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*The crucial Ohio get-out-the-vote effort that lifted Bush over Kerry. *The Terri Schiavo controversy. *The push for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. *Attacks on Roe v. Wade. *"Intelligent design" in our science curriculum. The evangelical right has pushed all of these initiatives, led by the immense behind-the-scenes influence of Dr. James Dobson, the founder and chairman of Focus on the Family: an organization that has grown from its roots as a local parenting advice center to a powerful ministry that broadcasts Dr. Dobson each day on more than 3,000 radio and 80 television stations in the U.S. alone. Dobson has supplanted Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Ralph Reed as the spokesman for tens of millions of American evangelical Christians--even though Dobson is not a minister, but a family therapist with a doctorate in child development. Dobson maintains that the American political and social spectrums are firmly rooted in a centuries-old Christian tradition--one that has come under siege beginning in the 1960s, spear-headed by court rulings that have undermined the necessity of religion in public life. With the support of evangelical followers, Dobson has garnered more and support than many ever thought possible and has harnessed this power to wage a crusade in support of strengthening abortion restrictions and establishing anti-gay rights litigation. "The Jesus Machine" is the first book to examine Focus on the Family as the cutting edge of the larger evangelical movement, backing what many view to be goals in common with the current political agenda of the Bush administration, as it works to become the voice of mainstream America. Through exhaustive research, Dan Gilgoff, a Senior Reporter for US News & World Report, exposes the intricacies of the Focus on the Family's rallying cry and the drastic implications they hold for the future of America's political system.… (more)
User reviews
One thing I found a bit troubling was Gilgoff's implicit assumption that the Democrats need to "get religion" in order to win elections. In fact, perhaps they need to communicate common interests that exist between secular Americans and religious Americans, but "becoming religious" is not the right way to go; as he points out, it abandons the Constitution's proviso that there be no religious test for political office. Given the fact that Gilgoff cites, that secular Americans are the fastest growing demographic -- especially among young people -- it's clear that part of the reason for the politics of fear, manipulation, and outright deception on the right is that their constituencies are becoming smaller and smaller proportion of the voting public.
Gilgoff seems optimistic that the evangelicals will potentially shift to the Democrats if they (evangelicals) continue to focus on issues like poverty and human rights. I'd say that the Dems should be open to working with anyone who'll help them with their agenda of helping the least-advantaged parts of our society. But the Democrats shouldn't sell their "soul" for a few votes. They don't need to do that in order to win elections. They just need to stand up and speak clearly and forthrightly about the values that the Democratic party stands for.