Tal Lavin

Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy by Talia Lavin is a disturbing and eye-opening book that everyone needs to read. I don't care where you are on the political spectrum, you need to know what is bubbling under the surface and then make an informed decision about where you stand.

The majority of the book presents Lavin's research and interactions, undercover, on many of the sites where these people congregate to spew their filth. Early in the book you'll read show more about how she witnessed a chat room expressing vile and violent opinions about her and what they would do to her. Think about how that would feel. They don't know you're there and they are talking about doing you physical harm. And that is just the beginning.

Much of the book is difficult to read if you're a person who values human life and diversity. But that is exactly why you need to read it. If, like me, you already know you find these people and their ideas to be lower than, well, I won't go there, but you know what I mean, you will be surprised at just how deep and how wide this underground sewage line runs. If you hold some racist views but don't think you are really a racist or a white supremacist, especially if you voted for and may again vote for Trump, you need to read this so you know exactly what kinds of people are being empowered by the rhetoric that spews from Trump's disgusting mouth. Then, if you are as surprised at it then maybe you'll reconsider your vote. If you like what these people are, well, at least you'll no longer be able to claim to be voting for Trump because of anything except your inbred bigotry and racism. You know, self enlightenment.

I found her discussion of antifa to be particularly spot on. Lavin not only gives a nice overview of who and what they are but she also explains why you may have a warped opinion of them based on “official” reports funneled from a white supremacist police force through a press corps that seeks not facts but easily distributed copy. Maybe you'll keep your opinion after reading this, but if you don't read this then you have no ground on which to claim an educated opinion, which means it will stink to high heaven.

As I said, I highly recommend this book and truly do believe everyone should read it. We should all be more aware of what is happening out of our sight.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

For quite a while now I've believed that one of the main reasons we live in such a fucked up world is because of Christians. From as far back as this giant cult has existed, it has delivered pain and evil upon the world, at a higher rate than anything else I can think of. Wild Faith confirmed this for me, and made it a little more concrete in my brain.
Lavin traces the rise of the Christian right in the US, mostly starting in the segregation days—cause they was one of the fights that began show more to give their modern version its power—but also covering their switch to anti-abortion, and their quite disgusting focus on parental rights to abuse their children. And, although it was a fairly small section, there is a lot of interesting stuff about Christian zionists: maybe my least favorite sect of the cult.
Some things I learned:
I learned the word apophenia: the tendency to be overwhelmed by meaningful coincidence. At first this made me think of sports fans and how much they (we) think that what hat we wear, what we have for dinner, or how often we shave help determine whether or not our team will be good. But the religious version of this is so much more dangerous and prevalent.
I learned about the prosperity gospel, which is the belief that wealth and power come to the righteous. This shows how smart and cunning the cult leaders are. Even though the bible clearly states that ethics are better than money, these con artists have millions (or maybe billions) of people believing that evil capitalists got rich because god wanted them to. That can only mean that they (maybe subconsciously) also believe that they aren't rich because god doesn't want them to be.
Lavin went into detail about how the Christian cult fought to get homeschooling laws changed in all fifty states. Not only so they could give their kids an “alternate” education, but also so they could abuse them in any way they see fit, with no oversight. The people fighting for the rights of parents to destroy their children are the same people who accuse gay and trans people of corrupting the youth. Now we have adults running this country who have justified the violence they received as children, and are therefore much more likely to justify the abuse they're delivering to their children. When these abused people continue to make excuses for their abusers, they will continue to worship dictators.
I learned about Cyrus the great. He was in the bible somewhere and is someone who is evil and pretty awful, but who did the “work of god” unknowingly. Many people believe we need someone like this to help bring on the end times. Many people believe that we have a modern Cyrus leading this country right now.
Then there were the things I knew, but that Lavin helped cement in my head. The efficacy of fear is one of them. We, as humans, are vulnerable. Sometimes thinking about that makes one sad, so we hold it in. That vulnerability turns to rage, and the leaders of the cult are very good and using fear to channel that rage into action. Lavin also talked about how it's easier to focus on the con man (trump, et al) and ignore the marks (hundreds of millions of poor and working class, mostly white, people).
There have been books written about Israel and Christian zionists, and Lavin didn't give it too much attention, but they did say some good stuff. I always get offended, and my anti-semite alarm goes off, when people talk about Israel running the world. As if this tiny country is bringing the most powerful nation in the world to its knees. As if the guy in charge of the US, who cannot be controlled by anyone, is beholden to the Jews. It's pretty dumb considering the fact that Christian zionists believe that Jews must own the land of Israel, and then die en masse, in order for Jesus to return. Eighty percent of evangelicals believe that the creation of Israel was a sign that Jesus is coming back. This quote sums it up best for me: “Christian zionists love Jews like a hungry man loves a chicken wing.” Lavin really nailed the feeling of being a Jewish person in the US; the feeling of not truly being American because we aren't Christian. show less

The author writes a well researched book with just enough of her own experiences to make it real without crossing the line into narcissism. She spent a year on alt-right websites, pretending she was not Jewish, and often pretending she was not female. She collected information and used it to expose some of the key players in the alt-right hate machine. She writes well (one would expect no less from a journalist) and either has a good editor or knows how to edit; there are no clunky commas or show more weird punctuation making it difficult to read, though I did find a couple of clunky sentences and at least one misplaced modifier. In the modern market, that makes this book close to perfect, I'm afraid. In the end, the book was solid, readable, and depressing. The main flaw is her acceptance of Antifa, which is too unquestioning and reminds me in part of the left's acceptance of Stalin and other left wing figures. While she is right that the level of violence committed by Antifa is small, especially compared to the alt-right, it is a group that is risky enough to keep one's distance. Overall, a recommended read. show less

Written prior to January 6, this recent book already feels quite dated even though it's only a few years old. I might have rated it higher at the time, but since then a lot has happened, and more importantly, there is now a much better book about the subject, Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics. I would therefore read that one instead of this, and also move on to Lavin's more recent book Wild Faith: How show more the Christian Right Is Taking Over America which is both better and still highly relevant.

One thing that really bothered me: In a book that spends quite a bit of time debunking the blood libel, Lavin then outrageously proceeds to compare Stephen Miller directly to the blood sucking fiend Nosferatu, a notoriously disgusting antisemitic trope. She either knew how bad this was and did it anyway, which erodes her legitimacy, or was oblivious of the connotations, which questions how well she did her homework and also erodes her legitimacy. Either way it's extremely disappointing, and undermines her message. show less