The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us [Hardcover]

Rabbi James Rudin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2005

The Baptizing of America: Politics, Piety, and the Coming Theocracy exposes the systematic campaign by Christian fundamentalists to co-opt and take over every "room" of American society from the bedroom to the school room, hospital room, operating room, courtroom, work room, reading room and newsroom.

This book focuses on the aggressive war currently being led by fundamentalist Christians to "baptize America." It is a battle that will determine whether the United States remains a spiritually vital country but without an officially established religion, or whether it will become "Christianized," a "faith-based nation" in which fundamentalist Christianity will be the sole legal dominant religion throughout the land. The war will decide whether America follows the path of many other nations and becomes a theocracy not unlike Iran and the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Political controversies ranging from same-sex marriage to the Terry Schiavo case have brought increased public attention to the agenda of the religious right. Rudin, a syndicated columnist and board member of the American Jewish Committee, believes the efforts of Christian conservatives to turn their moral philosophy into law are an "immediate and profound threat to our republic." He unleashes much impassioned rhetoric in rebutting critics who find his totalitarian vision of a Christian police state excessive, but repetitive use of the term "Christocrats" to describe his political opponents becomes off-putting, if not downright offensive. For sure, Rudin isn't the only one for whom recent Harry Potter book burnings are a chilling reminder of the Nazis, but even the mere existence of Christian-themed cable networks fills him with dread. There is a significant political debate to be discussed here, and Rudin occasionally hits upon it, but too often his argument trickles away with vague warnings. What comes across as a personal distaste for conservative evangelicals derails a much-needed discussion of the consequences of religion-based political advocacy. (Jan. 5)
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About the Author

Over the past 35 years, Rabbi James Rubin devoted much of his time to observing and working with the evangelical and fundamentalist Christian groups in the United States. He is currently the American Jewish Committee's Senior Interreligious Advisor and a member of that organization’s board of governors.

During his tenure as Director of the AJC's Interreligious Affairs Department, the AJC became the internationally acknowledged leader in Christian-Jewish and Muslim-Jewish relations. In that capacity, Rudin served as the leader of many conferences both in the United States and overseas. He is the past chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, and he has participated in ten meetings with Pope John Paul II. Rabbi Rudin has also participated in historic meetings with the World Council of Churches in Geneva and with Eastern Orthodox Christian leaders in Greece.

He has worked in close consultation with leaders of the well-known Oberammergau Passion Play that is presented every ten years in Germany. It was his leadership efforts that resulted in many positive changes in the portrayal of Jews and Judaism at Oberammergau in 1990 and again in 2000.

Rabbi Rudin was a founder of both the National Interreligious Task Force on Soviet Jewry and the National Interreligious Task Force on Black-Jewish Relations. He currently serves as a member of the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, an interdisciplinary group that focuses on bioethical legislation and issues. Rabbi Rudin was also a member of the Camp David/Presidential Retreat Interfaith Chapel Committee and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission.

Rabbi Rudin is a prolific writer, providing weekly commentaries for the Religion News Service (RNS)/Newhouse Syndicate since 1991. His articles have appeared in numerous publications and he has lectured throughout the world. He has been a frequent guest on many radio and television programs including NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, PBS, NPR, BBC, along with German, Japanese, Korean, Polish and Israeli TV networks.

Before joining the AJC in 1968, Rabbi Rudin served congregations in Kansas City, Missouri and Champaign, Illinois. He was also a United States Air Force Chaplain in Japan and Korea. In 1964 he participated in an interreligious, inter racial voting rights drive in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press (November 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560257970
• ISBN-13: 978-1560257974
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,129,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jewish expert on Christians pens dire prediction of an imminent theocracy., January 28, 2006

By 

[e-mail] "Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us (Hardcover)

In his new book, The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us, Rabbi James Rudin declares that the prospect of an ascendant religious right is the most urgent threat confronting us. Rudin, whose understanding of Christian trends comes from decades of interreligious relations work for the American Jewish Committee, sees fundamentalist Christians increasingly imposing their religious values through government power and intimidation.

