With God on Their Side: George W. Bush and the Christian Right

by Esther Kaplan

When asked which single issue most affected their vote in the last presidential election, more than one in five Americans said "moral values"―and 78 percent of these voters chose to reelect President George W. Bush. Indeed, Christian fundamentalists made up close to 40 percent of the president's electorate in 2004, and their turnout increased by some four million voters over 2000. As Esther Kaplan shows in her richly detailed investigation, it's no wonder the Christian right voted for Bush in droves―their loyal support in 2000 produced fantastic results. While organizations that offer abortion counseling and services or help to prevent HIV see their funds cut, church groups receive millions in federal dollars to promote sexual abstinence and marriage (provided, of course, it is heterosexual). Bush has appointed a Christian right dream team to the federal courts, dedicated to tearing down what one such judge calls "the so-called separation of church and state. Religious zeal even shapes Bush's foreign policy, as Christian belief in the end times spurs the administration's support for hard-line policies in Israel. A prescient study of the Christian right's growing political clout, With God on Their Side is essential reading for anyone concerned about America's direction.

Genres: Politics, Religion, Nonfiction, Current Affairs, Fundamentalism, Christianity, History

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2004

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a detailed look at the inroads the fundamentalist right has made on its way to theocracy. Scary stuff, heavily documented.



-----July 1, 2020 - NPR - White Supremacist Ideas Have Historical Roots In U.S. Christianity by Tom Djelten

-----July 15, 2020 - Time - These States’ Leaders Claim to Be ‘Pro-Life.’ So Why Are So Many of Their Citizens Dying of COVID-19? By William J. Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

[mad mags · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrifying.

Once DefCon (The Campaign to Defend the Constitution) announced that they'd kick off their new book club in March 2006 with Esther Kaplan's WITH GOD ON THEIR SIDE: HOW CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS TRAMPLED SCIENCE, POLICY AND DEMOCRACY IN GEORGE W. BUSH'S WHITE HOUSE, I checked out a copy from my local library, post-haste. Unfortunately, I never did finish it in time for the online chat with author Kaplan, but not because it was a boring, tedious read; in fact, just the opposite. I was so shocked, outraged, and just plain pissed off about what I learned in WITH GOD ON THEIR SIDE that I found myself throwing the book down every third page so I could rant to anyone within earshot about GW and his Bible-beating cronies. I mean, I knew that the current administration let their evangelical faith guide their policies; I guess I just didn't realize how far their zealousness had taken them.

Kaplan focuses on several areas in which GW shapes government policy and programs to fit his conservative Christian worldview to an egregious extent: foreign policy (specifically, the "War on Terror" and the conflict in Iraq), science (including stem cell research and any science surrounding sexual matters, such as AIDS and condom effectiveness), faith-based initiatives, gay marriage, and reproductive rights (with an emphasis on contraception, abstinence-only programs, and abortion). Kaplan discusses the impact of Bush's policies both in the United States and abroad (for example, the Global Gag Rule has had a deleterious effect on women in developing nations). The issues are complex, the violations many, yet Kaplan does an excellent job of nailing down the significance of each and showing how they are all interrelated.

Perhaps more interesting than George W. Bush's faith-based politics is his stubbornness, his dogged determination to "stay the course," his unrelenting single-mindedness and his intolerance for inconvenient "facts" (like Stephen Colbert, I believe GW prefers "truthiness" to "book learning"). He is "the decider," and as such, his words are gospel. Should any of his staff or government employees (or any recipients of government largesse) disagree with him, they had better shape up or be prepared to ship out. Kaplan serves up example after example of GW's disdain for dissent. Scientists who pursue controversial research or publish data at odds with the Bush admin's ideology are selectively audited, driven out of office, or have their grant money yanked out from under them. Staffers and cabinet members who dare disagree with Bush in public must renounce their blasphemous ways or risk being thrown overboard to satisfy the conservative sharks that make up GW's base. More so than any president before him, George W. has consistently stifled science, censored his critics, and generally abused his position of power.

WITH GOD ON THEIR SIDE was first published in early 2004, prior to the 2004 Presidential Elections. Although Kaplan is clearly disgusted with the "trampling" of "science, policy, and democracy" that she so eloquently describes, she still manages to maintain a somewhat optimistic tone - perhaps because she hopes that the good citizens of the US will vote this schmoe out of office when given the chance. Unfortunately, we all know what happened in 2004. I can't help but wonder if GW would have been defeated if more voters (and potential voters) had read WITH GOD ON THEIR SIDE before making their dates with the Diebold machines. Like his evangelical base, Bush is a master at concealing his true goals, as well as the unconstitutional activities he uses to pursue them.

I should also note that Kaplan documents her sources exhaustively. Nothing annoys me more than an investigative piece of nonfiction with a sloppy reference list tacked on as an afterthought (or, heavens forbid, such a book that's completely devoid of any references at all!). Kaplan's "Notes" section weighs in at a healthy 35 pages, making it easy for skeptics to track down her resources and verify her claims. (Yes, it's all true, and it's every bit as scary as it seems!) And, while Kaplan may take issue with Bush's flouting of the wall of separation between church and state, she is herself religious - Jewish, to be exact. She's not anti-religion or an atheist (like moi), but rather opposes Bush's evangelical antics because they're an affront to the First Amendment and are more often than not counter-productive in terms of science, foreign policy, human rights, and democracy.

In the words of one reviewer, WITH GOD ON THEIR SIDE is "a truly shocking dossier of recent religious fundamentalist incursions into the soul of American democracy." Every American must read this book - and keep Kaplan's lessons in mind as they head to the polls this fall.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2006/05/17/...

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warning: This book might make you mad....

[marcus miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably should have read this book six years ago when it first came out but that didn't happen. Still it was interesting and one could argue, still relevant. Kaplan does a nice job of bringing together a variety of sources to detail the influence the Christian right had on American politics during the eight years of President Bush. If you spent any time back then reading Focus on the Family, or listening to Dobson, Falwell and Robertson, you may not learn much new in this book. Kaplan takes the Christian Right and its leaders at face value. One thing she does not do is to analyze or question how Christian are the positions and actions of the Christian right.
Given that Bush is no longer in power and the Christian right has lost their access to the White House, it should be no surprise that many of these folks are now rather angry. If President Bush was the answer to their prayers, what did it mean when God let Obama get elected? Rather than interpret it as a rebuke, either by God or the electorate, these folks suggested either Obama wasn't born in the US, or that he was a Muslim plotting to take over the country.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Religion and politics have been uneasy bedfellows for some time now, and with the current administration's faith-based initiatives, policies, and presidential stem-cell research vetoes, it appears that Americans are wanting something a little more secular in their legislature. Esther Kaplan writes with a very liberal bent and addresses many issues, including the neverending evolution/creationism controversy; stem cell research; the president's response to the global AIDS crisis; and abortion. What most secular humanists will shudder at is the revelation that George genuinely, sincerely believes that God called on him to run for president. Whether or not religion ultimately falls completely out of favor with the American public is yet to be seen. For liberals, this book is a chilling call to arms.

[Shu Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely well research account, with references and personal interviews that clearly lays out actions taken by the Bush administration, often behind the scene of national news that is effecting not only the U.S. but the world internationally on topics such as access to healthcare and approaches to diplomacy.

[Claire S]

Ugh, all so horrible. Wonder if things could have been different if this book had come out a few months earlier..
Not sure if I'll read it, I'm so continually furious anyway; But there still out there, and in various guises elsewhere, so will see.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great book

[sonny singh suchdev · Rating 4 out of 5]

freaky shit.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an eye opener and a glimpse of how dangerous it is to mix politics and religion.