The Things That Matter Most

Ray Olson

Rush Limbaugh enthusiastically introduces this book, and on the strength of his round rightness' recommendation as well as columnist and commentator Thomas' own popularity, HarperCollins/Zondervan has ordered a 100,000-copy first printing. Rush's roots audience will easily go for Thomas, but softer Rushophiles may find him more resistible. Not because his ideals are different from Rush's or bad; few would argue that the things of Thomas' title--"faith in a personal God who is knowable, family, freedom to pursue one's dreams, and keeping most of the gain one gets through hard and honest work"--are "not" good for individuals and for society. Rather it's because Thomas so often misrepresents history and those he thinks are his adversaries. He seems to think, for instance, that the theological notion of the death of God was a creation of 1960s political radicals; he implies that New Left guru Paul Goodman "approved" of the reality of his perception that in the 1950s only scoundrels made appeals to patriotism and community spirit--Goodman certainly did not; he presents the Library Bill of Rights as something ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom concocted in the mid-1980s to apologize for smut. These portrayals and others are factually and intellectually false. Thomas is much better when he argues not historically but as a moralist about contemporary events and popular culture. Then he speaks to our hearts and souls quite effectively indeed.