The reason for the reader's disturbance will vary based on perspective. If you are a GOP cheerleader then you likely be disturbed with the authors. If you've given your hard earned dollars to pro-family/pro-life organizations, then you likely be disturbed with the organizations mentioned in We Won't Get Fooled Again: Where the Right Went Wrong, and How to Make America Right Again by Gregg Jackson and Steve Deace.
As a matter of full disclosure, this reviewer considers both authors close friends. Over the years I have shared hundreds of emails and hours on the phone with Gregg talking about the issues in this book. I just recently met Steve in person in Des Moines, Iowa and have shared dozens of emails with him dissecting the pro-family/pro-life movement specifically and GOP politics in general. I have been privy to most of the emails and have listened to most of the interviews addressed in the book. This book was a sad trip down memory lane.
The premise of the book is "to subject it to the same scrutiny...the movement known as Christian Conservatives, the Religious Right, the Christian Right, Social Conservatives, or Values Voters." The scrutiny begins with very thought-provoking questions that will require critical thinking on the part of the reader. Some sycophants of the Republican Party and/or conservative movement may not get past this part in the introduction. Those who are willing to pursue the truth no matter where it takes them will be well advised to continue reading regardless their initial reaction.
A very wise part by the authors is the "Well, Who Are You?" prologue where Jackson and Deace introduce themselves and give their backgrounds and how they came to write this book. This reviewer is well pleased by this because knowing these two intimately, they are very transparent in whom they are and their own personal struggles with the topic.
The list of interviewees is part of the Who's Who in the pro-family/pro-life and conservative movement and their testimonies will disappoint, outrage, and/or shock the reader, simultaneously at times. Some readers will have their heroes destroy themselves before their very eyes; it was tough to see this the first time in the personal emails and listen to on the radio. It was even tougher revisiting the whole sordid mess again.
Nevertheless, much hope and good advice are given not only by Jackson and Deace, but also at times by some of the interviewees, particularly Steve Baldwin, David Barton, Michael Farris, Gary Glenn, Brannon Howse, and Judge Roy Moore.
Baldwin gives good advice to concerned Christians as to where they should send their hard-earned money. "I would recommend that they find a grassroots based group that has a board that's accountable, that has people on it they can trust, and that has an agenda that you can easily follow."
Barton said if a voter cannot choose "the lesser of two evils" that ""I have a really easy response to that one. Thirty times in the New Testament we're told to protect the rights of conscience. I'm not going to argue with somebody's conscience. That's between them and God and that's why we've protected that constitutionally. That's why the Scripture says 30 times to protect the rights of conscience."
Farris gives what I believe is the most sound and succinct advice. "We need to diligently read the Word of God and apply it to political issues."
Glenn gives what Jackson describes as a "pithy solution to restoring the [Christian conservative] movement to its Biblical foundation and heritage." Glenn reminds readers: "Faithfulness is the key. Millions of Americans trust us to tell the truth and to be faithful to the agenda that we say we're all about. That's what we've got to get back to."
Howse gives the most powerful commentary on the wrong-headedness of the Christian conservative movement: "We could go to a smaller government, but if we have not had everything based on a Biblical worldview and on the principles of God, it doesn't matter how small your government is, you'll still have a godless government."
Judge Moore gives the reader strong reason for hope: "I think there's a lot of hope because there is a God. I think He's awakening the people. I think we're under a great awakening right now, and I think that people are coming to understand the Constitution of the United States..."
This is much needed because the interviews from Ann Coulter, Richard Land, and Tom Minnery are most disappointing. Coulter is the darling of the conservative movement, Land from the largest US protestant denomination, and Minnery the political director for Focus on the Family. All three clearly choose pragmatism over a biblical worldview.
And this is the takeaway from the book: the conservative/pro-family/pro-life movement is disturbingly destitute of a foundational biblical worldview. The authors gradually help the reader come to this conclusion through weaving together their question/commentary and the interviewees' words.
We Won't Get Fooled Again is a must read for all tea party activists, traditional evangelicals, and those disgruntled with the modern conservative movement. It is also highly recommended to anyone who fancies him or herself a truth seeker.
