Fundamentalist Christians

In Cornell West's book, "Democracy Matters," West defines fundamentalist Christians in American today as Constantinian Christians. He links today's fundamentalist Christians with the emperialism that grew out of Constantinian Christianity. He believes that most of America's fundamentalist Christians see no link between the Roman empire that ultimately put Jesus to death and America today. West admits that most American fundamentalist Christians are "sincere in their faith," but are ignorant of the role they play in furthering America's imperial political ends. Since their understanding of Christian history is incomplete, they are vulnerable to being manipulated by government and Christian leaders. "As long as they [fundamentalist Christians] can worship freely and pursue the Amercan dream, they see the American government as a force for good and American imperialisn as a desirable force for spreading that good."

In contrast to this fundamentalist view, West introduces his readers to William Sloan Coffin, Chaplain of Yale University during the Vietnam war. Coffin is described as one of the many prophetic Christians that have added moral arguments to the American democracy. One quote attributed to Coffin is, "No nation, ours or any other, is well served by illusions of righteousness. All nations make decisions based on self-interest and then defend them in the name of morality." (p. 152-153)