Mel White’s Books
November 18, 2018: the 40th anniversary of the Jonestown massacre. On that dark day in 1978, nine hundred and nine Americans died of cyanide poison in a jungle village named after the pastor who deceived and then murdered them. Understanding how and why they were deceived could save your life or the life of someone you love.
Mel White, ordained minister, seminary professor, and professional filmmaker, relocated to Berkeley for six months following the Jonestown Massacre to interview survivors and families of the victims to try to understand how this tragedy happened. With some changes and updated understandings, White’s book has been republished in 2018 with the clear lesson: What We Must Not Forget.
The Rev. Dr. Mel White argues that the true goals of today’s fundamentalists are to break down the wall that separates church and state, superimpose their “moral values” on the US Constitution, replace democracy with theocratic rule, and ultimately create a new “Christian America” in their image. They believe this is a Christian nation that must be returned forcibly to its Christian roots.
Since the fall of “godless Communism,” homosexuality and abortion have become the primary targets through which fundamentalists have created fear, raised money, and mobilized recruits. Originally published as Religion Gone Bad, this book documents the war that fundamentalist Christians have waged against gays and lesbians and offers dramatic, well-documented evidence that fundamentalist leaders in the name of protecting America from sexual minorities are waging nothing less than a “holy war” against democracy and liberty.
Twelve-year-old Margaret Kaupuni had just danced before Honolulu’s 1934 May Queen. As she left the steps a health inspector grabbed her wrist. “You are a leper, child, and you will come with me.” At the leper receiving station she was positively diagnosed and sent to Kalaupapa, the leprosy settlement on Molokai.
This is the inspiring true story of Margaret the Miracle of Molokai who faced suffering most of us can’t even imagine however instead of giving way to grief and anger Margaret spent the rest of her life relieving the suffering of others. Let Margaret’s story give you strength to face your own suffering and at the same time plant a new dream in your heart.
Stranger at the Gate: To be Gay and Christian in America
In this moving, best-selling autobiography, Mel White comes out of the closet to give hope to other gay and lesbian Christians, to confront the misleading anti-gay rhetoric of the radical right, and to launch his own fight for justice and understanding for God’s gay and lesbian children. Mel and Gary have received (and answered) more than 50,000 letters from readers who were both inspired and informed by this book.
Holy Terror: Lies the Christian Right Tells Us to Deny Gay Equality
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.
Grace and Demion
Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. C. S. Lewis
A Confession by the Author
“During my teenage years I was told that my homosexuality was ‘from the devil’ and that being Gay would send me ‘straight to hell.’ Sixty years later well-meaning Christians still misuse the Bible to warn LGBTQ teenagers that their sexual orientation is ‘from the devil’ and that accepting themselves as they are will send them ‘straight to hell.’
“If those same well-meaning Christians are so determined to misuse heaven and hell, angels and demons to scare LGBTQ teenagers into believing that God won’t love them unless they “change,” I’m equally determined to use heaven and hell, Grace and Demion to show my sisters and brothers that God has created them and loves them exactly as they are.
“Sixty–one years have passed since I first met Grace, the guardian angel of God’s LGBTQ creations and Demion, her hunky little adversary. I was a thirteen-year-old Boy Scout experiencing my first crush on another Boy Scout when they suddenly appeared in my life.
“I have to admit that six decades later there are still times I’m hassled by Demion. At the same time Grace has never failed me. Every day she reminds me that as an out gay man I am loved unconditionally by my Creator and just knowing that has made all the difference.”
