Holy Terror! Part 1
I have been invited to do book reviews for the Speakeasy blogging network. It's a pretty cool dealio so I accepted the invite...
Yeah - this first one is kind of an explosive topic, but I guess that's just the way I roll (wait'll ya see the book that's on deck!)...I seem to find that I mix and mingle with and love people from diverse viewpoints. I have a penchant for trying to find common ground without compromising my own convictions.
For this topic I will state up front that I am politically independent with libertarian leanings. I support the rights of gay couples to join together in a legally binding committed relationship. I also support each church's right to choose whether or not to perform religious ceremonies for homosexual couples. I believe we all should be free to disagree and engage in healthy debate, but I don't care for bullying from either side of any issue or using the political system to override individual and religious liberties (for any religion, not just Christianity). While I believe that the nation was founded on principals consistent with mainstream Judeo-Christian faith, the same principals are also upheld in many other religions as well. I do not believe America should have any one 'official religion'.
Since this is an in-depth book, I have broken the review up into two parts.
.jpg)
The Book: Holy Terror: Lies the Christian Right Tells Us To Deny Gay Equality
The Author: Mel White
The Main Idea: Extreme Christian Fundamentalism aims to convince the masses that gay equality is the biggest problem facing America today. Fundamentalists have frightening plans for the country (and especially the gay community) through political power and indoctrination into a view of the absolute inerrancy of the Bible.
Part 1 Review: My friends, the enemy
What I liked: Mel White is an insider from both sides of the issue. He was raised as an evengelical Christian and still considers himself an evangelical Christian. He is also gay. As a ghost writer for a number of Christian Evengelicals (including Billy Graham and Pat Robertson) he has seen and heard first hand the ideas and opinions of the people he writes about. He is also careful to distinguish between evangelicals and (extreme) fundamentalists. He lists Billy Graham as a positive mentor and an example of the fact that 'all fundamentalists are evangelicals, but not all evengelicals are fundamentalists.' He titles the first section of the book 'My friends, the enemy', I believe as an attempt to illustrate the difficulty of having to stand against the fundamentalist leaders that he describes. He is not always successful, but at least he tried to humanize them.
White eventually confirms what I kept thinking as I read: Most literalists and even fundamentalists are selective. They may label homosexuality an abomination, but would not say that homosexuals or any sinner for that matter, should be put to death.
Mel and his partner run an organization called Soul Force to teach people a way of living (and protesting) peacefully based on the ways of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. He gets into more details in a later section of the book.
What I didn't like: I completely understand and agree with White's frustration, anger and disdain for the extreme ideas/goals of the leaders he discusses. Yet, I struggled a little bit when he complained that James Dobson had called him out with harsh accusations. White states, "His condemnation included, 'sinking degree of dishonesty,' 'distorting the truth', 'misrepresenting the facts'...Dude, as much as I wanted to feel bad for you, I am sitting here holding a book which is, in essence, a 350 page condemnation of Dobson and his gang. You have just spent numerous pages explaining how the leaders that you are at odds with are spreading 'lies, half-truths and hyperbole' -- My mama always taught me, 'don't dish it out if you can't take it.' It reminded me a little bit too much of the back and forth attack ads that run ad nauseum during election year.
White is concerned that the Tea Party movement could potentially be the new regime of 'Moral Majority'. He is careful to say that it is not the individuals but the overriding extreme ideas of the Tea Party movement that threaten the LGBT community. It's not that the case he makes doesn't have merit, it's just that I know a few people who are Tea Party supporters and I'm not convinced that they would be down with all of the control that the Moral Majority was after. Their main concerns seem to be related to the economy. So, my jury is still out on that one.
What I learned: Not just Holy Terror, but Holy CRAP...Some of these people's ideas are really scary. White does a pretty good job of lining up the varying levels of religious creepiness by the people who embody each level...The spectrum arrives at its most extreme at a guy named Rushdoony, whose ideas make him seem more boogity than the Tim Curry episodes of Criminal Minds.
According to White, Rushdoony and his fellow 'dominionist/reconstructionists' believe the constitution should be replaced by biblical (more specifically, Levitical) law. The laws are boiled down to eighteen capital crimes comprised from the list found in the book of Leviticus. Page 108 of 'Holy Terror' recounts a chilling exchange between White and a Reconstructionist pastor regarding how these folks would handle people who committed these crimes. I'm sorry to say that my gay friends would be dead. I suppose I would be as well since it is probably blasphemy to be a Christian who supports the civil rights of homosexuals...I am also sorry to say that I once had my own conversation with two 'Christian' people who would be gleeful to see laws enacted that punish gays, adulterers and blasphemers for their sins. Gave me the willies and I had hoped they were an anomaly...If White is correct, that might not be so....I am at a loss to figure out how to even begin to find common ground with that depth of oppression. Maybe the Holy Spirit will help me!
