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BOOK: Right Wing Politics and Religion: The Unholy Alliance Exposed
Written By Henry Bechthold (Sinapi Books)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
If you thought that right wing Christians were all of one mind, Henry Bechtold begs to differ. His book is a scathing critique of Conservative Christianity in America, but from the viewpoint of a fundamentalist Christian pastor instead of anyone from the Left.
Much of what he writes I wholeheartedly agree with. For example he states “…these are individuals who believe they are called and guided by God, yet have simultaneously justified lies, manipulation, and gross financial abuse while serving their God.” Perhaps Bechthold’s most radical assertion is that if the Church really applied their donations to helping the needy, even just 20% of it, homelessness and other societal maladies would be a thing of the past. But no, often right wing charitable organizations simply take advantage of the faithfuls’ good hearted generosity. For example, Operation Blessing accepted donation for helping victims from Hurricane Katrina; instead the money mostly benefitted Pat Robertson’s broadcasting network.
He drives home the point over and over that most Christian Churches have completely forgotten the Bible’s many injunctions to help those less fortunate, but that’s just the start. Berchtold says they have become feel-good machines for people selfishly seeking blessings, and that their leadership has made political alliances that would make Jesus cringe. Then he goes further, taking churches to task for not following the Ten Commandments literally. To Bechthold this means things like celebrating the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day of the week which was the original Jewish Sabbath. He also accuses George Bush of ignoring the Ninth Commandment, that of bearing false witness, due to the many lies he has told in office.
Bechthold, perhaps due to his Seventh Day Adventist roots, on many other points he’s in line with conservative values. Bechthold clearly states his belief that radical Islam is out to destroy America and Christians and has no problem with the war on Terror itself but once he also states that God has the power to right all wrongs without our help. Making other criticisms on purely religious points, he also clearly does not believe in the Calvinistic idea of pre-destination. To him, Salvation must be earned.
Call the book preachy, and that’s exactly what he’s doing here. The chapters are somewhat repetitive, reading like they were a series of monographs previously published in a newsletter. Later in the book Bechthold moves into several chapters of “evidence” of the Church’s transgressions. These are all heavily notated with Bible verse that may not mean much to the secular reader but may weigh heavily on the conscience of the faithful.
Maybe you don’t need further evidence of the Church’s unholy alliance with right wing politics. However Bechthold’s book is an interesting glimpse of a different kind of dissent, and you will gather a lot of interesting factoids along the way.
© 2007 - Rusty Pipes