, coupled with his astute engagement with theories of religion, make this a
groundbreaking contribution to many fields.
— Cara Burnidge, author of A Peaceful Conquest: Woodrow Wilson, Religion, and the New World Order
"[Monteith] has done important work in providing an original interpretation of the long history of the War on Drugs... Enthusiastically recommended for scholars of American culture, religion, politics, and society."
"Using newspapers, novels, textbooks, and state documents, Monteith’s reading is layered and innovative. Scholars interested in the intersection of the carceral state, medicine, religion, and colonialism will find the book a promising and versatile read."
"Recasts the American battle against drug use in two respects: first, by locating the origins of the drug war not in the 1960s or 1980s, but in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and second, by drawing attention to this war’s religious influences."