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A review by walkerct
Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism by Michelle Goldberg
4.0
Yeah, probably shouldn't have read this right after finishing the first season of The Handmaid's Tale...
I would rate this maybe just a shade under 4 stars. Altogether it's a compellingly written, often alarming, and informative peek into the world of Christian nationalism and Christian Reconstructionism in the United States. To be clear, it isn't an evaluation of US Christianity in general, nor is it even an evaluation of evangelical Christianity in the country. Rather, it focuses on a minority of conservative Christians who advocate for varying levels of theocratic influence over, and sometimes direct control of, local and federal government. It's also not a neutral treatment of the topic. Goldberg clearly states that she is deeply disturbed by this movement, and advocates for active measures to be taken to curb its influence.
The book, which was published in 2006, gives a brief history of the movement, but largely covers its political ascendance in the 70s-80s with special focus on its actions around the time of George W. Bush's reelection. Major topics covered include the move to prevent gay marriage laws, the attempt to undermine evolutionary theory in public schools, Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the fight against abortion rights and to push abstinence-only sex education, and the parallel strategies of either cultivating and appointing Christian nationalist jurists or of passing legislation in an attempt to strip the judiciary of the power to oversee cases involving religious subject matter.
The most interesting and unsettling aspect of the book for me is that, although people with extreme Christian nationalist or Reconstructionist beliefs make up a tiny percentage of Christians in the United States, their power to influence political and cultural opinion in the country is extremely strong. A relatively small number of people, like David Barton, James Dobson, Michael Farris, James D. Kennedy, Roy Moore, Marvin Olaskey, Rod Parsley, Tony Perkins, Pat Robertson wield a vast amount of influence. During the George W. Bush administration their power was greatly magnified, with many of them directing the distribution of taxpayer dollars to their or similar organizations. Additionally, many of their associates were appointed to government positions where they were able to directly undermine the separation of church and state protections present in the Constitution. Reading this ten years later, it's a wonder that we made it through that time with any secular liberties at all. It would be interesting to hear from Goldberg about how she thinks things stand now. After eight years of Barack Obama and six months of Donald Trump progress seems to have been uneven on both sides of the fight.
Finally, though I feel that Goldberg was largely even-handed with her account, there are a number of times where her self-confessed cosmopolitanism shows itself in some less than constructive ways. For example, her description of exurban spaces is a tad on the dramatic side: "Yet the brutal, impersonal utilitarianism of the strip mall and office park architecture---its perversely ascetic refusal to make a single concession to aesthetics---recalls the Stalinist monstrosities imposed on Communist countries. The banality is aggressive and disorienting." I also questioned some of her suggestions for allaying the situation politically. For instance, she suggests abolishing the Electoral College (which, please, yes) but she goes on to suggest breaking up some of the larger states into several parts (for instance, making New York City its own state) as a means of creating more liberal Senate seats. That strategy doesn't sit well with me for a number of reasons, not least of which is that I feel it would polarize our government even more strongly.
In summary, though it could have dug into some of its subject matter more deeply, I enjoyed this book. Though it's somewhat dated now, it still provides a lot of useful insights into extremist Christian society.
I would rate this maybe just a shade under 4 stars. Altogether it's a compellingly written, often alarming, and informative peek into the world of Christian nationalism and Christian Reconstructionism in the United States. To be clear, it isn't an evaluation of US Christianity in general, nor is it even an evaluation of evangelical Christianity in the country. Rather, it focuses on a minority of conservative Christians who advocate for varying levels of theocratic influence over, and sometimes direct control of, local and federal government. It's also not a neutral treatment of the topic. Goldberg clearly states that she is deeply disturbed by this movement, and advocates for active measures to be taken to curb its influence.
The book, which was published in 2006, gives a brief history of the movement, but largely covers its political ascendance in the 70s-80s with special focus on its actions around the time of George W. Bush's reelection. Major topics covered include the move to prevent gay marriage laws, the attempt to undermine evolutionary theory in public schools, Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the fight against abortion rights and to push abstinence-only sex education, and the parallel strategies of either cultivating and appointing Christian nationalist jurists or of passing legislation in an attempt to strip the judiciary of the power to oversee cases involving religious subject matter.
The most interesting and unsettling aspect of the book for me is that, although people with extreme Christian nationalist or Reconstructionist beliefs make up a tiny percentage of Christians in the United States, their power to influence political and cultural opinion in the country is extremely strong. A relatively small number of people, like David Barton, James Dobson, Michael Farris, James D. Kennedy, Roy Moore, Marvin Olaskey, Rod Parsley, Tony Perkins, Pat Robertson wield a vast amount of influence. During the George W. Bush administration their power was greatly magnified, with many of them directing the distribution of taxpayer dollars to their or similar organizations. Additionally, many of their associates were appointed to government positions where they were able to directly undermine the separation of church and state protections present in the Constitution. Reading this ten years later, it's a wonder that we made it through that time with any secular liberties at all. It would be interesting to hear from Goldberg about how she thinks things stand now. After eight years of Barack Obama and six months of Donald Trump progress seems to have been uneven on both sides of the fight.
Finally, though I feel that Goldberg was largely even-handed with her account, there are a number of times where her self-confessed cosmopolitanism shows itself in some less than constructive ways. For example, her description of exurban spaces is a tad on the dramatic side: "Yet the brutal, impersonal utilitarianism of the strip mall and office park architecture---its perversely ascetic refusal to make a single concession to aesthetics---recalls the Stalinist monstrosities imposed on Communist countries. The banality is aggressive and disorienting." I also questioned some of her suggestions for allaying the situation politically. For instance, she suggests abolishing the Electoral College (which, please, yes) but she goes on to suggest breaking up some of the larger states into several parts (for instance, making New York City its own state) as a means of creating more liberal Senate seats. That strategy doesn't sit well with me for a number of reasons, not least of which is that I feel it would polarize our government even more strongly.
In summary, though it could have dug into some of its subject matter more deeply, I enjoyed this book. Though it's somewhat dated now, it still provides a lot of useful insights into extremist Christian society.