Ten of the Best in Understanding the Religious Right.

There can be no complete understanding of Australian Christianity without an understanding of the American religious right. Not everyone will agree about what are “the best”, but the following have helped this minister.

1.Prophecy and Politics:Militant Evangelists on the Road to Nuclear War,Grace Halsell, 1986. One of the very early analysis of the television evangelists,including Robertson,Copeland and De Haan and their message that “only a nuclear war will bring Christ back to earth”.

2.Spiritual Warfare:The Politics of the Christian Right,Sarah Diamond,1989.A basic text in exposing “the enduring political clout of the Christian Right,from its control of a multibillion dollar broadcasting industry to its counterinsurgent “missionary work in the Third World”.Organisations such as Campus Crusade for Christ,World Vision,YWAM,Youth for Christ,and Wycliffe were very much a part of the beginnings of the religious right..

3.Tempting Faith:An Inside Story of Political Seduction,David Kuo,2006. A White House staffer in the president’s Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives,Kuo’s book is a must read for the Australian church as it increasingly becomes dependent on state cash.

4.Kingdom Coming:The Rise of Christian Nationalism,Michelle Goldberg, 2007. For Goldberg,it is the threads of “homophobia’,”intelligent design and the war on enlightenment”,the “abstinence” industry, and the a”faith based gravy train”, which are some of the building blocks of Christian nationalism.

5.American Fascists:The Christian Right and the War on America,Chris Hedges,2007.A provocative title but a good beginning if you want to understand something of the current involvement of the Christian dominionists.

6. Faith in the Halls of Power:How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite,D.Michael Lindsay,2007. Published by Oxford University Press, this will tell you all about,”who the real evangelical power brokers are,how they rose to prominence,and what they’re doing with their clout”. Among other things it has information on shadowy groups such as the Arlington Group and the ultra secretive Council for National Policy, which provide both strategy and cash for much of the religious rights activities.

7.The Jesus Machine:How James Dobson,Focus on the Family,and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War,Dan Gilgoff,2007. Dobson has been probably the most influential member of the religious right;almost every political or religious organisation of the right,bares the impression of Dobson’s footprints.Responsible churches and their ministers will check out Gilgoff’s book before they involve themselves with any of the Focus on the Family programs operating in Australia.

8.Allies for Armageddon:The Rise of Christian Zionism,Victoria Clark,2007. Written by a British journalist,it is a detailed analysis and impact of one of the most significant dimensions of the American religious right.Christian Zionism,”is significant for its committment and wealth,and for its peculiar relationship to global politics”. Christian Zionism is alive and flourishing in Australia. Confused or uncertain about who and what it means,then this is a good starting point.

9.God Under Howard:The Rise of the Religious Right in Australian Politics,Marion Maddox, 2005. Unlike USA there are few academics,theological colleges,journalists or clergy much interested in the religious right in Australia.No think tank or university sees it as an area of serious analysis.Maddox’s book is one of the most significant theological books published in Australia,yet apart from the odd conference and review, most clergy and churches appeared to ignore it.

10.People in Glass Houses:An Insiders Story of a Life In and Out of Hillsong,Tanya Levin,2007. Hillsong is probably Australia’s best known mega church,and Levin’s book is a personal account of her involvement. Blogs, which fleshed out even more detail of Hillsong’s activities, confirmed much of Levin’s experiences. (These blogs no longer exist).

Alan Matheson April 2008