Attack Of The Theocrats!: How The Religious Right Harms Us All — And What We Can Do About It (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
Not including references is an unforgivable sin. I've no problem with anecdotes — indeed I agree with Faircloth that they're necessary, in order to pique people's interest and activate their compassion — but the claims he makes necessitate references. Even if he wanted to keep the book thin and readable for the "average" person (a fine aim) the references could be put on a website. There is no excuse.As for the material, much of it is incredibly disturbing. Religious extremists on the Christian right do seem to hold a disproportionate amount of power in the US. (If indeed what he says is true. I am inclined to believe that it is, but that could be my own confirmation bias talking.) It is written in an upbeat, lively style. A quick, enjoyable read that panders to your already-held beliefs, if you're a passionate secularist.I was particularly looking forward to the "what we can do about it" part of the book. First, as I was aware, this is a book just about the United States, and much of the advice doesn't apply to elsewhere (I'm in Canada). Second, some of it is plain silly for the "average" person, such as running for office! Third, on a personal level, I was disappointed because I'm already doing many of the things (because I help run a branch of the Centre for Inquiry). I wanted something revolutionary and exciting, after hearing Faircloth's inspiring speech at the Imagine No Religion 3 conference. But I didn't find it here. However, if this book encourages more Americans to be less complacent about the erosion of the wall between church and state, that's a good thing. If it encourages some of them to do something about it (donating to and/or joining a branch of the Center for Inquiry or donating to American Atheists, for example), then that's fantastic. Concerned by faith-based initiatives, tax and regulatory exemptions for Christian "charities" (but which are conspicuously absent for the other religions out there, including Hinduism, which predates Judaism), Faircloth summons his biting sarcasm and thorough research skills for a well-reasoned clarion call to action. Although most of the theocrats he takes to task are Republicans, he does criticise Barack Obama for failing to remain faithful (no pun intended) to a pre-election promise.Chock full of trustworthy sources, Faircloth reveals that unfair, unequal legal standards are applied; one for the religious, and one for everyone else. Faith harming (in some cases degenerating to faith murder) by religious parents who believe in sin, lies by the Reagan administration linking pornography to violence, blackmailing foreign aid recipients on the condition that they forbid reproductive education for women are just the tip of this perniciously polluted iceberg.Perhaps most importantly, every issue identified by Faircloth here is paired with a reasonable solution that will provide real, tangible benefits for everyone, not just those who share a particular philosophy.Chapter 1Separation of church and state is being torn asunder. The First Amendment is being misconstrued and lied about.Jefferson explicitly stated the Founding Fathers' desire for a WALL of separation (which likely led to Texas attempting to remove him from the state's textbooks). There are numerous cases of faith torture and murder (when parents refuse to get their children even the most rudimentary care) are conducted under the banner of special exemptions for religiously-based "conscientious" objections. One particularly ghastly incident involved a child developing a tumour the size of a baseball on their shoulder. "Special" rights are a common "justification" used to deny equal marriage rights to same-sex couples. This misses the essence of the issue - love and informed, consenting adults. Religious verses are used to justify and promote violence. Let's face it, "Do not kill" is vastly outnumbered by edicts demanding the opposite in the book of Exodus by several dozen orders of magnitude. Rick Warren equated Michael Schiavo to Nazis. Caring more for the brain dead than for those who can still suffer will do that to one's moral sensibilities. Churches are rarely audited by the IRS, which only allows them to flout their loopholes in ever more brazen fashions, including setting up their ministers and their families in lavish multi-million dollar McMansions. Religious groups can fire whoever they wish, even in states with anti-discrimination laws. Numerous politicians advocate mandatory creation classesUnregulated church businesses (including gyms, daycare centres, etc) are exempt from the usual regulatory standards, leading to atrocious treatment of toddlers in religious daycare centres.Chapter 2 deals with the founding fathers' actual intentions, private writings, and, crucially, the Treaty of Tripoli, which explicitly states that the US is not founded on Christianity. Sorry Turek, you lose. Most of the Fathers would never be elected to Congress, let alone the Presidency, today.Chapter 3 is the longest, and in my estimation, the most crucial. It shows how laws that give special privileges and unearned exemptions to religious organisations hurts everybody, including Christians.Emergency contraception is being denied to women because pharmacists can cite "religious objections" to dispensing contraceptives. The gag rule and hurdles to women's reproductive rights in foreign countries, under penalty of losing crucial aid, leads to back-alley abortions and death for women. This must be repealed. At present, the rule's enforcement depends solely on who sits in the Whitehouse. Abstinence-only "education" continues to be funded, despite their proven failure, leading to higher rates of STDs/unwanted pregnancies/abortions. If pro-lifers truly wanted to reduce abortion rates (and help teens make mature decisions concerning sex) they would ditch this nonsense. But they don't. Opposition to ESCR, even when embryos would be discarded otherwise, further reveals their hypocrisy and inverted sense of priorities. Death with Dignity legislation (well overdue) in Oregon and Washington is based on compassion and individual choice. The sooner a federal law is passed permitting this final right, the better. Faith harming/murder is explored in greater detail, as are religious nurseries and day care centres. James Dobson & Daniel Pearl's abusive parenting policies are derived directly from the bible, showing how useless the "good" book is for raising children.Chapter 4 concerns sexual morality, true morality (harm vs benefits) and the hypocrisy of so-called pro-family groups (and let's not forget Ted Haggard). He is quite right to lambast the excessively PC left-wingers such as Andrea Dworkin.A repressive, Victorian-era (some would say Puritan) approach to sex is not healthy. Fortunately, it did not lead to Bill Clinton's defeat in 1996. Norman Vincent Peale, spiritual predecessor to the modern-day Prosperity Gospel. Instead of contributing aid to the world's most indigent and emaciated individuals, they con people out of their hard-earned salaries and wages and make a promise amounting to nothing more than "god will repay you sometime in the future." Most of these pitiable victims see nothing, the implication being that their reward will be in the afterlife (while the pastors live the good life in the here and now). Faircloth also spends a good amount of time on Marie Curie, Ben Franklin, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and other secularists who have contributed to true charities, improving human well-being by leaps and bounds.And that's just the first half of the book. The second begins with fifty of the most vile, hateful and extreme "faithful" fundamentalists in Congress, who wield a disproportionate amount of power over all other Americans. Anti-gay hatred, tinfoil-esque conspiracies and whack-job tea party succor are just the appetizer. This book is a much-needed wake-up call to America in the 21st century, and we all owe Faircloth and debt of gratitude for writing this book.
What do You think about Attack Of The Theocrats!: How The Religious Right Harms Us All — And What We Can Do About It (2012)?
Though I am sympathetic to his cause, this book is repetitive and boring.
—joe
Decent book. Very short. Not a lot of detail. Good message, however.
—flies
