Customer Reviews

In Defense of the Religious Right: Why Conservative Christians Are the Lifeblood of the Republican Party and Why That Terrifies the Democrats

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As a Catholic, I was hesitant to pick up Patrick Hynes book because, frankly, I have not always felt comfortable with the religious right. While generally a conservative voter, I did not see myself philosophically in line with the Robertsons and Falwells of the religious right. After reading Mr. Hynes book, I know realize I had fallen pray to many of the stereotypes and misconceptions about the religious right. In reality, the religious right shares a lot more in common with me, and the majority of Americans than I was willing to give them credit for. Hynes does an excellent job demonstrating this point and backing it up with substantive facts. He makes a compelling argument that the commonalities between the religious right and the rest of America is THE reason why Republicans have been successful in elections for the past 25 years.

This is a book for everyone who wants to understand the political dynamics of America since the Reagan era. Believers, non-believers, liberals, conservatives, republicans and democrats can all learn from this book. In fact, if Howard Dean wants to lead his party to victory in 2006, he better read this book! Likewise, Republican leaders would do well to refresh their memories, or in some cases learn of the importance of the religious right in winning elections for the GOP. Hynes has written a blueprint for victory for either party who is willing to embrace the religious right without alienating the majority of Americans because he makes the point (with facts to back it up) that these two groups are more similar than divergent.

Hynes brings the reader through a historical analysis of the political issues and dynamics that have led the religious right to the republican party and the republican party to victory over the past few decades. And, he does so in an engaging way. Frankly, I did not expect this book to be as an enjoyable read as I found it. While this is Hynes' first book, I hope it won't be his last because his writing style and thorough use of facts without boring the reader is a rare skill.

My only criticism is that the book seems to skim over the years when the democratic party could call itself the party of religion that began with the catering to immigrants in the 1930s and ended with the death of JFK in the 1960s. I do not think it is a coincidence that this is the period of greatest success for the democratic party, when they did recognize and embrace religion. Perhaps because Hynes focuses on the past 25 years in his book, he seems to miss this point that I find backs his claim that the democrats have failed because they have run from religion. Otherwise, Hynes hits just about every other issue that have created the current political landscape in America.

If you want to gain greater insight into American politics, pick up a copy of Hynes' book, you might find yourself upset, surprised, or questioning, but you won't be disappointed. As an avid reader of political books, this is perhaps one of the best I have read because it is both informative and entertaining.

This is not a scholarly take on the ascendancy of the Conservative Christian movement in American politics. It is, as you could divine from the title, a book targeted to that segment of the Conservative Christian community who would agree that America would be a better place, if only...

Hynes' book is slanted significantly towards that audience. If you're a church-going Christian AND have voted Republican, you'll find a great deal that appeals to you. Everyone else? Well, Hynes uses some fairly strong language ("faker," "fraud," "Liberal Theocrat") to construct archetypes of non-Conservative Christian Republicans in order to dismiss their political goals and ideals as anything from disingenuous to downright dangerous.

Through the use of polling data and post-election demographic breakdowns, Hynes makes the case that the Christian hegemony represents the mainstream opinion on nearly all important social issues, and since (he states) the Conservative Christian voting bloc is the "biggest" voting bloc in our country, it is up to Conservative Christians to work through the Republican Party to defeat the non-mainstream, "marginal," or "fringe" policies being advocated by those who don't.

Since this is not a serious, scholarly dissection of the Conservative Christian movement, it goes to follow that a self-professed "liberal" reading this book would find some of Hynes' tactics - such as constructing straw men and engaging in the demogoguery of Hollywood and Bill Clinton - to be the sort of easy and cheap arguments more at home in a right-wing blog than in a Poli Sci textbook. If, however, you find yourself of the opinion that the political policies of the "Democrat Party" (sic) are a danger to the moral fiber of American life, you might find a great deal in this book with which you agree.

