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Gideon's Torch

Charles W. Colson,

Ellen Santilli Vaughn

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Feb 16, 2008 Werner rated it it was amazing

Shelves: political-fiction

Written by two evangelical authors, this book is in many ways a gold standard for political fiction from a Christian perspective. (Though Colson's name is listed more prominently, Vaughn's stronger background in fiction --Colson hadn't previously written any-- leads one to guess that she's responsible for much of the purely literary merit here, with him supplying insider insight into the working of the White House, official Washington, and the legal profession; it was a fruitful collaboration.) Written by two evangelical authors, this book is in many ways a gold standard for political fiction from a Christian perspective. (Though Colson's name is listed more prominently, Vaughn's stronger background in fiction --Colson hadn't previously written any-- leads one to guess that she's responsible for much of the purely literary merit here, with him supplying insider insight into the working of the White House, official Washington, and the legal profession; it was a fruitful collaboration.) Like, for instance, Parker Hudson in The President (which I reviewed earlier), the authors make their various characters on both sides of the fence believeable and human, with nobody demonized; and their messages emerge naturally from the interactions of the characters and the events of the story, rather than being preached in tract form. But unlike Hudson, they have a vastly more realistic understanding of the actual possibilities of our current political culture (and its limitations --there aren't any apocalyptic or earth-shaking results here, for good or ill), and no theocratic agenda as such; for the heroes, classical morality informs political behavior, but doesn't dictate legal establishment of Christianity.

Also unlike Hudson, the authors here concentrate on one topic --State- tolerated abortion-- viewed from the perspective of the political/legal system and the activists seeking an end to the killing. Set in the (from a 1995 perspective) near future, it begins with the election of a pro-legalized-abortion New England Republican governor as President --a scenario that's not unrealistic, especially facilitated as it is here by a party split; the GOP rank and file tend to be pro-life as a matter of principle, but the party insiders do not. Early in his term, the shooting of an abortionist galvanizes the administration into a broad policy of treating the entire prolife movement as criminal suspects; while increasing frustration and despair nudges some members of a Christian group of activists on the issue towards more radical means of protest. (Indeed, the rightness/wrongness of illegal or violent protest against abortion is probably as strong a thematic concern in the book as the rightness/wrongness of "legalized" abortion itself.)

Abortion has been compared, as an issue, to slavery. This book is not the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the former issue, and not only because (unlike Stowe's book) the book trade effectively ghettoized it in a market where only Christians read it. Stowe treated slavery as a grim reality of daily life for the people affected by it, rather than at one remove as an "issue" for the politicians of that day to deal with. The less direct treatment here reduces (slightly) the possibility of polarizing reader emotional reaction; but it also makes it harder to grasp the up-close and personal reality of the "issue." (Francine Rivers' Atonement Child --which I haven't read, but want to-- which focuses on a raped and pregnant college student, is probably a more Stowe-like treatment of the subject.) But this is still a very serious, credible and moving work of thought-provoking fiction. ...more

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