The Christian Bookstore
By Brent Bourgeois
“Shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer”-2 Timothy 2:16-17
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”-Ephesians 4:29
Somewhere in the corner of your local suburban strip mall, tucked away between the Nail Salon and the Chinese take-out restaurant is a curious American phenomenon known as the Christian bookstore. If you are a not a Christian, chances are you’ve never set foot in a Christian bookstore. Many people who call themselves Christians have, in fact, never set foot in a Christian bookstore.
In general, if you want to buy a Christian-themed gift for anyone, your local Christian bookstore is the place you want to go. If you want to delve deeper into the beautiful mysteries of Christian theology, or the leading role of Christians in Western history, or if you, novice or scholar, have any questions about what is in the Bible, there is no better place to start than your local Christian bookstore. Despite their Precious Moments interiors, they have always been a nice, safe place to take the kids for an hour on a Saturday afternoon- all of these stores have a children’s section and most are running Veggie Tales videos at any given moment. Veggie Tales are genuinely funny stories acted out by computer-generated vegetables with the kind of wit and sarcasm rarely seen in humans who subscribe to their theology. It is funny and sad that it takes a dancing tomato and a singing cucumber to inject any sense of irony into the Faith.
It is with a great deal of disappointment that, while doing research for a book I’m writing, I discovered a darker side to these stores that deeply offended me as a practicing Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ. I started out looking for signs of political bias, as I was writing a chapter on liberal media bias, and wanted to find out if any political bias existed in Christian bookstores. Much of what I found was predictable enough. There are no less than eight books on Ronald Reagan, a half-dozen on George W. Bush, many dealing with his prayer life (one I found amusing: The Leadership Genius of George W. Bush: 10 Commonsense Lessons from the Commander in Chief, kind of like Mao’s Little Red Book), biographies on Condi Rice and Bill Frist, and many books by Oliver North. Harder to find are books by former president Jimmy Carter, who has put more walk in his Christian talk than the rest of these people combined. There are several books that lay out the Christian case biblically for war, but you’ll probably have to go to Borders to find the Christian case against war.
What caused me to nearly fall off of my non-violent wagon was a book that I found prominently displayed in several area Christian bookstores. Written by right-wing talk show host Hugh Hewitt, this bit of heavenly advice is called If It’s Not Close, They Can’t Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It. The poor fellow at the register in one store was just going about his business when I marched up to the counter, book in hand, and said, ” I know you just work here, but is this a Christian bookstore?” “Yes it is”, he replied. “Then how can you sell this?” I asked as I slammed a copy of the Hewitt book down on the counter. “Wha…” was his attempt at a reply as he apparently looked at the book for the first time. “I’m a Christian and I’m really offended you’re selling a book called ‘Crushing the Democrats’-that’s not okay”, I said to the now attentive clerk. “It says that?” was all he could reply as I walked out the door. I’ve never been good at finishing this kind of conversation. At another store, I brought this book to a nice lady in customer service and she looked at it and replied, shaking her head, “I don’t know why we’re selling this, either. If it was up to me, we wouldn’t”. Obviously, many of the people who work at these stores don’t even realize that they’re selling this kind of book.
