John W. Whitehead

As a libertarian expose of the overreach of government practices, this book is replete with documented examples from recent (up through 2015) web articles as well as examples from history over the past 60 years. Chilling to some extent, and well worth the read to examine that perspective.
As a truly 'new' work of examination of the development of a police state in this nation it is not so much a thing... it seemed that every chapter utilized the same source... frequently a web-site... several show more times over, and individual chapters in the book repeated the same statistics and same sources a few times over. I have a suspicion that the individual chapters might have originally been essays published in other sources (perhaps on the author's own institute's website), but that is only a suspicion and a I haven't researched it to ascertain the veracity of that idea.
I was able to do some internet research concerning the author, his institute, and his associations with other think-tanks and organizations... Yes, I do agree with his thesis that there is much government over-reach in the current socio-political climate, but the hard-right, Christian reconstructionism aspects that I encountered were enough to make me suspicious of the veracity of the civil 'liberties' espoused by the author and his institute.
Nevertheless, there were other aspects, picayune points if you will, that caused me to take pause... there was one work that was spelled one way in one chapter, another way in a different chapter (a compound word vs two separate words), and the lack of notation of (TM) or (R) when referring to two trade-name products. show less

I enjoyed the book though perhaps not as much as his The Second American Revolution. In this book Whitehead seems to show more of himself than in earlier books, letting us know that he follows the Presbyterian Church today, although married to a Pentecostal and baptized by a Baptist. He began his career as a left wing radical but gave that up for a suit as did many of the 60's radicals. He has angered many conservatives by defending gays and opposing the death penalty (p. 307).

Of particular show more interest to me was his confirmation of my old philosophy teachers statement that cultural changes follow the arts (p. 255). show less

Humanistic Secular Philosophical Influence on culture and society. Written in 1986 the conclusions and warnings presented at that time have come to fruition in undermining Western Civilization, culture, and society. The resulting plunge of our nation into lawlessness chaos and Neo-Paganism.
I heard Mr.Whitehead speak back in the mid 1980"s. Was immensely struck by his clear analytical presentation, it was deeply insightful, Academically rich, challenging, stimulating and I walked away that show more evening having experienced the profound strength of his powerful, persuasive scholarly lecture carefully studied & researched. His presentation exhibited a fully matured thinking that is born from serious reflection by a well disciplined mind. show less

The ominous threat of state authority over the church.. No matter how bad things may look, Christians cannot give up. We must not view life as a man, but as God does. All things work to the Christian's good. We must deny the new statist tyranny itgs, goal of controlling the real of the spirit, over which Jesus Christ alone is Lord.