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 Terrifying, but Extremely Important August 30, 2008
This is doubtless one of the most frightening but truest, most thought-provoking, most important books I have read this year, right alongside Al Gore's The Assault on Reason The Assault on Reason. It confirmed, with extensive citation and quotes from the very ones propagating this dangerous agenda, what I was already aware of, but try my best to assume more benevolence of. I have long been conscious of the intolerance of the Christian right of those who are different from themselves, who have differing beliefs or customs or backgrounds or desires. I had no idea how much political influence they had until the 2004 election; I was so sure that Kerry had it in the bag, when I heard how many people had gone out to vote, until I learned that the bulk of those unexpected voters were evangelists who cared more about making sure homosexuals were denied equal rights and eradicating the right to choice than protecting their own rights as workers and as citizens, protecting their own financial interests, ending a senseless and costly war. That election sent shivers down my spine, and indeed I left the country for a year and a half after that--for unrelated reasons, but it made me glad to leave.
Now I am back; a new election is underway, and I see the Christian Right's influence more and more every day. They are the largest special interest group in the country, and they seek to destroy American democracy and the Constitution in its very name. I am terrified that if McCain and his right-wing VP pick win, we will be making still more concessions to this group whose ultimate goal is the repression and eventual eradication of all people who are not among their ranks. Hedges does nothing to assuage my fears--indeed, he stokes them. I am more afraid than I have ever been. Reading the way Christian textbooks have rewritten history and science to make it agree with their narrow beliefs, the way they promote intolerance towards other countries and other religions--there could not be a more appropriate title for the book than the one it has. His comparison of the dominionists to other totalitarian movements, including Islamic fundamentalist movements, communism, Nazism, Mussolini-fascism, ring extremely true. The parallels are clear, and he supports his claims with quotes from the mouths and the literature of those in charge of these movements, as well as including plenty of insight into the minds of those following blindly in these movements that seek to subjugate them and remove their rights. They fight avidly for their own repression. It's incredible, yet true.
An excellent book. I highly recommend it to anyone. The fact that Hedges comes from a religious background himself--having completed Harvard Divinity seminary--makes it all the more credible; one cannot dismiss it as a mere attack on religion by an atheist fundamentalist. I myself am an atheist, but I have always respected the rights of others to practice their own religions, whether or not I feel they actually benefit society in any meaningful way when compared to their destructive force. Then again, equally repressive regimes have been built in opposition to religion, so I suppose it is human nature ultimately that makes man strive for his own subjugation and destruction.
A must-read...especially in these crucial times, when yet another President is about to be elected. I only wish it would be read more widely before November than it probably will be.
 Get Set For Terror August 28, 2008
The reader should prepare himself for a terrifying look into the Religious Right's assault on religious freedom in America.
Mr. Hedges names this assault "dominionism." In the process of describing it, he reports many testimonies of those who were or still are caught in the web of the Religious Right's machinations. Such personal stories show how the Religious Right instills and exploits despair, fear and confusion. As deadly, is the Religious Right's efforts---reflecting an Orwellian world---to change the meaning of words. 'Life' for them means to die for Christ. 'Liberty' means obedience to the Religious Right leadership, suspending one's own thinking. 'Freedom' is slavery to self-sacrifice.
For instance, the Religious Right's call for the establishment in America of patriarchy is not some mis-placed attempt to rectify unjust attacks on American males. It is, instead, a commandment that all females quit their jobs or careers, remain in the home to care for family and children, obey without question the husband's say-so and submit to all other males---particular those in the church---in docile silence, compliance and self-sacrifice.
Many conservatives are beginning to re-think their support of the Religious Right. Good for them. Chris Hedges book will help them see that the primary goal of the Religious Right is not freedom of worship but the opposite.
 Done Once, Already August 26, 2008
This book covers essentially the same material as "American Theocracy" by Timothy Ferris. The main difference between the two, in my opinion, resides in Mr. Hedges's more impassioned tone. Mr. Hedges, to his credit, declares himself a religious partisan early in the book. It comes then as no surprise that he condemns the theological position of the "dominionists" against his own, more mainstream, heritage. While the book is well written, I couldn't escape the feeling that Mr. Hedges's passion brought his book into the same kind of panic-mongering of which he, rightly, accuses the dominionists.
American Fascists August 13, 2008
This book by Chris Hedges is an excellent explanation of the present United States internal and external agenda. It should be required reading for all educated people.
Strong language, valid points, ironic evangelical approach July 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Chris Hedges, a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and a graduate of the Harvard School of Divinity, takes his readers on an intelligent, well-cited, and frightening tour through the undeniable reasons every American should be wary of the Christian Right and its agenda to create and dominate a fascist regime. Right here. Right under our tolerant noses. His powerful language and repetitive theme, ironically somewhat like a 200-page sermon, was ultimately exhausting for this reader. But I do not deny his point: the awful paradox that when the tolerant tolerate intolerance, trouble is afoot. In a noisy world, important messages may have to be hollered to be heard. Perhaps in a culture of despair, warnings about dangerous solutions must be delivered as powerfully and forcefully as the pitches for those solutions.
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