Class Warfare and Faith
For those of us looking for a gift for a special person this Christmas, I would like to recommend a book about my home state. The book is What's the Matter With Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank.
The book begins by an interesting history of Kansas but it could be anywhere in the midwest and then tracks what happened in the so called "values war." It's a frightening look at how fundamentalism influences politics to the point that people completely distort reality and vote against their own economic and social interests. It's conservative Republicans pitted against moderate Republicans, but in reality it is a stark example of what true class warfare looks like under the guise of religious fundamentalism. Reading this book offers insight into how Islamic and other religious fundamentalists can take over a complete society to the detriment of everyone--particularly themselves for the sake of raw power passed off as "righteousness." Every citizen needs to read this book regardless of their political persuasion, especially those that follow along with the fundamentalist doctrines. This book should be a wake up call to all Americans who want to save the America we know and love. None of us should be conforted by Bush's current poll numbers because these folks are not going to quit anytime soon.
Peggy Kirkendall
Because Tom Frank is a great writer. But I'd advise against the book if you're looking for any sort of in depth perspective on the Christian theocratic right.
Frank attempted, I suspect, to get in a quick strike on the territory as it was heating up : smart business sense on his part if I'm correct. But he doesn't seem to have done his homework and consequently you won't get from his book much of a sense of the underlying dynamics of the theocratic movement and - what's worse - you may even be pursuaded that movement does not run politically or culturally very deep. Well, that would be a considerable mistake, in my opinion.
Nonetheless, "What's The Matter With Kansas" is a thoroughly enjoyable - if misleading - read : best read, I'd say, after achieving familiarity with the subject field and not before.
I say this from the experience of endlessly encounters with people who come away from the book with the wildly distorted sense of s mostly secular GOP exploiting the easily manipulated faithful of Kansas but never coming through on promises made to end legal access to abortion, and so on.
The proposition that the Christian right movement is not advancing in cultural and political terms is not borne out by the evidence : in fact that is close to 180 degrees off the mark.
I regret having to say these harsh things - and I wholeheartedly endorse the move towards populism. But I can't glowingly endorse this book. Alas.
Peggy,
Thanks so much for encouraging us to pick up Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter with Kansas?" I'm about halfway through the book myself. Frank provides an excellent explanation as to how a historically populist state has become a bastion of conservatism and why so many folks in middle america vote against their economic self-interest.
What progressive Christians must engage our Christian brothers and sisters to build a populism based on the teaching of Jesus. The robber barrons and multi-million dollar bonus boys have had their day. The rest of us will soon have ours, but we have to work for it.