This sour experience got me curious as to what other books these stores were selling. The following is a list of books that I found either on site at a Christian bookstore, or for sale at their online store:
Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk
The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today
The Gay Agenda: It’s Dividing the Family, the Church and a Nation
Outrage: How Gay Activists and Liberal Judges Are Trashing Democracy to Redefine Marriage
The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought
Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America’s Youth
Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity
Liberals Are Killing America: How Their Loss of Courage, Lack of Leadership, and Constant Deceit Are Destroying Americans
Hour of the Witch: Harry Potter, Wicca Witchcraft, and the Bible
Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left
The Many Faces of John Kerry: Why This Massachusetts Liberal Is Wrong for America
Liberwocky: What Liberals Say and What They Really Mean
Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty Over Liberalism, by Sean Hannity
The Second Amendment: Preserving the Inalienable Right of Individual Self-Protection
The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Churches, Schools, and Military, by Michael Savage
Shut Up and Sing: How Elites from Hollywood, Politics, and the UN Are Subverting America
The Dark Side of Liberalism: Unchaining the Truth
The Myth of Separation Between Church and State
Moses Was a Right-Wing Conservative
Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton
The Death of Outrage: Bill Clinton and the Assault on American Ideals
How the Clinton Clergy Corrupted a President
The ACLU Vs. America: Exposing the Agenda to Redefine Moral Values
How to Survive the Lions’ Den of the Liberal Media
Painting the Map Red
Big Sister is Watching You: Hillary Clinton and the White House Feminists Who Now Control America And Tell the President What To Do
There are many more, but space constraints prevent me from listing them and, frankly, I got tired of looking. I defend the right of these authors to write and publish as much of this stuff as they want; my problem with it is WHAT IN GOD’S NAME ARE THESE BOOKS DOING IN A CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE?!? They should be over in the political section at Borders keeping the inflammatory left-wing screeds company. In the interest of accuracy, it is possible to find a modest amount of moderately progressive Christian literature in these stores, books like God’s Politics by Jim Wallis, especially on-line, where the selection is much larger. There is, however, nothing remotely approaching the ‘other side’ of this sad commentary. I wouldn’t expect that there would be. I don’t think hate-filled polemics of any political persuasion belong in something called a ‘Christian’ bookstore. Maybe I’m naîve, but finding books for sale by Michael Savage and Sean Hannity right next to the bibles strikes me as deeply offensive. What is sadder is that many Christians pass by this stuff as if there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of it; this kind of venomous spewing has become the politics of choice for the Religious Right. Why would it be noticed if one goes from Limbaugh in the car to Fox News in the house to ‘Crushing the Democrats’ at the local Christian bookstore?
Among Christians, there should be healthy debate over important issues like when war is just, and what a Christian’s duty is in supporting their government in times like these. These are valid issues for Christians and non-Christians alike, and a scholarly look at all sides of these debates from a Christian worldview is exactly the kind of book I would expect to find at a Christian bookstore. Many Christians are quick to point to the 13th chapter in the Book of Romans, in which the Apostle Paul writes,
“Everyone must submit themselves to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment upon themselves”.
This passage has been used with great regularity in churches all over America, especially when Republicans are in control of the White House. When Bill Clinton was president, you didn’t hear it so much. There is a great debate to be had about just how far you follow your leaders- I’m sure Paul didn’t mean like lemmings over a cliff. What about the Christian churches in Germany in the 1930’s? Were the priests and pastors citing this passage? If so, were they forced to do it, or were they just following a literal reading of Scripture?
There are books that debate these questions, and you can find them in most Christian bookstores. Sadly, though, there are a lot more books like those listed above. These books are nothing more than ‘hit’ pieces from the far right, published by the likes of Regnery Books, many of whose titles are facsimiles of the John Birch-style literature transported forty years to the present. Books like these are meant to inflame, not inform. They are shoddily written, trade gossip and rumor for facts, and add nothing to the debate but hate. I believe that Christian bookstores do a great disservice to the Faith by carrying these kinds of books, 1) by being the purveyors of this kind of hate-mongering ‘literature’ they are acting in a most un-biblical fashion, and 2) they are passing this stuff on to Christian consumers who then contribute to the divisive noise that is tearing this nation apart by repeating what they have read, rather than taking a more loving and healing approach to the unbeliever. This in turn reaffirms the stereotype that many non-Christians have of Christians: that they are all hate-filled right-wing zealots.
“This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them.”-Psalm 49:13-14
Jesus said, “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’.” I would hope that Christian bookstores would take the high road when it comes to politics- maybe even stop and think about what is written on those cute little bracelets they sell at the front counter: WWJD, what would Jesus do? I can see it now, after a long day healing the sick and tending to the poor, Jesus comes back to the campsite where the twelve disciples are sitting around, having a bite to eat and talking about their day. Jesus finds a nice spot under a tree to lie down and as He does, He yells, “Hey Peter! Do you have my copy of ‘Liberals Are Killing America’?” “No”, Peter replies, “I’m still reading the Michael Savage”. “Now that- that was a great book!” our Lord and Savior exclaimed.
