Max Blumenthal vs. The Far Right "God" Of Dumb Hate

For me reading Max Blumenthal's Republican Gomorrah--Inside The Movement That Shattered The Party, (Nation Books) is like looking into a mirror. That might be because Blumenthal extensively interviewed me and drew rather heavily on my book Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back as a reference for his in-depth exposé of what has gone so very wrong with the Republican Party. He's on my turf so I happen to know he's telling the truth as its not been told before. But there's more.

Republican Gomorrah is the first book that actually "gets" what's happened to the Republican Party and in turn what the Republicans have done to our country. The usual Democratic Party and/or progressive "take" on the Republican Party is that it's been taken over by a far right lunatic fringe of hate and hypocrisy, combining as it does, sexual and other scandals with moralistic finger wagging. But Blumenthal explains a far deeper pathology: it isn't so much religion as the psychosis and sadomasochism of the losers now called "Republicans" that drives the party. And the "Christianity" that shapes so much "conservative" thinking now is anything but Christian. It's a series of deranged personality cults.

The Religious Right/Republicans have perfected the method of capturing people in personal crisis and turning them into far right evangelical/far right foot soldiers. This explains a great deal that otherwise, to outsiders, seems almost inexplicable -- the why and wherefore of "Deathers" "Birthers" et al. Blumenthal brilliantly sums up this pathology as:

...a culture of personal crisis lurking behind the histrionics and expressions of social resentment. This culture is the mortar that bonds leaders and followers together.

Tracing the thinking of the fathers of the Republican Party, including my dad, the late Francis Schaeffer, who I teamed up with when I was a young man to help launch the Protestant wing of the "pro-life" movement, along with other such as Rousas John Rushdoony and the philanthropist Howard Ahmanson -- who used to donate generously to my far right work -- Blumenthal explains where the current Republican Party came from. He also details who its foundational thinkers were, and just why it's still so dangerous. (A threat proved again this summer as the gun-toting fringe derailed the health care reform debate.)

He has their number. For one thing this book -- at last! -- will forever put James Dobson where he belongs: onto the top of the list of the American national rogue's gallery of mean-spirited, even sadistic, cranks.

Blumenthal first came to my attention when he was doing his in-depth reporting on Sarah Palin. He was a guest on a TV program I was on too. There was something accomplished and in-depth about the quality of his reporting on religion that I hadn't seen from other progressive sources. I've been following his work since. Blumenthal understands the philosophy, psychology and religion of Religious Right figures like Palin, Dobson, Robertson et al in a way that no other reporter (with the exception of the always amazingly perceptive Jeff Sharlet author of The Family) does.

Now, having read Blumenthal's book I know why he seems to really understand the nuances of far right religion. No one else has ever investigated this subject with as much insight into the psychological sickness that is the basis of the Religious right's power to delude other people who are also needy and unstable.

In another time and place the despicable (and sometimes tragic figures) Blumenthal describes would be the leaders of, or the participants in, local lynch mobs, or the followers of the Ku Klux Klan. But today figures such as James Dobson, Pat Robertson, (the late) Jerry Falwell, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin have led a resentment-driven second American revolution, not just against Democrats and progressives but against the United States of America itself. And this group of outsiders (in every sense of that word ) now control one of our major political parties.

As I explained to Blumenthal when he interviewed me, one of the reasons I left the far right movement in the 1980s was because I perceived it becoming the bedrock of anti-Americanism. The worst things got the better we right wing activists liked it. We loved crisis. We manufactured crisis! Crisis (public or personal) would force the country to embrace our radical solution: a radical turn to Old Testament law that would put homosexuals to death, see adulterers stoned at the city gates and so forth.

There were exceptions to the hard edge, my late father Francis Schaeffer was one. And Blumenthal (in his chapter on Dad and I) describes how my father was a compassionate man who opened his ministry to all before something "snapped" after the Roe v. Wade decision when he became a leader in the pro-life movement.

But with a few exceptions (like my late father) most of the people described in Blumenthal's book have no "other side" to them. They are the sick bedrock of what, at any moment, may become a full-blown American fascism. (Sharlet has done great work on showing how these Religious Right folks have also invaded the US Military, especially the chaplaincy ranks.)

My one -- very slight -- criticism of Republican Gomorrah is that Blumenthal neglected to do something that would have bolstered his arguments and given them deeper credibility: introduce a bit of paradox and nuance into his book. He could have made a better case for the left by frankly looking at some of the extremism on the left that has played into the hands of the cynics who control the Religious Right: for instance the the way Roe v. Wade was (in the view of many liberal pro-choice advocates) a tactical mistake preempting what was already happening in states including California and New York, in terms of legalizing abortion, and thereby galvanizing the culture war as we know it. And in the same vein, perhaps when it comes to the current ethics of abortion and porn Blumenthal's case would be stronger if he had pointed out that there are many progressives, who have serious moral qualms on these issues as well.

