Customer Reviews

Saints and Sinners: Walker Railey, Jimmy Swaggart, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Anton LaVey, Will Campbell , Matthew Fox (Vintage)

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lawrence Wright (the journalist and author of "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11) back in 1993 (the date in my copy) undertook the task of comprehending the major religious forces in America and his feelings about religion. He did this by profiling 6 prominent religious leaders of the time and studied them, much as a scientist studies wild animals: with awe, with trepidation, and with emotion.

This is not the objective report I expected it to be. Nor is it a scathing indictment of Christianity and its leaders. It is a relatively balanced, incredibly insightful, and simple book about the natures of these 5 men and 1 women as Wright sees them and what they reflect of himself, American society, and humanity in general.

Even though Wright purports that he wrote this book in order to have a vehicle for his own religious/spiritual journey, he is usually quiet on the subject of himself. He wrote about the subjects in the same order as he interviewed/hung out with them and therefore we get a clear picture of his path without him saying much. However, when an idea of his mental state is needed he provides it and this makes the book much more than journalism. It paralleled my own mental state; in consequence I was much more connected to Wright and the religious leaders he wrote about. Therefore, the book changed me and it has the power the change other people.

I thought some of the profiles were more insightful than others, but in general they were amazing. He became a little too enamored with one of the figures and I thought that might have compromised his reporting despite it being one of the best profiles (and me liking the guy too).

The reason I gave it four stars was simply for the end. Up until the last five or so pages, I would have rated it a 3, as an interesting view into the heart of American religion. The ending completely changed that. I think I could read this book over again as if it were a novel. The characters are even more entrancing because they are real.

The religious figures profiled go in this order: Walker Railey, Jimmy Swaggert, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Anton LeVey, Will Campbell, Mathew Fox.

They are all Christians except for O'Hair, who was rebelling against Christianity mostly. I think he chose Christian leaders because they overwhelmingly represent the American population (especially in 1993) and because Wright was raised a Christian.

Interesting note: The new Pope (Benedict) is mentioned in the profile of Mathew Fox. Back when he was Cardinal Ratzinger he was Fox's ultimate foe. It sheds a little bit of light on the new Pope for those who don't know too much about him.

This book consists entirely of articles this author wrote for (then recycled from) Rolling Stone, so if you may have read all of these articles/chapters already.
I picked it up thinking it would be an interesting study on fringe religious groups. Instead, the author interviews the religious leaders then stabs them in the back by defamating them. Take the Anton LaVey article, for example. The author claims LaVey's name was fake, he was not born where he claimed, he never met Marilyn Monroe, he never slept with Jayne Mansfield, etc. Yet he provides absolutley no evidence of this. Just word of mouth. Yet to this day many people believe Mr. LaVey did indeed live a lie. It's interesting that most people who read the article never question this.
Mr. Wright is no better than the people he supposedly exposes, and is at least as hypocritical. His lack of evidence severely taints his credibility.