Stay vigilant, my peace and grace-loving fellows!
Film at 11
--
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.
Yeah - this first one is kind of an explosive topic, but I guess that's just the way I roll (wait'll ya see the book that's on deck!)...I seem to find that I mix and mingle with and love people from diverse viewpoints. I have a penchant for trying to find common ground without compromising my own convictions.
For this topic I will state up front that I am politically independent with libertarian leanings. I support the rights of gay couples to join together in a legally binding committed relationship. I also support each church's right to choose whether or not to perform religious ceremonies for homosexual couples. I believe we all should be free to disagree and engage in healthy debate, but I don't care for bullying from either side of any issue or using the political system to override individual and religious liberties (for any religion, not just Christianity). While I believe that the nation was founded on principals consistent with mainstream Judeo-Christian faith, the same principals are also upheld in many other religions as well. I do not believe America should have any one 'official religion'.
Since this is an in-depth book, I have broken the review up into two parts.
.jpg)
The Author: Mel White
The Main Idea: Extreme Christian Fundamentalism aims to convince the masses that gay equality is the biggest problem facing America today. Fundamentalists have frightening plans for the country (and especially the gay community) through political power and indoctrination into a view of the absolute inerrancy of the Bible.
Part 1 Review: My friends, the enemy
What I liked: Mel White is an insider from both sides of the issue. He was raised as an evengelical Christian and still considers himself an evangelical Christian. He is also gay. As a ghost writer for a number of Christian Evengelicals (including Billy Graham and Pat Robertson) he has seen and heard first hand the ideas and opinions of the people he writes about. He is also careful to distinguish between evangelicals and (extreme) fundamentalists. He lists Billy Graham as a positive mentor and an example of the fact that 'all fundamentalists are evangelicals, but not all evengelicals are fundamentalists.' He titles the first section of the book 'My friends, the enemy', I believe as an attempt to illustrate the difficulty of having to stand against the fundamentalist leaders that he describes. He is not always successful, but at least he tried to humanize them.
White eventually confirms what I kept thinking as I read: Most literalists and even fundamentalists are selective. They may label homosexuality an abomination, but would not say that homosexuals or any sinner for that matter, should be put to death.
Mel and his partner run an organization called Soul Force to teach people a way of living (and protesting) peacefully based on the ways of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. He gets into more details in a later section of the book.
What I didn't like: I completely understand and agree with White's frustration, anger and disdain for the extreme ideas/goals of the leaders he discusses. Yet, I struggled a little bit when he complained that James Dobson had called him out with harsh accusations. White states, "His condemnation included, 'sinking degree of dishonesty,' 'distorting the truth', 'misrepresenting the facts'...Dude, as much as I wanted to feel bad for you, I am sitting here holding a book which is, in essence, a 350 page condemnation of Dobson and his gang. You have just spent numerous pages explaining how the leaders that you are at odds with are spreading 'lies, half-truths and hyperbole' -- My mama always taught me, 'don't dish it out if you can't take it.' It reminded me a little bit too much of the back and forth attack ads that run ad nauseum during election year.
White is concerned that the Tea Party movement could potentially be the new regime of 'Moral Majority'. He is careful to say that it is not the individuals but the overriding extreme ideas of the Tea Party movement that threaten the LGBT community. It's not that the case he makes doesn't have merit, it's just that I know a few people who are Tea Party supporters and I'm not convinced that they would be down with all of the control that the Moral Majority was after. Their main concerns seem to be related to the economy. So, my jury is still out on that one.
What I learned: Not just Holy Terror, but Holy CRAP...Some of these people's ideas are really scary. White does a pretty good job of lining up the varying levels of religious creepiness by the people who embody each level...The spectrum arrives at its most extreme at a guy named Rushdoony, whose ideas make him seem more boogity than the Tim Curry episodes of Criminal Minds.
According to White, Rushdoony and his fellow 'dominionist/reconstructionists' believe the constitution should be replaced by biblical (more specifically, Levitical) law. The laws are boiled down to eighteen capital crimes comprised from the list found in the book of Leviticus. Page 108 of 'Holy Terror' recounts a chilling exchange between White and a Reconstructionist pastor regarding how these folks would handle people who committed these crimes. I'm sorry to say that my gay friends would be dead. I suppose I would be as well since it is probably blasphemy to be a Christian who supports the civil rights of homosexuals...I am also sorry to say that I once had my own conversation with two 'Christian' people who would be gleeful to see laws enacted that punish gays, adulterers and blasphemers for their sins. Gave me the willies and I had hoped they were an anomaly...If White is correct, that might not be so....I am at a loss to figure out how to even begin to find common ground with that depth of oppression. Maybe the Holy Spirit will help me!
Stay vigilant, my peace and grace-loving fellows!
Film at 11
--
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.
Comments