Customer Reviews

Close Encounters with the Religious Right: Journeys Into the Twilight Zone of Religion and Politics

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"We are the believers who have the right to say that what we believe is going to prevail...We are at war!" Thus spoke Bishop Earl Jackson at the 1999 annual meeting of the Christian Coalition. Military references frequently dot the speeches of members of the Christian Right as they strive to rally supporters. The goal is to make "spiritual warfare" to take back the country from "secular humanists", "the liberal media", "radical homosexuals," and "extreme separationists."

Robert Boston's task in this book is not to debate theological issues, but to acquaint us mostly with the political agendas of groups who feel that their religious and moral views should be the law of the land. I would agree that people should be allowed to follow their own consciences and believe what they want to believe. The problem is when one group feels their views should be impressed on others.

Boston's full time job is following religious right groups, and he diligently reads their publications and attends their meetings and conventions. For much of the book he allows the leaders of these groups to speak for themselves by writing their comments made in speeches, interviews and publications. Included in the book are chapters on the Christian Coalition, the Promise Keepers, the Rutherford Institute, Focus on the Family, and the ministry of James Kennedy.

While these groups unquestionably frighten the targets of their frequent wrath, they should be causing some alarm amongst mainstream Christians. Many members of these Christian Right groups look upon other Christians as apostates. In excerpting their speeches Mr. Boston also shows that leaders of the right have no compunction about misleading their followers by distorting history. The colonial America experience, the philosophy of Jefferson and Madison, and the principles involved in Supreme Court decisions frequently are radically twisted in addresses to the faithful.

Robert Boston has written a valuable contribution to current literature about the Religious Right. His personal observations of Religious Right leaders and organizations in action establish a credibility which a purely academic study could not. And he really covers the waterfront with discussion of influential organizations like the Rutherford Institute and the Traditional Values Coalition which most authors ignore. And as a Democrat, I can certainly relate to the author's conclusion that the Religious Right is basically a con game to lure people who would naturally gravitate to the Democratic Party into the conservative Republican fold.

However because the author has no strong theological interests, he overlooks the great danger which the Religious Right poses to Evangelical Protestantism. The actual purpose of the Religious Right is to allow people to consider themselves good Protestants while at the same time rejecting important New Testament teachings. For those who are uncomfortable with the Christian target audience being "all men everywhere"(Acts 17:30), the Religious Right permits the establishment of Our Private Religious Club--for "traditional families" only, thank you. And the list of major discrepencies between Religious Right teachings and New Testament teachings is long and substantial. Because Mr Boston overlooks the worst aspect of the Religious Right movement, he has understated his case.

While there are other books that describe the religious right political movement, Boston's book is unparalleled in its first-hand accounts, its attention to detail, and its charm.

At its root, Close Encounters offers the reader a summary of each of the leading groups and leaders that comprise the religious right. Instead of a dry recitation of the relevant players, however, Boston's book stands apart by buttressing facts and figures with personal anecdotes. An experienced expert on the issue of religion and politics, Boston does not simply remark on the religious right from an ivory tower. He's gone to the "belly of the beast," visiting and interacting with religious right officials and grassroots activists. (Particularly enjoyable are tales of Boston's trips to the Christian Coalition's "Road to Victory" conferences, and his reservations about group hugs at a Promise Keepers gathering.) These experiences offer an insight not offered by any contemporary journalist or researcher.

At times, Close Encounters' description of the groups that make up the right are enough to produce genuine concern about the future of church-state separation and religious liberty. The religious right's movement, as the book explains, represents a serious and determined threat to the First Amendment. Yet, Boston's humorous style and sincere enthusiasm for the subject matter turn what is clearly a serious issue into a fascinating and witty book.

One gets the impression that critics of the book have offered their critiques before actually reading Boston's work. It's a shame; they appear more interested in ad hominem attacks than a serious discussion of the subject matter.

Though written during the Clinton administration, Close Encounters is perhaps at its most relevant now, as many of the groups and religious leaders chronicled in this text have risen to even greater political influence by way of President Bush's administration. In short, anyone concerned with the religious right and the changing dynamic of the relationship between religion and politics will definitely enjoy Boston's terrific book. I highly recommend it.

Boston's book is a valuable contribution in the effort to expose the "Christian" Right, because they have become far more influential politically than most people realize. Boston's experience and insight gives us a closer look at the situation, and his work is a great companion to other works, such as A Pilgrim's Path: Freemasonry and the Religious Right, by John J. Robinson, and Real Prophecy Unveiled: Why the Christ Will Not Come Again, And Why the Religious Right Is Wrong, by Joseph J. Adamson. These books shed light in a world made dark by religious bigotry and hypocrisy, and the latter gives us the true meaning of prophesy to dispel the "end times/last days" nonsense. I just wish more people would seek and find the real truth, because the sooner people get the message the sooner we can put an end to the conflict, division, and violence.

People really ought to read all of a book before they review it here. The reviewer allegedly from "Bora Bora" could not be more wrong about this book. It's a funny, but also at times scary, recounting of the author's journeys in the world of the Religious Right. These are the folks who have our new president in a headlock. It behooves us to learn more about them instead of writing them off as a bunch of "Ned Flanderses." This book is a great place to start.

For many Americans, the words, actions and worldview of the religious right are incomprehensible, fearsome, and sometimes seemingly crazy. Robert Boston's engaging book, largely accounts of his personal experiences, and informed by his vast knowledge, is an excellent place for students and others seeking introductory material to start. From there, such logical companion works as Frederick Clarkson's Eternal Hostility: The Stuggle Between Theocracy and Democracy; Jean Hardisty's Mobilizing Resentment, or Boston's other books, make much more sense. Close Encounters is a good beginning for a bookshelf about the religious right in the U.S.