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A Day In the Life of Cindy Sheehan
It was with deep sadness, but a gnawing understanding, that I read Cindy Sheehan’s letter of resignation as the public face of the anti-war movement. I was fortunate enough to spend one long day up close with Ms. Sheehan about a year ago in Washington, D.C. I won’t pretend that we’re friends- the couple of times that I have seen her since have brought visual recognition but she has had to be prompted to remember my name. But that day is worth recalling because it serves as a microcosm of what kind of life she has led over the past few years, and what has finally driven her back home to reclaim what is left of her life.
I was in Washington, D.C. attending a national convention of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, an organization designed to refute the idea that God is somehow a conservative Republican. Cindy Sheehan was scheduled to appear at an outdoor interfaith prayer gathering put on by the Network (and its head, Rabbi Michael Lerner) in Lafayette Park, just across the street from the White House. Having Cindy at the gathering was a blessing and a curse for the Network, and Rabbi Lerner lamented as much. Her being there guaranteed that the press would cover the event, giving the organization much-needed publicity, but then, the press would focus solely on her every move at the expense of anything else at the gathering. In the event, this is exactly what happened. Cindy made a beautiful and loving speech, one of two she made that day and evening, but the only thing that made the news was her one unflattering reference to the president while pointing back at the White House. There were many exquisite prayers and speeches given by religious and spiritual people of all stripes, but the press focused on one sentence from Cindy.
This is not to paint Cindy as a saint- she isn’t. She’s a career mom with no prior experience in being a national figure. She said quite a few things, especially at first, coming right from her heart (or shooting from her hip) without thinking about the ramifications of the twelve-second soundbite. But she has had only one overriding concern during the whole of her public life— to spare mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, and children the pain that she went through when a couple of soldiers knocked on her door and informed her that her son was dead.
Her critics, and they are many, especially those on the Right, are quick to point out that Casey Sheehan volunteered for the army and that he was perfectly aware of what he was getting into. This is the lie at the heart of the matter. Shiite militiamen who were guarding their neighborhood turf— enemies of both al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, killed Casey. It is only if you continue to buy into the whole house of lies that the Bush administration has built that you can still maintain the fiction that Casey Sheehan ‘knew what he was getting into’.
After the prayer gathering, about 200 people marched the short distance across the street to deliver a petition signed by 40,000 people urging President Bush not to use military force against Iran. The guard at the gate said the White House could not accept the petition. Think of the sad irony of that. In any event, we committed a clear case of civil disobedience by shoving 7,000 pieces of paper full of signatures through the White House gates and onto the lawn and driveway, where they blew all over the lot. The DC police just stood there and watched us litter the White House lawn. They then allowed about 300 hundred people, far less than was legal, to march right down a major boulevard without a permit on the way to then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s house. It was obvious that this was because the DC police liked Cindy.
I, Zelig-like, found myself at Cindy’s side throughout all of this. We talked of family, churches, soccer, softball, and Northern California, where we’re both from. We laughingly tried to remember old softball chants to use as anti-war slogans. Through the whole march, Cindy was a polarizing figure, a hero to most who recognized her, but a terrible villain to a vocal few. The things those few people shouted at her were amazingly awful. She just smiled at them and kept singing.
The purpose of our visit to Donald Rumsfeld’s house was a symbolic follow-up to an infamous after-speech Q & A in which ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern infiltrated a friendly gathering of administration supporters (these are the only places administration officials dare to speak) and asked Rumsfeld some stunningly indicting questions. The SecDef stammered through a couple of non-answers and McGovern was hustled out of the room.
Ray McGovern was with us on the march that afternoon, armed with a bullhorn, to ask Donald Rumsfeld the same questions again, although Mr. Rumsfeld most certainly wasn’t home, and even if he was, there was no way he was going to lower himself to our presence. The media was there, and that, I suppose, was the point. When we arrived at Donald Rumsfeld’s home, we were met by a handful of his supporters who apparently keep a vigil in front of his house. The sight of Cindy Sheehan sent them into spasms of vitriolic convulsions. What happened next was beyond belief, and if I wasn’t right there to see it, I wouldn’t have believed it. While Cindy and about ten people sat down on the ground in a circle and sang gospel songs and hymns, these Rumsfeld supporters, including a young girl of about twelve or thirteen, got right in Cindy’s face and shouted obscene and hateful things to her about how her son was a hero but she was a @%$##^ and a $^%*%#. Throughout this onslaught, she put her two index fingers in her ears and childlike, sang, “La-la-la-la”. She didn’t respond with the slightest bad word or gesture. I wanted to fall right off of my peace-nik wagon and clock these people. This terribly uncomfortable scene unfolded for about an hour, before dying of exhaustion.
