Michelle Goldberg - Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism

I bought Kingdom Coming the other day because it looked like it would be an interesting take on the political aspirations of the Christian far right in the United States, and it definitely was. Goldberg made a number of good points, although the fact that the book is now seven years old means that some of her arguments are somewhat out of date.

What I found most interesting about Kingdom Coming was Goldberg's look at the various strategies used by Christian nationalists to gain power in the United States. She makes very good observations about issues ranging from the problems of children home schooled by Christian nationalist parents to the extensive use of revisionist history to "prove" that America was founded as a Christian nation and that only recently has it become secular.

Much of the book was dedicated to looking at the various fronts of the so-called culture wars in the United States. I thought that Goldberg made a very interesting point by arguing that with anti-Semitism and racism largely pushed to the side by Christian nationalists (it is still present, just not officially acknowledged or supported) the idea of a "homosexual agenda" has filled the void left by the Protocols of the Elders of Zion prior to World War Two. When discussing the battles over teaching intelligent design and abstinence-only in classrooms despite the scientific evidence against both, Goldberg made excellent points regarding the evangelical Christian use of "truth." In the case of sex education, she quotes proponents of abstinence-only programs as saying that they don't care whether or not the programs prevent pregnancy or the spread of STDs, only that students are taught the "truth" about the consequences of sin. For intelligent design's supporters the argument seems to be that it doesn't matter how much scientific evidence is against them, the only way to actually have the truth is through references to the divine.

Goldberg's closing section on how those on the secular left can push back against Christian nationalists outlined a number of very interesting strategies that involve a complete reformation of the American electoral system and a call for those on the left to become just as politically organized (especially on local levels) and as loud as those on the right.

Since the book was written about seven years ago a lot has changed, and some of this is reflected in the epilogue written in December 2006 after the American mid-term elections. Not only has a Democratic president been elected twice since then, but political support for marriage equality, which Goldberg described as political suicide in 2006, has become commonplace among Democrats and has started to creep into Republican ranks as well. I would be very interested to see an updated and revised version of the book published with current developments taken into consideration.

Kingdom Coming presents a terrifying vision of what America might become if the religious right continues to gain power, but thankfully it looks like that tide has turned somewhat. I would definitely recommend the book despite it being somewhat out of date.