Rudin warns that the security Jews have drawn from the constitutional separation of church and state is about to end. Also imperiled, writes Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak of JewsOnFirst in his review, is the sense of safety Jews acquired after the world absorbed the lessons of World War II. "For many Americans, especially American Jews and many of their liberal rabbis, still moored in that sense of safety, The Baptizing of America will come as a shock." Go to read the review on www.JewsOnFirst.org. <http://www.jewsonfirst.org/05a/sep046.html>

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Accurate and surprisingly objective, November 8, 2006

By 

L. L Teuling "meloroze" (McAllen, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us (Hardcover)

I grew up in an evangelical Christian home. In fact, I often tell people that I cut my teeth on a Scofield Reference Bible. My father was (and still is) an artist-evangelist who combined preaching with his awesome art ability into a unique ministry. One of the advantages of his work was that we got to travel a lot, and I became very well acquainted with the culture Rabbi Rudin describes in this book.

I found the Rabbi's description of the Christian evangelical culture to be quite accurate. In fact, I would respectfully disagree with those who say that Rabbi Rubin has written an anti-Christian book. He is very careful, in fact, to show that not all evangelical Christians are involved in the militant right-wing activity of the Religious Right. His chapter "Who Are the Evangelical Christians?" shows an accurate view of it as well as how things have changed. And Rabi Rubin has worked towards peaceful ends with Christian groups. And I agree with most (not all) of Rabbi Rubin's observations.

Also interesting is the complex relationship between Christians and Jews at the present time. Any thinking Christian is going to need to treat the Jewish people well - given the fact that Jesus Himself was a Jew. This includes people who don't accept Christ as the Messiah, too. There is no New Testament mandate to persecute Jews who don't embrace the Christian message. And much of the evangelical culture does, indeed, support Israel's right to exist as a nation. But as Rabbi Rubin correctly points out, sometimes the relationship seems inconsistent.

He covers many areas - including the religious right's attempts to enforce Biblical laws on the bedroom, schoolroom, hospital room, courtroom, newsroom, library room, public room and the work room - he has a chapter on each. And it makes us think. As I was reading it, I wondered why a group of Christians would try to legislate Christian standards into our laws when even a surface reading of the New Testament book of Romans and Galatians plainly says that righteousness does not come from obeying laws - it must come from deeper within and a total dependence on Christ Himself

I do want to list the following things that concern me:

1. We have to be careful not to paint evangelical Christians as being more anti-science than they actually are. Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, has a vigorous science department as do most Christian liberal arts colleges. Loma Linda University, under the auspices of the Seventh Day Adventists, do some cutting-edge medical experiments. There is a plethora of Christian doctors and nurses in this country, and a lot of science-minded people who embrace Christianity.

2. Closely related: evolution. Questioning evolution is not necessarily a sign of being anti-science. I have two good friends who don't claim to be born-again Christians who, themselves, question evolution the way it is being taught. And while neither of them is in a science-related field, they both are highly intelligent people and are interested in the world around them.

3. Israel. As a Christian I am in favor of Israel's right to exist as a nation and am highly appalled at the World War II Holocaust and systematic persecution of Jews. However, this doesn't mean that I am always going to agree with every political decision that Israel makes in the international community.

4. Witnessing. By this, I mean Christians sharing their faith. When Christians tell others about Jesus Christ, they are most likely not trying to make a politically conservative statement. Most of the time, it is because they believe Christianity and are enthusiastic about sharing it. If it's not pushy, it's OK - the person being witnessed to is under no obligation to agree.

And I have only begun to touch on the surface of the things that this book brings out. Read it for yourselves. You'll be glad you did.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wake Up call for the rest of us..., January 10, 2006

By 

The Late Greats (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us (Hardcover)

This book is incredible, in all the proper ways. It is a well written book full of examples of the way the overboard Christian Right is trying to take over everything, and molding it in their views, by claiming that THEY are the ones being held down. Kind of like the whole Fox News "War on Christmas". It does not slam religion, as the author is a rabbi. It tastefully points out how the extreme religous right is trying to change the United States, and the danger it is.

A must read book for those who are not a religous nut case.