Hynes has written a powerful defense of Christian conservatives who, he convincingly argues, have a much larger role in our nation's public affairs than is usually suspected. He further argues that this role is positive and uplifting for the country.

I was especially impressed with his thorough analysis of the 2004 campaign. While most pundits have argued that the role of so-called "moral values" voters was overstated, Hynes argues that the role of "moral values" voters on that elections cannot be overstated.

Don't let the titled fool you. This is not a theological book. It's a political one about what is the most influential voting bloc in the country, and is an absolute must read if you want to understand the dynamics of campaigns and politics.

Even if you don't agree with the "Religious Right" on the issues, you should read the book because it explains how they can influence elections and how they think. Plus, Howard Dean and the Democrats are trying to make inroads with religious voters, and anyone seeking to do so should read the book, even if their only purpose is to "talk the talk" and not "walk the walk".

In sum, Hynes believes the Religious Right is the GOP's "indispensable voting bloc" and is "the largest voting bloc in the country." (The GOP might want to remember that) After completing In Defense of the Religious Right, you will agree.

Do not waste your time with this book. I had to read it for a social ethics class and I am throwing it away as soon as possible. Hynes defends the Religious Right from a political standpoint - not from a theological or ethical standpoint. He basically wants to defend them because he is a Republican and wants their votes. He does not talk about the actual issues at all.

Patrick Hynes has written a valuable book that explores a much maligned, misunderstood and unjustly scorned segment of America: the Religious Right. At 30 million strong, they are not only the backbone of the Republican Party, which has taken the GOP from the minority to solid majority status, but also the guardians of traditional American values that have been an integral part of American life since the beginning.

The Religious Right is not some new interloper group attempting to impose strange and foreign values upon an unwilling America, Hynes asserts. That description justly belongs to the liberals and assorted leftists who are pushing gay marriage, evolution (to the exclusion of all else) and abortion while at the same time attempting to erase God from American public society.

But this book isn't merely Hynes' opinion. What makes the book valuable is he backs up his thesis by drawing on polling data, studies, interviews, analyses, election results and voting trends. Particularly valuable is his report of just what the Religious Right is: it crosses all races, all levels of education, all income brackets and all 50 states.

Not every aspect of the Religious Right is explored here, but that's not the book's purpose. The primary goal is to offer a stirring defense of the Religious Right's role in politics and American society, both against the continual and often vicious attacks from the cultural, secular and political left, and the dismissive attitude from some on the right.

Hynes' ultimate conclusion seems to be: If you're Republican, you ignore the Religious Right to your peril, not because it's a voting block to be pampered, but because it embodies Middle America. If you're Democrat, you ridicule them to your despair, because you can't fake it, nor can you win a battle of the Scriptures against them.

This book took a lot of courage to write in a country where truth hurts and should never be written or spoken. Mr. Hynes is dead on!!! This book undoubtedly will pave the way for others to speak out against a vilification of the "religious right".

...or at least contributes to readability. Patrick Hynes blogs daily at anklebitingpundits.com and the it shows in this book. He zips through his points without the usual tedious filler that makes so much political writing difficult to sort through. Instead, his ideas are presented, properly supported, and restated in light of the evidence. Finally, he gathers his smaller points in support of his larger conclusion. He knows how to construct an essay. If you've been vaguely (or specifically)dissatisfied at the incomplete analyses of values voters in recent and future elections, you'll be interested in Hynes' book, which fleshes out this issue substantially. If you are a religious person who has wondered about your own role in politics, you'll also find the book useful. I was slightly put off by the use of the term "Religious Right", (mostly because we're all so brainwashed to think it means knuckle-dragging, racist, homophobic moron), but he handles my objection adroitly in his introduction. Disclosure: I got a free copy of the book in exchange for agreeing to review it.