In the final movement of this opera, we hitched a ride with an Iraqi ex-patriot back to the church where the conference was happening. The driver, a man in his 50s, was full of gratitude for what Cindy was doing, and urged her to continue her fight. It put to rest another right-wing lie, that all Iraqis in the US were supportive of the American presence in Iraq.
Cindy Sheehan has never wavered from her original purpose. She has said many times, to skeptical ears, that it wasn’t a case of right or left, but of right and wrong. Neither Right nor Left apparently believed her. As long as Cindy’s laser beams were pointed directly at the Bush administration, both sides thought they knew exactly who she was, and both sides used her for their own purposes. When the Democrats regained control of Congress in the fall of 2006, Cindy refocused her laser. The continuing timidity and stutter-stepping of congressional Democrats regarding funding of the war has led to increasing criticism from Cindy Sheehan. Now, many of the journalists and bloggers on the Left have started turning on Cindy Sheehan. This was clearly not who she was supposed to be.
This, in turn, has broken Ms. Sheehan’s spirit. She could take it from the Right— what else could anyone expect? But now that she is being criticized from all sides, especially from the very people for whom she has given her health, her money, her marriage, and precious time from the rest of her family, she has surrendered. After all, she is just a mom from Vacaville, California, whose son was killed in a war that she doesn’t believe in.
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Sunday Morning Quarterbacking
By Brent Bourgeois
I sat this past Sunday morning in church, wondering once again if too much knowledge is a good thing, wondering if I am going to Hell for thinking the way that I do, wondering if anyone else in this fairly large congregation was thinking what I was thinking. If they were, then I’m afraid they were as uncomfortable as I was.
The opening act of Sunday Morning Quarterbacking with Brent began when my pastor, as he is wont to do, asked a serviceman who was leaving for a 2nd tour of Iraq to stand and be recognized. I have nothing against this in principle; after all, this guy needs some love and prayers for the danger he is about to face. What bothers me is the wrapping up of these soldiers in the almost idolic worship of the flag from the pulpit, the unquestioning support of such a noble cause- the bringing of the holy trinity of Freedom, Liberty, and Democracy to the Satanic Muslim hordes who so desperately need our help. It is just taken as a given that we are Right because we are Americans, and thus the things we do in the name of Freedom and Democracy are Right and Good, not to mention most Christian-like. The blind support of our leaders, no matter what they do, or how much they lie, is as further assured as the passing of the collection basket. Meanwhile, visions of Lutheran churches in Germany in the 1930s dance in my head.
The main sermon was straightforward enough: a variation on "You Can’t Take It With You When You Go", a missive that I had heard from this pastor on several previous occasions. Again, I have no problem with the premise- only the most cold-hearted Scrooge would disagree that it is best not to hoard one’s treasures, and Christian theology has repeatedly stressed the point that it is better to give than to receive. We heard from Paul’s letter to Timothy, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.“ And, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.“ And finally, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." -1Tim 6:7, 6:9-10, 6:17-18. There are so many places in the gospels that Jesus talks about greed and wealth and the lust for material things that one might get the impression that it was a topic that He felt quite strongly about.
