Customer Reviews

One Nation Under God

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Many of us who consider ourselves Secular Humanists view the current political climate with a good deal of trepidation. Never before in the history of this country has so much political rhetoric been specifically aimed at the needs and concerns of one particular special interest group. The group in question happens to be large, powerful, and seems to be pretty much controlling a major political party.

The Republican party has been hijacked, and we are closer to a theocracy than we realize. All it would take is one more Republican victory, and a couple of additional vacancies on the court, and this country would be plunged into the dark ages. This is not idle speculation, but a very possible future.

One Nation Under God explores that future from the viewpoint of the daughter of a future President. The book details the forming of the theocracy and the initial steps taken by the new government to quell dissent in an extremely believable, and totally unique manner. We watch events unfolding through the girl's diary, email correspondence, and web pages. We watch as her life is totally changed forever by her own perceptions. We watch as she grows and matures as the country is changing radically in response to the policies of the new government.

It is chilling, it is believable, and, worst of all, it could happen here within a few years. The foundations for One Nation Under God have already been laid, and the joists are being set down as we watch.

I very much enjoyed the book, especially it's unusual format. I found it easy-to-follow, and exiting right up to the end. Anyone who is concerned about the direction of America should read this book, and then donate to Americans United for the Separation of Church and State!

A chilling look at what may be the near future of the US. Given the enormous political power of the fundamentalist Right and its likely effect on the future Supreme Court, this book may no longer be considered "fiction".

The format is unusual, but very interesting and effective.

"One Nation Under God" is a chilling book that reads more like something right out of today's headlines than an imaginative work of fiction. Author Vincent M. Wales, founder of the Freethought Society of Northern Utah, captures the danger of theocracy and our current government's abuse of the separation of church and state in a very unusual book that combines suspense with elements of social commentary. And he does so in a highly unique and entertaining way. I simply could not put this book down.

The book may throw some readers off at first, with its unconventional structure and style. The story, which takes place in the not-too-distant future and centers on the President's daughter, Mary, is told in a series of emails, web pages and diary entries, all from the points of view of the key players involved. Those key players include a righteous right wing President, Paul Christopher, who wants to Christianize the nation; his equally right wing wife, Sarah; Mary, the key protagonist, who is not just the Prez's daughter, but a newfound bi-sexual and Wiccan who turns away from her father's policies; Mary's Uncle Gene Sisco, who is so far to the right he makes Hitler look like Paul Wellstone; Vicki, Mary's lover; reporter and muckracker J.E. Cooper; and a mysterious entity who goes by the name Jefferson Paine (in reference to two great Thomas's???) and who runs a website called Voice of Reason, dedicated to uncovering the evildoings of the Christopher administration.

As Mary learns more about her sexual orientation, she also is challenged by her transforming religious beliefs, and finds herself becoming more and more vocal as she dares to speak out against her father's administration and his dangerous policies of creating a theocratic state. And as she becomes more and more prominent in the public eye, she becomes a bigger target for right wing Christian extremists, including her own family members, who want her taken down once and for all. Taken down, as in silenced, even if it means murdering her in the name of Jesus.

"One Nation Under God" doesn't just give us Mary's story and perspective, though. Its dynamic and jarring style of telling the story in email/diary/web format offers the reader glimpses into the minds and personas of all the lead characters, and does so in a way that is just as effective as including their POV's in the narrative in the usual novel style. At first, I found this format jarring, but once I got used to it, I quickly realized that I was not only hooked, but deeply effected by the rapid-fire bouncing from one person's thoughts to another, giving the whole book a breathless, critical feel.

And critical this book is, for it takes today's threats and makes them real, and though it is set about 25 years into our future, it won't take us that long to see this story become reality...for it already is. "One Nation Under God" reminds us of the evils of forcing one narrow set of religious beliefs down the throats of a free society, and it warns us to stop it in its tracks...before we all become the next Mary Christophers. Kudos to author Vincent M. Wales for having the courage to write about this very sensitive subject at a time when just criticizing the current administration could get you labeled a terrorist. Long live Democracy and freedom- freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Isn't that, after all, what our Founding Fathers intended?

This coming of age novel is remarkable for a couple of reasons. First, it presents an American theocracy in the near future where civil rights go down like dominoes and church-state conflicts roil in the very bosom of the First Family. In this dystopia, the religious right controls all branches of government.

We are privy to 12-year-old Mary's covert emails as she wrestles with big religious questions. As her father's two presidential terms of office unfold, Mary is increasingly captivated by the ideas of a powerful underground movement aimed at unseating her father and his political allies. We also get occasional peeks into the President's own anguished diary, and his wife's. In this family of three, people do not easily converse with one another, though they appear to love each other.

The novel's structure is as revealing as the story. Marshall McLuhan famously wrote, "The medium is the message." This story moves forward with confidence and energy solely by means of emails, blogs, diary entries, websites, newspaper articles, and broadcast speeches - all predigested materials without a shred of connective tissue between them. Wales stands every so-called rule of fiction on its head, and yet the book is a page-turner. I had serious trouble putting it down once I figured out the players. I stayed up reading too late at night.

The message from the medium is a basically a positive view of social change brought by communications technology. The horizons of a lonely child are as wide as the web, and she can "talk" earnestly about important matters to friendly strangers - a good thing since the neighbors or grandparents of previous generations are absent. This is a world where strangers deeply connect and form political and social alliances without ever meeting face to face, and where people present themselves in tidy electronic formats instead of trailing haphazard impressions in their wakes as they blunder through a messy world. But the flip side is a pervasive, disturbing emotional distance.

