Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right

The bestselling author of Stranger at the Gate provides an inside expose of the Christian Right's agenda-and a playbook in how to resist it.

This Fall's midterm elections will see much discussion about the enhanced power of the Christian fundamentalist Right, leaving many people to wonder: just who are these people and what exactly do they want? What are their ultimate goals? The Reverend Mel White, a deeply religious man who sees fundamentalism as "evangelical Christian orthodoxy gone cultic," believes that it is not a stretch to say that the true goal of today's fundamentalists is to break down the wall that separates church and state, superimpose their "moral values" on the U.S. Constitution, replace democracy with theocratic rule, and ultimately create a new "Christian America" in their image. White's new book, Religion Gone Bad, is a wake-up call to all of us to take heed.

White is singularly qualified to write this expose of the Christian Right because he himself was a true believer who served the evangelical movement as pastor, professor, filmmaker, television producer, author, and ghostwriter for such fundamentalist leaders as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Billy Graham, all of whom he got to know well. As he writes, "These are not just Neocons dressed in religious drag. These men see themselves as gurus called by God to rescue America from unrighteousness. They believe this is a Christian nation that must be returned forcibly to its Christian roots."

He is also a gay man, who made news when he came out more than twelve years ago. White has gained a unique understanding of the fundamentalist agenda because, since the fall of "godless Communism," homosexuality and abortion have become the primary targets through which fundamentalists have created fear, raised money, and mobilized recruits. Religion Gone Bad documents the thirty-year war that fundamentalist Christians have waged against homosexuality and gays and lesbians and offers dramatic, heartbreaking evidence that fundamentalist leaders-Protestant and Catholic alike-are waging nothing less than a "holy war" (jihad) against sexual minorities. By focusing on the current plight of gay people in this country, White addresses the wider issue that fundamentalist Christianity-like fundamentalist Islam-has become a threat not just to gays, but to all Americans who disagree with fundamentalist Christian "values."

The bestselling author of Stranger at the Gate provides an inside exposé of the Christian Right's agenda-and a playbook in how to resist it.

This Fall's midterm elections will see much discussion about the enhanced power of the Christian fundamentalist Right, leaving many people to wonder: just who are these people and what exactly do they want? What are their ultimate goals? The Reverend Mel White, a deeply religious man who sees fundamentalism as "evangelical Christian orthodoxy gone cultic," believes that it is not a stretch to say that the true goal of today's fundamentalists is to break down the wall that separates church and state, superimpose their "moral values" on the U.S. Constitution, replace democracy with theocratic rule, and ultimately create a new "Christian America" in their image. White's new book, Religion Gone Bad, is a wake-up call to all of us to take heed.

White is singularly qualified to write this exposé of the Christian Right because he himself was a true believer who served the evangelical movement as pastor, professor, filmmaker, television producer, author, and ghostwriter for such fundamentalist leaders as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Billy Graham, all of whom he got to know well. As he writes, "These are not just Neocons dressed in religious drag. These men see themselves as gurus called by God to rescue America from unrighteousness. They believe this is a Christian nation that must be returned forcibly to its Christian roots."

He is also a gay man, who made news when he came out more than twelve years ago. White has gained a unique understanding of the fundamentalist agenda because, since the fall of "godless Communism," homosexuality and abortion have become the primary targets through which fundamentalists have created fear, raised money, and mobilized recruits. Religion Gone Bad documents the thirty-year war that fundamentalist Christians have waged against homosexuality and gays and lesbians and offers dramatic, heartbreaking evidence that fundamentalist leaders-Protestant and Catholic alike-are waging nothing less than a "holy war" (jihad) against sexual minorities. By focusing on the current plight of gay people in this country, White addresses the wider issue that fundamentalist Christianity-like fundamentalist Islam-has become a threat not just to gays, but to all Americans who disagree with fundamentalist Christian "values."

Library Journal

Christian activist White is a refugee of fundamentalist organizations, a conservative Christian minister, and gay. In his 1994 autobiography, Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America, he explained why he feels that homosexuality is natural to his lifestyle, and in Religion Gone Bad, he documented at great length even to the point of tediousness that Christian fundamentalists are on a militant crusade to prove that homosexuality is unnatural, elective, and a curable social disease. What makes White's testimony believable is that he knows fundamentalism from the inside, since he once worked closely as a ghostwriter for a number of fundamentalists. His strongest critique here of the Christian right focuses on its political power tactics, its efforts to show only one side of an issue, its push to make gay marriage illegal, and its attempt to have the Bible replace the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. One of the more positive aspects of the book is the last chapter, which describes the work of Soulforce (www.soulforce.org), the organization of which White is cofounder and president. Soulforce is dedicated to ending religious-based bias against gay and lesbian Americans and embraces nonviolent tactics as a way of furthering programs of social justice for sexual minorities. Recommended for all libraries. James A. Overbeck, Atlanta-Fulton P.L. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Mel White leads the charge against Christian fundamentalism in America. A former ghostwriter, consultant, and confidant to figures such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Oliver North, White famously broke with the Christian Right in the 1990s, coming out as a gay man and writing his popular memoir, Stranger at the Gate. White lives with his partner in Lynchburg, Virginia-across the street from Jerry Falwell's church.