Here again, though, is where the alarm bells go ringing loudly in my head. For I have never, in all of the years that I have been attending Christian churhes, heard the link made between the greed that Jesus and Paul talk so much about and our economic system of capitalism, especially the unbridled, unfettered brand that is currently in use by the West (or the North), which systemically seems to refute point-by-point every thing Jesus has to say on the subject. Don't think that I do not understand the deep doo-doo that I am stepping in by making this statement. For Capitalism stands next to Patriotism in the Pantheon of Untouchable Ideals that we Christians dare to criticize at our own peril. Nonetheless, the sad fact of the matter is, that all of the individual donations we give to charities, and, indeed, all of the charities in this country, big and small, and all of the good and righteous deeds that they do will not begin to compensate for the damage that transnational corporations, with the help of international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, do in our name to the economic health and well-being of the vast majority of the world's population. In this era of 'Free Market Ubér Alles', absolutely nothing is supposed to stand in the way of a corporation's right to make the most profit that it can. It is in this context that economic globalization can be seen as the New Colonialism. For where we once had Nations ruling over 'uncivilized' foreign lands by sending in civil servants to run a colonial government, we now have transnational bankers sent in to poor countries to run their economies (into the ground) and open up their markets to behemoth corporations, who swoop in and buy up all major industries, leaving the poor country to once again, as in colonial days, provide raw materials and cheap labor to the wealthy nation. This becomes easier to comprehend when it is realized that when speaking of the world's 100 largest economic entities, Wal-Mart and ExxonMobil rank ahead of Indonesia, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Poland, and South Africa. It is said in defense of the free market that 'a rising tide lifts all boats', when it would be more accurate to say, 'a rising tide lifts all yachts, while the dinghys sink in their wake'.
While the internals of this subject are complex, and certainly not appropriate for Sunday sermons, there is a fundamental disconnect between what we the people as individuals are taught about giving to the less fortunate in the world and then what We the People, as tacit proponents of this unregulated capitalism, take away from the very same people by proxy as a nation represented by corporations. Whether it is avoidance, or lack of understanding of the issue, or deemed inappropriate by the pastor, it is this disconnect that causes my brain to spazz during sermons like this past Sunday's. Forget the fact that an American Christian missionary's message of peace is completely contradicted in most foreign lands by the militaristic and aggressive actions of our government, the poor guy/gal is undermined even more by the Haliburtons, the Bechtels, the Monsantos, the WalMarts, the ExxonMobils, the CocaColas, and the McDonalds. Corporations are amoral. They have no soul. They are neither inherently good, nor inherently evil. Their entire raison d'etre is to make money for their shareholders. They are fundamentally designed to take more than they give, the more taking and the less giving, the better. Any good that they happen to do in a community is purely a coincidence. Certainly there are good people working in corporations, but they are completely subsumed by the very nature of the beast.
Those of us who were born and raised in the shadow of the Cold War were taught unquestioningly that Communism=Bad and Capitalism=Good. Compounding this idea was the fact that Communism=Atheism, so Capitalism must =Godliness. Socialism was considered Communism's 'lesser-of-two-evils' cousin, but I could never account for the existence of Christian Socialist parties in Western Europe. It now makes way too much sense to me. People just assume that to attack any part of capitalism is to attack 'our very way of life'. Well...that's true. Our very way of life needs to be examined critically and soberly to determine without predjudice how we got where we are and how we are maintaining this 'way of life'. It is an almost impossible task, given the reflexive jerking of the knees whenever the subject is broached. People just don't want to hear about it- "Don't ask, don't tell." It would be like finding out that the way your father got wealthy was by secretly owning a porn magazine. And that's how he met your mother. We prefer daddy to tell us the more romantic version, whether it is actually true or not.
This, then, is the sad state of my mind as I listen to the Sunday sermon. To those who would say that the pulpit is no place to pierce the myths and enlighten the masses to the more unfortunate truths about our nation, I would say if not there, then where? If not our moral leaders, then whom? Pastors have a great influence over the thought processes of their congregation. Many pastors are fond of the saying, "The bible says it, I believe it, that settles it!" I'm afraid that many in the congregation believe in a variant of this that goes, "My pastor said it, he believes it, so that settles it." When pastorss promote the flag, the sheep salute. When they offer no comment on war, or the ecological condition of the planet, this is a tacit endorsement of the status quo. And when they give sermons about our obligation to give, rather than receive, and never tie in the systemic contradictions of our economic system to this obligation, then they are, in my humble opinion, abrogating their responsibility as moral leaders. This is a highly unpopular opinion, especially in evangelical Christian circles, and it is causing me to re-examine where I attend church (I won't let the door hit me on the way out), and in what setting I would be most spiritually fed. I have this unsettling feeling that it's going to be a long search. BB
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