Author: Katherine Stewart
Year published: 2025
Category: Adult nonfiction
Pages: 352
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location: (my 2025 Google Reading map): USA (many states)
Summary: Why have so many Americans turned against democracy? In this deeply reported book, Katherine Stewart takes us to conferences of conspiracy-mongers, backroom strategy gatherings, and services at extremist churches, and profiles the people who want to tear it all down. She introduces us to reactionary Catholic activists, atheist billionaires, pseudo-Platonist intellectuals, self-appointed apostles of Jesus, disciples of Ayn Rand, women-hating opponents of “the gynocracy,” pronatalists preoccupied with the dearth of white babies, Covid truthers, militia members masquerading as “concerned moms” and battalions of spirit warriors who appear to be inventing a new style of religion even as they set about attacking democracy at its foundations.
Along the way, she provides a compelling analysis of the authoritarian reaction in the United States. She demonstrates that the movement relies on several distinct constituencies, with very different and often conflicting agendas. Stewart's reporting and comprehensive political analysis helps reframe the conversation about the moral collapse of conservatism in America and points the way forward toward a democratic future.
Review: Full disclosure: Katherine Stewart is friends with my family. That aside, she is a really good writer and researcher. She writes about the role of Christianity in politics. I saw her speak in our local Literary Festival last weekend and was motivated to read her new book. One of my in-person book group members was also at the event so we decided to do a read-along.
There is a lot of detail in this book, showing the depth of Stewart's research. I particularly liked the information she got from attending conferences, rallies, and meetings with members of the far right since it gave the personal "narrative" approach.
The book has parts which correspond to the book's title: Money, Lies, and Demons. Each section supports and connects with the other two, but has a distinct approach to the issues. Money follows the donations, the ultra wealthy, and how they are influencing the far right Christian Nationalist movement (and let's be clear, there isn't much Christian love in their intentions). Lies gets to what I find really interesting and important: the words used by the group to appeal to the masses even though they aren't following the ideas themselves. The final section focuses on the "religion" of it all and how it is used to get to Christians throughtout the US and bring them into the movement.
There are also threads throughout the book centering on the roles of xenophobia, mysogyny, power, greed, and the rule of traditiaonal masculinity and patriarchy.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Nonfiction--subculture (Christian nationalists)
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