Holy Terror
Holy Terror: Lies the Christian Right Tells Us to Deny Gay Equality
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From the publisher, Don Weise, Magnus Books
In 2008, millions of Americans thought Barack Obama’s election signaled the defeat and eventual disappearance of the “religious right.” In Holy Terror Mel White warns us that fundamentalist Christianity didn’t die that day.
“The Tea-party movement is simply the ‘religious right’ in disguise,” he warns. “Half of those who identify with the Tea Party consider themselves a part of the old ‘religious right.’ They believe the Bible is the literal word of God and that America is a Christian nation. Sixty-three percent believe that abortion should be illegal. Eighty-two percent oppose same-sex marriage.”
“Think about it, White continues.”The Tea-party movement represents a clear and present danger NOW not just to the Gay community but to all Americans who refuse to support the values of the Christian right or join them in making this a Christian nation.”
With a new title and a prophetic new Introduction by the author, Holy Terror is the quality paperback re-release of Mel White’s Religion Gone Bad: Hidden Dangers from the Christian Right.
“Too few people read Mel’s Religion Gone Bad,” explains Don Weise, Editor-in-Chief of Magnus Books. “He was trying to warn the LGBT community that the Christian right is waging a holy war against us NOW. And we didn’t hear him. Mel describes in dramatic detail the early history of that war from 1979 to the election of George W. Bush in 2000. If we don’t hear Mel’s warning, if we don’t understand the history of that holy war and the mentality of the terrorists who are waging it, we risk being driven back into our closets and losing the rights and protections we have won.”
A word from the author
“Fundamentalism, like a mutating virus, infects and sickens Christianity — especially evangelical Christianity — on a regular basis and the plague that follows infects and sickens the nation as well. Contaminated evangelical preachers and famous evangelical “personalities” are particularly contagious, especially those with powerful media ministries. Professional clergy and committed lay leaders who have also been infected by fundamentalism seem helpless in recognizing the symptoms let alone in treating the disease.
Curing those who exhibit signs of the virus, stopping the plague and preventing its immediate reoccurrence will not be easy. Whether or not the Christian church — let alone our American democracy — survives this illness, develops at least a temporary immunity, and grows strong and healthy again is a decision every one of us must make…on a daily basis. We can watch in silence as fundamentalist Christianity reshapes church and state in their own idolatrous image or we can choose to resist guided by the principles of relentless nonviolent resistance. I hope I can persuade you in Holy Terror that we must resist before the fundamentalists do what they have promised, turn the world’s oldes t democracy into a theocracy ruled entirely by “righteous men.”
Mel White, Long Beach, CA. June, 2012
[email protected]
What religious and political leaders are saying about Holy Terror
“Mel White lays bare in this book, as only an insider can do, the fierce anti-homosexual agenda of organized religion from the Vatican to the American television preachers. White paints a frightening picture of what they mean when they call for ‘making America a Christian nation.’ He issues a challenging wake-up call both to those who are traditional Christians as well as to those who hold deeply human values. A consciousness-raising, must-read book.”
John Shelby Spong, Episcopal bishop (ret.)
Author: The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible’s Texts of Hate in Search of the God of Love
“Mel White’s Religion Gone Bad reads like a page-turning whodunit. His careful recounting of the rise of fundamentalism in America is both chilling and enormously instructive. While religious progressives have been sitting around hoping that everyone would play fair with other faithful people, the fundamentalists have been planning and implementing a strategy for taking over the Christian church and the government. Religion Gone Bad (now Holy Terror) is a wake-up call to religious progressives to take back the Bible and stop being fearful of telling the story of our own salvation at the hands of an all-loving, all-merciful and inclusive God.”
The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire;
“In this meticulously researched book, Mel White documents how fundamentalist leaders are working to install a theocratic government in the United States. Essential reading for anyone concerned about the health of the church and the future of our nation.”
Jack Rogers, Author: Jesus, the Bible, And Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church; Moderator of the 213th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
“Mel White reveals the frightening plan of fundamentalist Christians to ‘reconstruct’ American democracy into a theocracy. No one writes about this subject with more credibility and urgency, because Mel White has known and worked with the ‘stars’ of the Christian Right, knows them to be unrelenting in their goal of making this a ‘Christian Nation’ and recognizes the cultural and political signs of their growing success.”
Jimmy Creech, An heroic Methodist pastor tried and defrocked for marrying a gay couple; Author: Adam’s Gift
“Mel White possesses unparalleled insight into the workings of the Anti-Gay Industry and its plan to create an American theocracy. Religion Gone Bad demonstrates why all Americans, secular and religious, gay and straight, must stand together to resist the attacks of the religious right on the humanity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.”
Matt Foreman, Former Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
“Mel just nails it. He doesn’t mince word or waste time. He uses his complex relationships with the movers and shakers of Christian fundamentalism to reveal what ails American Christianity. There is a spiritual maturity and authority in this book, as Mel builds his case relentlessly. This is the book we have been waiting for, and I predict will have many imitators.”
The Rev Dr. Nancy Wilson, Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches
“I am profoundly grateful to Mel White for this insider’s book about the fundamentalists’ war on homosexuals. It is amazing to me how a so-called Christian group can change the Christian message of love into a message of hate. Mel also explains how this war against gays also is also a war against our American government, an attempt to change our democracy into a theocracy, and thus threatens not just gays but all of us. I hope this book will alert the public before it is too late.”
John J. McNeill, Former Catholic Priest, Author: The Church and the Homosexual and Taking a Chance on God
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