I know its a bad anthology but just look at his picture. Look at that smile, you'd know that there is the evil smile right there. Now, to back my idea that Pat Robertson is evil, look at the things he is "preaching":

- Patty likes to preach hate, which he is GREAT at. Oh, hate this and that, lets hate all the Hindu and all the Jews and all the Buddhists and all the Mulisms and even Catholics and some Protestants but just not Patty!
- Patty actually proclaims that "he can communicate to God", basically you know he is right there insulting Him by preaching all the blasphemy and hatread.
- Patty is absoutely 100% sure he is going directly to heaven without question, at least that's what he wants people to think that he is! And fool people into feeling free to drink and cuss and harm others just as long as they "find God" at the very last second. By this, he taking more innocent people away from the rightful God that awaits them.

Well there you have it! What kinda of a preacher would preach hate? The last time I went to a chuch I don't remember the preacher preaching hate! Even people of different religions won't preach hate so why would a "Christian" named Patty Robertson be doing so?

Finally, keep in mind that Pat Robertson is a millionaire, and owns several estates. However, I don't remember reading the newspaper saying he made great donations to churchs!

The last word: buy this book to see why Pat Roberstson is so dangerous, it doesn't matter if you're right or left-wing, we should always be viligent and aware of the danger and evil around us to avoid it.

As much as I enjoy a good right-wing nut bashing book, I must say that I was disappointed by this particular book. It just wasn't academically rigerous enough for me.

NOTE: Amazon continues to delete reviews such as this one because they go against their biases, free speech is becoming a relic of the past.

Original review:

To be blunt I really feel sorry for Mr. Boston. Normally I can zip through books of this nature in a evening, but not this one. I found myself getting several headaches from the hateful, vindictive, diatribe that Mr. Boston uses throughout the book. It is as if he has some deep metaphysical anger toward anybody or anything that identifies themselves as a Christian and a conservative.
There seems to be three themes that run throughout this book
1. Intolerance
Mr. Boston is simply intolerant of any belief that he does not hold. He has been a proud participant in denying freedom of speech (pg 73) to groups he does not like. He criticizes the promise keepers, a group that help marriages succeed. Mr. Barton even notes in the book they have a phenomenally low divorce rate. Is he out of touch by criticizing this group I think so, one only need to read the words of the Past President of the Los Angeles Chapter of NOW (a pretty liberal organization) and what she had to say about promise keepers. "Really who can argue with a movement that exhorts men to keep their promises, to be good fathers, loyal husbands and decent people?" Apparently Mr. Barton can because, but he is intolerant of them because they uphold values he does not. This intolerance continues throughout the book and gets nauseating after a while.
2. Moral Relativism
This second theme bootstraps off of the 1st. While Mr. Boston is intolerant of certain groups beliefs he puts forward a hypocritical moral relativism that says everything is okay except of course what the conservative Christians believe. In a truly saddening example Mr. Boston tells how he wants his children growing up to be able to do anything they want to do. He is afraid, almost disgusted, that someone from the Christian Right might tell his Children that pedophilia is wrong, or having your poor old grandmother beaten to death in a mugging might be wrong.
Does Mr. Boston make excuses for the perpetrators of these horrendous crimes? No, not at all instead he calls those who point out these acts of evil as the true villains of his utopian society. Sick, truly sick.
3. Judicial Activism
"The Constitution . . . is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please." Thomas Jefferson
Judicial Activism is good, but ONLY when it advances your extreme beliefs other than that it is bad. Mr. Boston believes that litmus tests are good as long as they will lead to the exclusion of the judges he deems unworthy. This anti-democratic rant is particulary sad when you view the history of the United States and that the judiciary is to be used as a check and balance and not a legislative branch. But Mr. Boston fully realizes that he will never get his views advanced through the legislature because most people disagree with him instead he must use the judiciary; Scary and anti-American.
If you like hatred and intolerance this book will be for you, if you enjoy freedom of speech, American values, and democracy this book will be a big turn off.

There are some decent nuggets of information in this book, but unfortunately, Boston's personal contempt for evangelical Protestants (who are identified in toto with the Religious Right, even though only 12 percent of evangelicals self-identify with the movement)and refusal to understand issues from the Right's point of view bury them too deep in the book to make it worth reading.

Boston's definition of the "Religious Right" ranges from self-professed authoritarians like Pat Robertson to rather moderate, center-right figures like Chuck Colson, who has crusaded for more humane treatment of prisoners and often partnered with the ACLU on behalf of inmates. Apparently, opposition to homosexuality as a morally-benign lifestyle is enough to merit being condemned as a fundamentalist proto-fascist in Boston's book.

There are some alarming Right-wing figures who attempt to use Christian terminology to advance an anti-democratic vision. For example, Gary North and R.J. Rushdoony want a Fascist state based on Levitical law. (Their influence on Pat Robertson was not inconsiderable.) Some folks regard Oliver North as a hero. But for the most part, these people are fringe. The Moral Majority is dead. The Christian Coalition is bankrupt. Focus on the Family is the only real juggernaut left, and even their detractors admit they're one of the more moderate Christian Right groups. Boston couldn't even bring himself to label the Promise Keepers - the largest "group-hug" organization in the world - a Christian Right movement.

Who can really believe that born-again Christians - the vast majority of whom are either African Americans or Ned Flanders-clones - are really an army of black shirts ready to take over the government?

Boston is part of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a group headed by a United Church of Christ minister. For those who don't know much about the UCC, perhaps a refresh is in order. The UCC is an uber-leftwing, self-admitted "post-Christian" denomination that can be roughly identified with every nutty vestige of Political Correctness and sectarian Marxist silliness in America. Before Boston complains about groups trying to influence politics with their beliefs, he should take a look in the mirror.