Antony Alumkal

When I came across this book, I was concerned that it would be a rant against the religious right. Reading the author’s background eased my mind as Antony Alumkal is an Associate Professor of Sociology of Religion who focuses on American evangelical and liberal Protestantism. I concluded that someone with that background would have the intellectual discipline to provide his reader with a balanced thesis on the matter.

After reading about 22% of the book on my Kindle reader, I realized that I was wrong. Alumkal spent the vast majority of this part of the book attacking the religious right positions of Philip Johnson and William Dembski. I hadn’t heard of these men before but soon became convinced that the author was building a case for Christian jihad against the intelligent design movement championed by them. I’m afraid that one of the book’s title words, Paranoia, may describe the author’s zealous arguments. If Johnson and Dembski also share this trait, then Christianity is doomed. A religion cannot grow when its strongest advocates are divided as to its fundamental beliefs.

My purpose in reading this book was to learn about the religious right movement. I’m not sure that I did. The one thing I did learn was that every Republican politician today, according to Alumkal, affiliates themselves with the religious right movement in order to get elected. This seemed to ring true when I thought about it, and it is worrisome since most Republican constituents don’t identify with these rightist views. It begs the question, who, if not their elected officials, is representing the majority?

Hopefully my opinion of this book is mine alone. A great deal of writing effort is evident in the book and I’m sure that it will appeal to liberal Christians who are looking for affirmation of their religious leaning.

I was unable to finish the book. It was just not the type of writing that I want to read before retiring for the evening.… (meer)