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The Prosperity Gospel of Coronavirus Response

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2020

Paul A. Djupe Open the ORCID record for Paul A. Djupe [Opens in a new window]  and
Ryan P. Burge Open the ORCID record for Ryan P. Burge [Opens in a new window]
Paul A. Djupe*
Affiliation:
Denison University
Ryan P. Burge
Affiliation:
Eastern Illinois University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Paul A. Djupe, Political Science, Denison University, 100 W. College St., Granville, OH43023. E-mail: djupe@denison.edu
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Abstract

The sweep of the coronavirus pandemic across the world and the United States offers an almost unparalleled opportunity to study how social systems cope with the threat and opportunities for collective action. In this paper, we draw on survey data collected as the United States flailed in response and before a general consensus among executive officeholders developed in the following weeks. In particular, we assess how holding prosperity gospel views strongly shaped perceptions of the virus and reactions to state responses to the virus. Research on the prosperity gospel is slowly expanding and this paper helps to highlight some missing dimensions. At a time when concerted action for the social good could be uniting the country, prosperity gospel beliefs systematically undermine that possibility by augmenting threat, raising outgroup barriers, and decreasing social trust.

Type
Article
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , September 2021 , pp. 552 - 573
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

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