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unwisely 's review for:
The Family
by Jeff Sharlet
I am waffling over how to rate this book - am super-glad I read it, but didn't really *enjoy* reading it. Like a difficult film - you think about it later, but you're glad when it's over. Anyway, this took me *forever* to read. Sometimes that's because the book is just boring, but this time was because I was so annoyed by the subject matter that I had to take breaks. (And unlike [b:I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon|573106|I'll Sleep When I'm Dead The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon|Crystal Zevon|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175904355s/573106.jpg|560123], this one was on hold at the library, so my keeping it longer than I had it checked out will cost me. But, ok.
So, yeah. This book talks about the pervasive creepy version of Christianity that has apparently taken over most of the US government and foreign policy, and frankly I kind of want to go make myself a tinfoil hat and hide under the covers. I mean, I grew up mainline Protestant and rural, so the options for activities were pretty much sports or church. I was bad at sports so was heavily involved in church activities (even at *other people's churches*, yes really), mostly because they involved memorizing things, which I was good at. So, I am more than a little familiar with Xtian scripture....and this "personal relationship with Jesus" stuff appears to ignore the Bible (someone quoted in there - and I didn't write this down - calls the Sermon on the Mount "kooky") and reimagines some sort of Chicago-School-the-free-market-will-save-us-all-women-are-second-class-citizens-screw-the-poor-rich-and-powerful-people-are-chosen-by-God thing that is more or less the direct opposite of my churchly upbringing. I was horrified.
I'm not sure what the counter to all of this is - they're writing textbooks and shaping their version of history...and they seem to be growing and taking over. Eep.
So, yeah. This book talks about the pervasive creepy version of Christianity that has apparently taken over most of the US government and foreign policy, and frankly I kind of want to go make myself a tinfoil hat and hide under the covers. I mean, I grew up mainline Protestant and rural, so the options for activities were pretty much sports or church. I was bad at sports so was heavily involved in church activities (even at *other people's churches*, yes really), mostly because they involved memorizing things, which I was good at. So, I am more than a little familiar with Xtian scripture....and this "personal relationship with Jesus" stuff appears to ignore the Bible (someone quoted in there - and I didn't write this down - calls the Sermon on the Mount "kooky") and reimagines some sort of Chicago-School-the-free-market-will-save-us-all-women-are-second-class-citizens-screw-the-poor-rich-and-powerful-people-are-chosen-by-God thing that is more or less the direct opposite of my churchly upbringing. I was horrified.
I'm not sure what the counter to all of this is - they're writing textbooks and shaping their version of history...and they seem to be growing and taking over. Eep.