It's not just The New York Times or The Wahington Post that invoke the name ELMER GANTRY as an archetype.
I found a fascinating article online that shows just how much significance the name still holds for the Christian right. Here's an online article from a Christian Broadcasting website that uses the name ELMER GANTRY as a shorthand for all dishonest evangelists, just as the Times or the Post would. The surprise is that the article goes to great lengths to praise the book (and movie) in a sly, calculating way. And it includes lots of good quotes from the book...
This is a semi-scholarly article (I say "semi" because of its pronounced agenda, which the author has been careful to disguise) dealing with how Christian broadcasters should talk about and comment upon the illicit acts of evangelists caught up in scandals (think Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, etc.). Apparently published in the 80's when Pat Robertson had Presidential hopes -- he placed 2nd in the Iowa caucuses in '88 -- the author makes the case that the Christian right should not fear harsh satires like Sinclair Lewis's ELMER GANTRY, but rather should join in the condemnation of fraudulent evangelists, and laugh along with the rest of us, so as to make fine upstanding evangelical figures like Robertson or Jerry Falwell look good by comparison. Hm...
If you listen carefully, YOU CAN HEAR THE GNASHING OF TEETH as the author forces himself to quote approvingly from the novel. His underlying hatred of Lewis and the book just keeps leaking out. (Rather like Eddie Fislinger in our opera, who contorts himself to try and regard his nemesis Elmer in a suitably Christian way. The moment he lets down his guard, his fury and hatred gush forth.)
To read the article, click here.
Herschel
