This book is pretty solid in documenting the history of the religious right in America. Although much of the focus is on the last half of the 20th century, the introduction and the epilogue give some background on the interaction between Christianity and government in the previous period.
I haven't seen the PBS television series that this book accompanies, so some things in the book probably impact a little differently than seeing video or audio accounts, especially so in a movement that makes so much use of oral speeches and broadcasts. But at least in the written account, the balance is kept between fair treatment and criticism of the different elements of the movement. This is no easy feat, given the sometimes inflammatory rhetoric both by the Christian right and against it.
The chapters of the book appear to reflect an episode format, with varying types of focal points telling the story in a roughly chronological order. One chapter profiles a person (--Billy Graham) while other chapters highlight in depth a local conflict (such as the battle over sex education in Anaheim and the school book battle in West Virginia), while others talk primarily about the formation of the major activist groups (Moral Majority, and then later the Christian Coalition). One trend appears to be that as the Judeo-Christian culture lost its monopoly in the political process, the struggle has been for the Christian right (in whatever form it took at the time) to keep its place at the table while keeping to its core values. Even at the end of the book (which ends with mid-1996), this conflict was not resolved.
The book also focuses on personal profiles of the individuals in the involvement, which also provides some more depth about what many people might lump together as monolithic. The differences between Jerry Falwell's background (the rural son of an alcoholic father) and Pat Robertson (the son of a U.S. senator) are pointed out in light of the interaction (or lack thereof) at certain points when they would be considered natural allies on the surface. And at a time in the 1980s when most Christian preachers and conservative commentators were considering the possibility of quarantining or tatooing AIDS patients, one televangelist said:
"How sad that we as Christians, who ought to be the salt of the earth, and we, who are supposed to be able to love everyone, are afraid so of an AIDS patient that we will not go up and put our arm around them and tell them that we care."
The televangelist? Tammy Faye Bakker.
For those seeking to learn about the movement without the whitewash or the ridicule that accompanies most assessments of the Christian right, this book is the best place to start.
William Martin's With God on Our Side is a good and detailed history of Conservative Christians' attempt to involve themselves in American politics. This is only one dimension of the movement, and his focus on this dimension leaves one feeling that the movement is primarily political. I also did not find the book as objective as other reviewers or as clear. While the depiction of events is objective, Martin's commentary is not. He does not believe that religious groups should involve themselves in politics. In many ways, the book is a warning to future generation of Conservative Christians. It provides many examples of how the attempt has blown up in Conservative Christians' faces. What is unclear in the book is the line between social conservatives and religious conservatives. While the line is fine, Martin's approach is at times simplistic. The groups often work together and share common causes, but they are ultimately different and have different views of America's future. To his credit, Martin usually makes this clear when discussing the involvement of radical groups like the KKK. If you keep the above in mind, the book can be rewarding!
