Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding a True Faith
April Ajoy
Worthy Books
Published October 1, 2024
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads
About Star-Spangled Jesus
A hilarious and eye-opening account of leaving Christian Nationalism behind to follow Jesus better.
April Ajoy wouldn’t have called herself a Christian Nationalist when she performed her original song “America Say Jesus” on the Jim Bakker show, or when she participated in Jesus Marches across America, or when she posted cringe-worthy videos on YouTube to campaign for Mitt Romney. April just considered herself a good faithful, Republican, and determined to make America a Christian nation once again.
But as her view of the world widened, Ajoy began to see cracks in her steadfast beliefs and recognized the ways her conservative politics and religion were intertwined in her mind. Did God really bless America? Is it actually by His red, white, and blue stripes that we are healed?
Ajoy, TikTok influencer and co-host of the Evangelicalish podcast, shares funny stories from her time deep within Christian nationalism, exploring how aspects of evangelical culture such as purity pledges, product boycotts, Satanic panic, and end-times theology have all been exploited to advance the Christian Nationalist narrative. She also illuminates the ways nationalist thinking has infiltrated our churches and political arenas, shaping not only modern evangelical culture but also American public policy and international relations.
Part memoir, part guidebook, part call to action, Star-Spangled Jesus explores how the fight to make America a “Christian nation” has damaged us all and shows how one woman left Christian Nationalism and why America should too.
My Review
Well, this was a cathartic read. Whew. Yeah, I did not know that I needed the validation of reading someone else experiencing some of the weird stuff that you grow up with in the Evangelical movement. The book is also pretty hilarious.
I’m close to the author’s age, so we had some similar experiences growing up in the Evangelical church. Some of the stories she tells—even the cringey ones—resonated with me a lot more than I’m comfortable admitting. Wowza.
I cackled through Ajoy’s stories about her fears about the rapture and heaven. It’s weird how deeply those ideas can get into your head and how they play out when you suddenly find yourself entirely alone at home.
It was also validating to read about the questions Ajoy asked herself on her journey. She encountered information or situations that went differently than her upbringing in the church led her to expect. Instead of ignoring those signposts, she began asking herself hard questions about what those things meant in the context of her faith.
I am encouraged to see people like April Ajoy boldly sharing the experience of taking a hard look at faith and carving a path forward through deconstructing harmful ideology. We need voices like these.
If you were raised in the Evangelical movement or a church that uplifts Christian Nationalism but have walked away from those ideas, I think you’d enjoy this book. I also think people who have never had this experience for themselves but are curious about what it’s like and want to read about it in a funny, that-was-then kind of way will find a lot to love about Star-Spangled Jesus.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Representation
April is a white Christian woman married to a nonbinary person.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content
Brief, vague references to sex. (April relates once worrying about the world ending soon and thinking that she wants to have sex before she dies.)
Spiritual Content
Lots of discussion about Christian faith, beliefs, and practices.
Violent Content
Brief references to the 9-11 attack. References to some homophobic ideas that April was taught and believed as a teen and young adult.
Drug Content
None.
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