That said Blumentha's case against the Religious Right is breathtakingly damning. What these folks want -- to destroy our pluralistic democracy and replace it with theocracy -- appears so far-fetched to most Americans that unfortunately their agenda is not taken seriously. The great service Blumenthal performs is to not only enlighten those who didn't grow up in the movement (as I did, sad to say) but to offer a genuine warning as to the seriousness of what these people will unleash if not stopped, then stopped again and again -- because they are here to stay. And they just happen to control the Republican Party!

Why should Blumenthal's book to be taken seriously? Take it from this former "insider" he knows what he's talking about. His thesis is less about politics than about the deviant psychology that people like Dobson have cashed in on by feeding delusion, victimhood and failure as a means through which to build a political movement. What Blumenthal reveals is the heart of the most dysfunctional and truly dangerous -- not to mention armed -- darkest reaches of our country.

What should we "do"? Read the book! Then fight like hell to keep Republicans out of power come what may. And maybe (note to progressives!) be a little less critical of President Obama and a little more grateful that he's in the White House!

Once in a while a book comes along about which one can say: If you love our country read this! Republican Gomorrah is one such book. One other thing: if you know any sane Republicans that would like to save what's left of their party beg them to read this book. If you have to beg them in the name of Jesus!

Frank Schaeffer is the author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back and the forthcoming Patience With God: Faith For People Who Don't Like Religion (Or Atheism)

Follow Frank Schaeffer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/frank_schaeffer

Comments

[knosiswar]

Congrats Max, I here your going on NPR. This is a knowledge war, keep fighting.

[JimReed]

I think most of them might actually have one of those "other sides" if you look for them. Your father might not be such a rare exception. Many do want good things for others, they just make bad decisions while following the group. It is possible that even Dobson might have some good side somewhere.

So why all these problems? Perhaps it stems from people thinking their religion (Christianity) is somehow connected to God. They can't reconcile their church being wrong when it is of God, and other people are not of God. They must work through the contradictions, but do it in a way that maintains the superiority of the church. Some few fall away, so the church always does what it can to keep the rest of the congregation in the faith. I don't know where all this leads, but it might be something entertaining to watch in the last years of life.

[Ginger47]

Great Blog by Frank Shaeffer

[Paul Baack]

Sounds like required reading.

Unfortunately, the people who SHOULD be reading it won't -- regular people, political moderates, with an uncomplicated love for their country, who don't see anything wrong with a little bit of religiosity in their politics. Use of the word "fascism" (even when apropos, as it is here,) is just going to scare them away.

[narrowway]

I am reluctant to say this because I so enjoy watching you leftists anguish over the Republicans, but it isn't the Republicans who are going to bring in a theocracy. It will be a few years yet, so you still have some time to try to implement your agenda, but there will be a theocracy in America, and in the rest of the world. The theocrat who will be in charge is not a Republican, but you will wish he were. Meanwhile, enjoy fretting over the Republicans and trying to make the world hospitible for the wicked.

[littleolwinemakerme]

Delusional much?

[MajorKong]

"We seek dominion" - Pat Robertson

'nuff said.

[Newcreation]

Dominion--wanting to see Jesus's teachings in our world-- things like bless those who persecute you, love your enemy, pray for those who despitefully use you, respect your elders, forgive.....yeah real scary stuff :)

[robiform]

Your screen name says more about your thinking (or lack thereof) than anything you post!!

Thank you, Frank Schaeffer, for another great blog, and for promoting Max Blumenthal, who has done so much to expose the fraud and hypocrisy of the so-called "religious right"!!

[DrLogic]

Since you can so accurately predict future events, mind giving me the MegaMillions numbers?

[lgillooly]

This is why we need a Fairness Doctrine. The Right has taken over AM radio and has their own cable channel. The evangelicals are on day and night as well. Whoever controls the message will control the people.

[suzc]

No. We do NOT need to stoop to their tactics. THEY are the ones who so embrace book banning and such, which is what the misnamed Fairness Doctrine would do to the airwaves. What we need is thinking people who are involved in government.

[FINJA]

Well put Mr. Schaeffer. Always an eye opening experience to read your posts.

It is becoming quite clear to me what the agenda of the far right truly is. This simply cannot happen.