Eagerly I awaited the moment when Mary would meet the stranger she had emailed so many years. I had built the man up in my mind, but "in the flesh" he seemed ten sizes smaller. The mystery had evaporated from The Voice of Reason. Mary mentions no such disappointment in her writings, but that doesn't mean she didn't feel it. Still, one imagines she did not. If a person has never known intimacy, she might not recognize age-old cues of body language, chemistry, and sparkle in the eye. It almost seemed a sad relief to return to cyber space - where so many people today spend increasing amounts of time.

Perhaps even more evocative of the dark side of this brave new world is the book's climactic scene. It is not viewed through the actual eyes of any protagonist, but through the palm-sized electronic screen of an TV journalist as he stands in the backyard of a 2-story house while mayhem is happening inside, upstairs. A tiny lens on the tip of his telescoped wand relays the action to him. His excitement at having arrived in time to capture this on film spills out in his words as he narrates the instant news to an unseen audience. Thus the reader "sees" this shocking episode as a video-piece by a total stranger who never once considers helping our imperiled protagonist. The chilly distance of this way of telling the story seems all too familiar as 24/7 news programs blanket the electronic age. We have come a long way from John Wayne.

Upon finishing the book, I immediately turned to the first page and began re-reading to find details I had missed before I put the puzzle pieces together. Finally, about half way through again, I put it down - thinking. And that's what I want a novel to do, make me think. Independently published, experimental works like this book are changing the face of literature, but few are as interesting as this one.

--Naida West, Ph.D. in sociology, author of River of Red Gold, Eye of the Bear, and Murder on the Middle Fork

If you're looking for a book you won't be able to put down - this is the book! Not only does it reveal many an important message (some of which are quite chilling), the messages are delivered in an engaging and entertaining way. This book would appeal to anyone from teens to late adults. The format is unique and adds to the book's intrigue. Wales does an amazing job of creating characters the reader will love, characters the reader will identify with and characters the reader will love to hate. It would be a shame not to read ONUG!!

Wales takes us on a journey down the path of theocracy in the United States. The book only uses pages from diaries, emails, and web pages, as well as clippings from news reports to tell his saga. This distinctive approach to storytelling is vital to getting closer to the characters; it makes the story more personal as you submerge deeper into the personal turmoil and triumph faced by the characters.

You won't want to put the book down because you must know what happens next to each character as the plot thickens and the drama plays out in front of you. I found myself finishing a chapter and glancing at a clock to see that it was three in the morning.

Wales takes us into what a possible theocracy in the United States will look like and how it will affect people through the writings of those creating the theocratic policies and those affected by them. One of the main characters affected by these policies is the daughter of the very theocrat pushing his religion upon the citizens of the United States, even if he is nothing more than a marionette in the hands of another power-hungry theocrat.

Historic theocracies have turned corrupt and such holds true in Wales' story. Wales looks at numerous issues that are at the heart of social debate today and weaves them into his story seamlessly. When you finish reading the book you'll find yourself pondering these issues and thinking about people affected by such issues. You may not change your mind or stance, but at least you'll be thinking about it. A sign of a good book is not just a good story, but a story that makes you think and ponder the issues; a story that makes you consider things with a different perspective and perhaps, just perhaps, persuades you to be more accepting of people that are different than you.

Wales' book should appeal to a wide audience, from all ranges of life, regardless of their religious affiliation, sexual preference, political position, ethnic background, or social belief. If more people understood the ramifications of theocracy there might be fewer people desiring one in the United States.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the unique format in which the author wrote the book. Throughout the book the author used e mail communications, websites and journals as the primary mediums for his book's message. His vision of America, set a couple of decades in the future, was frightening but a definite wake up call to most of us who take our many freedoms for granted.

It is refreshing to read a novel about an American hero who is neither a pop icon, nor a sports hero, but rather a young girl who possesses the bravery to go against the norm. I would recommend this book to adolescent readers and adults alike.

The format made me hickup initially, but the content is so great that I warmed up to it fast. The story grew on me until I could not put it down. Thank you, Mr Wales, for a thought provoking read.

This is a powerful book because it shows the reader the outcome of our current policies if we keep heading in the direction of repression of our freedom of/from religion. I hope it wakes people up!

The characters he created had flavor and spunk, and the issues they grappled with were real and intriguing. And I loved the format - what originality! Vincent Wales is a pioneer in this new form of epistolary - he has tapped into what a great many of us are doing - reading emails, journaling, reading news reports - but he weaves all these forms together to create an engaging story. It also made it easy to read when I only had short intervals, and I could still follow the thread when I picked it up again.

I've also read his book, "Wish You Were Here," which he is going to reprint this year. It's one of my favorite books.

Write on, Vincent!!!

I read this book from start to finish in the same night. Not only does Mr. Wales captivate you with the unique structure of his book, but he aslo does it with it's intense subject matter and intimate portrayal of the main character.

Mr. Wales paints a vivid reality that doesn't seem to far-fetched given the world we live in today. The subjects of religion, sexuality, and morality have always been, and will continue to be, topics of hot debate.

But what happens when those in power get to decide what the right religion is? What the sexual orientation of a person should be? And what is morally right and wrong?

This books gives us a look at that haunting reality. There are some who would read this book an be frightened by the reality it proposes.

But this book gives us hope as well. It gives us the realization, that when those in power abuse it to bend their will onto the masses, there will always be somebody to fight back.

I recommend this book to everyone. Whether you are atheist, theist, straight, gay, whatever, this book will open your eyes to the intolerance and bigotry we have in this world.

This book may or may not change your mind on certain subjects, but it will may you think about them.

And that is the most powerful kind of literature there is.