Although I am inclined by faith and philosophy to appreciate the author's critique of the cultural Left's paranoia about the "religious right," I found this book a bit irritating. Stylistically, the author seems undecided as to whether he wants to write
a polemic or a serious study. Most of his references to lefties are introduced with
cheesy derogatory adjectives, and he doesn't cover anything with much depth.

It's a bit astonishing that in a book on the religious right, the author has absolutely nothing to say about the home school and private school movements, which are major, and defining cultural elements. Where he really gets close to an important critique of the theocratic elements of the liberal, religious left (e.g. Jim Wallis) he begins to say things that really need to be said. But, he doesn't develop this promising line of argument.

What is very annoying about this book is that it reads like a manuscript that needs to go through the process of final editing. There are frequent errors of syntax and other basic grammatical principles to give this book high marks as a publishing product. Some sentences read as if one statement had been changed in the word processing process without all the words being adjusted to the new context. This may not be important to most people, and it does not obscure the author's arguments, but it undercuts the strength of the author's thought. This problem I assign to the publisher, not the author, but you have to wonder who Nelson Current employs as editors. The production of the book is sloppy and unprofessional.

Whether you're a believer or not, P. Hynes has written a succinct overview of the current political landscape that is worth reading by those of us wanting to understand better the how and why of our last few elections. Well organized with plenty of statistical/analogical backup but not so as to make reading a chore, in fact, I found this book interesting, fun to read and I still came away learning plenty of new perspectives. One aspect I particularly enjoyed was the chronological development of the Christian influence on the USA and its juxtaposition with political parties, leaders and events in our history. Mr. Hynes has identified the magnitude of growing Christian response to an expansive secularism in an increasingly hostile world. The battle lines are forming; what side will you choose for yourself and your family? `In Defense of the Religious Right' will definitely prove invaluable in determining who's who and what's up on the field of battle. I enthusiastically recommend this intriguing and inciteful book.
(I recieved a complimentary copy of this book to review but no other compensation.)

While perusing the blog Ankle Biting Pundits, I saw that Patrick Hynes offered a free copy to the first five folks that responded: I responded and shortly thereafter received the book.

Mr. Hynes could have contented himself with a several page article or a thousand page tome; painting a picture in fairly broad strokes, he fits the subject, from a political perspective, into 267 pages of well presented, thought-out prose, with plenty of notes. While blog-type commentary creeps in occasionally, its' mainly used to punctuate a particular point verse gratuitous punditry.

Chapter Two's treatment of President Jefferson's reply to a constituent, about supporting a specific state sanctioned religion and glommed onto by Justice Hugo Black to support Black's view of a brick wall between religion and the taxpayer is well reasoned and laid out for anyone who wishes to actually examine the issue. Several of today's left leaning and internationalist Supreme Court justices would be pressed to do as reasoned a job as Mr. Hynes does in this Chapter.

Chapter Six raises the phenomenon of "small groups", several people from a church that get together and discuss specific issues that go beyond just "bible study" and provide a ready made grass roots organization for these people's political undertakings as well as religious. Ten, twenty, even thirty million people from small groups that have a lash-up of religious views of the world with mainly that of the republican party easily trumps several million lefty bloggers. While the bloggers are mainly blogging (and raising money and getting lots of attention from the main stream press), Mr. Hynes presents the issue that a lot of the folks from the small groups are out and talking face to face with other people and doing things. This translates to power at the voting booth.

The major theme that Mr. Hynes weaves throughout his political look at the Religious Right is the consistency of thought, word, and deed by this heterogeneous mass of people that is grouped under the banner called the Religious Right. The broad, factual strokes of the subject are laid bare and it is this consistency of living a Christian life that Mr. Hynes places in today's American political spectrum. For now, this group tends Republican, it isn't about to head toward today's Democratic Party, but will the Religious Right form the nucleus of a new, and very much constitutionally legal, political party?

With plenty of Red Meat remaining on the table for further debates, Mr. Hynes has produced a well-thought out and researched primer of a political view of the Religious Right.