July:
American Theocracy
by Kevin Phillips
Review by Lucia Wilkes Smith, W A M M
WAMM’s book discussion group chose an ambitious undertaking with American Theocracy. Kevin Phillips’s thesis: the American Republic is threatened with devastating decline and probable extinction attributed to the triple threat of (1) reckless dependence on oil, (2) anti-objective influence of fundamental, end-time theologies, and (3) reliance on dramatic borrowing and stunning debt. The points are vigorously stated and scrupulously supported.
Phillips’s perspective is especially fascinating because he’s worked as a Republican strategist for decades. That credential carries unique weight. He scrutinizes the plight in which the United States has embroiled itself, and the reader mourns with him. He seems to suggest it wasn’t supposed to turn out this way.
This serious book recalled for me the scholarly volumes I read during grad school in American Studies. The prose is carefully constructed and dense, followed by 30+ pages of notes. I find the sections examining the role—asset or liability—of Christianity in America most captivating. Phillips clearly judges the “crusading, simplistic” religion he observes. This analysis became an excellent precursor to the WAMM Book Club’s August discussion.
August:
Losing Moses on the Freeway
by Chris Hedges
Review by Roxanne Abbas, W A M M
In the WAMM Book Club’s selection for August, Chris Hedges uses his experiences as a seminarian and 20-year war correspondent to relate the wisdom of the Ten Commandments to contemporary society. The commandments address the greatest violations that humans can suffer and defying them comes at a tremendous cost. Hedges tells us that the commandments do not save us from evil; they save us from committing evil. When we heed the commandments, we free ourselves from idolatry of self and discover the solidarity of community.
The author of the bestselling War is a Force That Gives US Meaning (a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction), Hedges is renowned for his courageous and powerful reporting on the crucial issues of our time. Hedges is currently a fellow at The Nation Institute and teaches at Princeton University. |
