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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
Right Wing Conspiracy Theorists: The Jews are controlling the world from behind the scenes!!!1!
Meanwhile a literal Christian Theocratic Cabal with members and friends in some of the highest seats of American government have been shaping government policy into slowly marching the country toward a Christian Theocracy.
I am not being hyperbolic when I say that I hated almost everyone in this book. Not because they are christian, unlike them I actually believe in freedom of religion, but because they have stripped away any of the positive aspects of christianity, care for the less fortunate and loving thy neighbor. They have popularized a "free market capitalist" form of christianity that focuses on "what religion can do for me?" They use religion as a shield in their quest for power and they will align themselves with anyone as long as it furthers their goal of a christian theocratic nation and world. I'm talking literal genocidal dictators, numerous in fact. And they do it all with a straight face because they believe in their twisted way that anyone put in a place of power has been ordained by god and so it is through his will that they do unspeakable acts. I seethed too many times to count throughout my reading because I was so angry at what they had done. And the worst part is, in the over ten years since this book came out, these types of people have only gotten more powerful and have continued pushing restrictive theocratic policies that force citizens to live by the morals and practices that these "christians" deem correct.
Meanwhile a literal Christian Theocratic Cabal with members and friends in some of the highest seats of American government have been shaping government policy into slowly marching the country toward a Christian Theocracy.
I am not being hyperbolic when I say that I hated almost everyone in this book. Not because they are christian, unlike them I actually believe in freedom of religion, but because they have stripped away any of the positive aspects of christianity, care for the less fortunate and loving thy neighbor. They have popularized a "free market capitalist" form of christianity that focuses on "what religion can do for me?" They use religion as a shield in their quest for power and they will align themselves with anyone as long as it furthers their goal of a christian theocratic nation and world. I'm talking literal genocidal dictators, numerous in fact. And they do it all with a straight face because they believe in their twisted way that anyone put in a place of power has been ordained by god and so it is through his will that they do unspeakable acts. I seethed too many times to count throughout my reading because I was so angry at what they had done. And the worst part is, in the over ten years since this book came out, these types of people have only gotten more powerful and have continued pushing restrictive theocratic policies that force citizens to live by the morals and practices that these "christians" deem correct.
unfortunately my cat stepped on my phone at an inopportune moment and sent me three hours back, so i spent an hour or so thinking “well this is pretty repetitive” unfairly before i realized what happened. this is to say that i find the pacing hard to judge, lol.
his tracing of fundamentalism in the usa from jonathan edwards to today is interesting and informative (though again, i listened to some of it twice, so i did find it boring at times… because of my fuckign cat). the actual political machinations of the family feel like the most important content and was given relatively little time (again, perhaps because i had an extra hour of history because of my fucking CAT!).
i suspect that for christians and cultural christians a lot of this will feel extremely SHOCKING! and SURPRISING! perhaps i’m a cynic, perhaps it’s because i’m not christian and have no preexisting conception of what american christianity Is or Should Be, perhaps perhaps, but mostly i felt that even when i didn’t know something it may have been nauseating but not unexpected. all valuable stuff though.
3.5, rating low because i didn’t love the narrator tbh. and because of my fucking cat
his tracing of fundamentalism in the usa from jonathan edwards to today is interesting and informative (though again, i listened to some of it twice, so i did find it boring at times… because of my fuckign cat). the actual political machinations of the family feel like the most important content and was given relatively little time (again, perhaps because i had an extra hour of history because of my fucking CAT!).
i suspect that for christians and cultural christians a lot of this will feel extremely SHOCKING! and SURPRISING! perhaps i’m a cynic, perhaps it’s because i’m not christian and have no preexisting conception of what american christianity Is or Should Be, perhaps perhaps, but mostly i felt that even when i didn’t know something it may have been nauseating but not unexpected. all valuable stuff though.
3.5, rating low because i didn’t love the narrator tbh. and because of my fucking cat
challenging
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
It is like a college textbook of the raise of evangelicalism and politics. Started great with the writers experience then turned SO dense
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
conservative christian beliefs are the driving force of change in the US government. i think the family is tied if not surpasses AIPAC in amount of slimy influence they wield.
Lot's of really good history and reporting. For me there were some dull streaks in the book. Also at times I thought Sharlet was coming from an overly paranoid perspective, but in the end I think he came out pretty balanced.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Lots of information, on a cult like organization called The Family, its origins and what their goals seem to be. In light of current events, an interesting read. It is a read that time needs to be set aside to get the most out of it. I listened to the audiobook. Overall found it very topical despite being written over 10 years ago. It is disturbing, I'm definitely ready for lighter reading.
informative
medium-paced