We must stand firm on the side of reason! Fortunately the right is already busy discrediting itself (for example, the Obama school speech controversy). Their radicalism will only bring more attention to the fact that they are completely nuts

[oldpol2]

Frank Schaeffer, you are my hero. I am so enjoying your book. More importantly I believe that the courage you show in laying bare all your participation on the right is important in understanding what we are up against. The far right has hijacked our God and our country and hopefully this will help us take them back.

[WaimeaWidow]

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
-- Mahatma Gandhi

[oldpol2]

So true. It is a shame but not all are of this ilk. thankfully.

[DasBoot]

What's so strange though is the weird alliance between lower class white evangelicals and big corporations ("The Family" is all about elite power). Populists in this country used to be against the large corporations, but I suppose the Cold War created this idea of Christian capitalism. As Thomas Frank wrote, these people keep voting against their own economic interests.

[Indedave]

Actually the alliance has been noted for nearly 90 years, at least.

"The thinking conservative finds his chief allies in the self-complacency of comfortable mediocrity, in the apathy and stupidity of the toil-worn multitudes, and in the aggressive self-interest of the privileged classes." -- Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., "New Viepoints in American History," 1922 (The Macmillan Co.).

[DasBoot]

I will read Blumenthal's book when I have time, but Chris Hedges looked at the same people and summed the group up aptly: "American Fascists." Another must read.

I don't know how theoretical Blumenthal gets, but this interpretation of sado-masochism at the heart of fascism goes back to the early 1940s with Erich Fromm's book "Escape from Freedom." Fromm was a German Jew who had emigrated to the United States, and a psychologist associated with the Frankfurt School. Alienation from modern life leads many people to find salvation in complete identification with a leader. The deeper the crisis, the stronger the urge to forget one's own self and become part of a group. Still a great read that rings true watching the American hard right.

[ReealOne]

Thanks again for a GREAT article Frank. Please continue to help keep us vigilante against folks who may be he// bent on CONTROLLING this country (by pushing their warped agendas and beliefs on us all) or seeing it destroyed. We are starting to see each and everyday, the EXTREMISIM this group are capable of.... with all of the outright HATE AND BLANTANT LIES, and still calling themselves "christians".

Is it any wonder that most of us are completely turned off by their "religion", which most definitely does not represent a God of love and peace. Just look at how despicable these "so-called" christian republicans behave... and what's worst, they ACTUALLY do it in the name of God.

I can say one thing for certain, and its that the republican party has been EXTREMELY successful in helping the majority of us remove ANY doubts about where their intentions and loyalties. After stirring up hatefil division in this country, wishing harm to our president, OPPOSING EVERYTHING OUR PRESIDENT DOES BECAUSE THEY WANT HIM TO FAIL PERSONALLY (thereby, putting them back in charge to finish the destruction of this country) and showing a propensity for violence upon those who do not agree with them, the ONLY thing the've managed to prove is that after a summer of right-wing­nut/republ­ican histronics (which was off this planet)... who in their right mind would put the republican party back in charge of this country any time soon... if ever again?!

[Retrofuturistic]

Thank you, Mr. Schaeffer, for using the "f" word--- fascism. My comments are frequently repressed when I try to discuss this.

There has long been a close relationship between far-right religion and fascism. It happened in Iran when they kicked out the Shah and the Ayatollah took over. And it happened in Germany when they kicked out the Weimar Republic and Hitler took over. In both cases, a fascist entity took over and it was made possible by the strong support of religion. They know this in Europe, because they lived it. But, it isn't widely known in the U.S., because people here were told that Hitler was an "atheist". The same thing is very close to happening here. Very close.

The word "fascist" is avoided because it is considered an insult, somewhat how the right has demonized the word "liberal", but in this place at this time we need to use the word "fascist".

The Republican Party has become the party of Christian fascism, however unpleasant a truth that is for us all to face. The Democratic Party is what the GOP used to be. There is no party for progressives, for people on the left; I would like to see a progressive party.

[suzc]

I would like to see a Constitution Party. An Independent Thinkers Party. Elimination of the two-party stranglehold, which has devolved into the Far Left Fringe v. the Far Right Fringe, at least in Congress.

[sunny123]

Thank you Frank for once again opening my eyes to the major problems we, as progressives, face. We need you to continue opening our eyes. It is too easy to dismiss this as only a few people. It is not just a few people as we saw when they all came out during August.. They may be few but they are loud and don't listen to quiet reasonable arguements.

Yes, I have complained that I think President Obama has abanded those of us progressives who worked so hard to elect him. But he is till immesurably better than McCain would have been. The hate spewing talking heads only add to the fires that are lit.

We need you to continue to keep us on track and aware.

[knosiswar]

i will buy many copies, and others should to, and just drop them off in their mailboxes, and let them think God put it there.