Katherine Stewart (1)

Katherine Stewart’s Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy is an indictment of the far-right coalition threatening U.S. democratic institutions. The goal of this network of ultra-wealthy donors, think tanks, and religious groups is nothing less than the dismantling of American democracy. They want to blow it up and replace it with a minority rule autocracy.

This didn't begin with Donald Trump's election, and it won't end when he leaves office. Its ideology show more is termed “reactionary nihilism,” and it seeks to replace democracy with a theocratic, white Christian nationalist order. It rejects pluralism, rational debate, and the rule of law, embracing violence and bigotry as tools of control. It is a long-term, well-organized, grass-roots effort that starts with attacks on our public school system to destroy it entirely and create a generation of ignorant, malleable people.

This book is a call to recognize the existential threat to democracy, urging citizens to confront the networks of oligarchic power and religious ideology reshaping America. Rational people must wake up and oppose this movement in any way possible. show less

“We don’t need lessons on patriotism from Christian nationalists. We need to challenge them in the name of the nation we actually have- a pluralistic, democratic nation - where no one is above the law and the laws are meant to be made by the people and their representatives in accordance with the Constitution.”

Political polarization—according to some on the left—can be mostly attributed to “misunderstandings” and “lapses in civility.” If only we could more politely converse with each other, the thinking goes, then we’d all get along and mend our divisions.

This is misguided. As this book clearly demonstrates, there is no equal blame—the current threat to democracy is coming disproportionately from the antidemocratic right, as any sane reading of recent political history reveals. show more

The author, Katherine Stewart—who’s been reporting on the rise of religious nationalism and antidemocratic forces for decades—poignantly notes:

“I will venture that few who have familiarized themselves with this movement will be tempted to minimize the danger it represents to our collective well-being.”

By the end of the book, you’ll be forced to agree. Stewart describes in great detail how the hard-right (which has captured the Republican Party) is spreading political chaos and collective insanity through well-funded, well-organized channels skilled at propaganda, targeting a large segment of the American population most susceptible to such manipulation. You’ll meet the funders, thinkers, and influencers at the heart of this highly sophisticated campaign to spread disinformation, confusion, hatred, and doubt, all in the service of maintaining or exacerbating current levels of inequality.

Although what is labeled as “the right” in fact consists of a diverse group of sometimes competing interests, they are all, in fact, roughly united by a kind of “reactionary nihilism”—to use Stewart’s term—that seeks to tear down existing institutions—to be replaced with something only ever vaguely defined. But whatever it is, it certainly won’t be “American.”

The American experiment was rooted in the idea that everyone is equal and free to govern themselves in a pluralistic society—not to be governed by certain races or genders or forced to abide by the dictates of archaic religions. So if the campaign to destroy the American experiment (and democracy along with it) succeeds, as Stewart notes, you can count on one thing: that it will harm everyone—including, perhaps especially, those who mistakenly and brazenly support it.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

In the 1980s, Howard Phillips, the conservative caucus chair, declared that ““We will not try to reform the existing institutions. We only intend to weaken them and eventually destroy them.” Paul Weyrich declared, “I don’t want everybody to vote.,,,Our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”
Judging by today’s political situation, they have succeeded.
Their drive to promote a Christian nationalist movement attracted supporters who show more feared the changes (e.g., minorities, immigrants, non-Christians, women’s liberation) in America. While they were a minority, many were in the DC area and had the power to use their view of their religion (picking and choosing the points with which they agreed) to change America. For example, today they believe a woman has no right to control her body when it comes to whether or not to give birth (Billy Graham supported Planned Parenthood and Ronald Reagan signed the most liberal abortion bill in 1967) but the government has no right to order people to wear masks to stop the spread of a deadly disease.
Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos donated millions of dollars to religious rights groups. She was confirmed by the Senate, twenty two members of which, including four on the education committee, received $900,000 from her family and their affiliated PACs. She said, “We expect a return on our investment.” Under her administration, charter schools, in which she had financial interests, increased, with decreased safeguards, and in Detroit, the education system collapsed, partly because of patronage. Almost 90% of the children affected were Black.
THE POWER WORSHIPPERS covers church, abortion, slavery, abuse, health care, and the judiciary.
Things have gotten much worse since this book was published in 2019. For those who want to regain our democracy, there is not much time to make the necessary changes. The Epilogue provides a guide to do so. show less