From Library Journal
Syndicated columnist Thomas and Grand Rapids pastor Dobson were Moral Majority board members and supporters of founder Jerry Falwell, but both became disillusioned and resigned from the organization. Both still support the Religious Right's objectives but believe that its leaders and many members take a self-destructive and flawed path to achieve them. Dobson had breakfast with President Clinton and provoked bitter criticism when he wrote favorably about the experience. Christians should not demonize opponents, he and Thomas argue, but should instead follow the example of Jesus in loving their enemies and forgiving sinners. They should not depend on government to legislate their agenda, since politicians place political survival above all else. The authors conclude that the Religious Right can be successful only if its adherents practice Christianity on a person-to-person level instead of relying on political action. Recommended for general collections.ARichard S. Watts, San Bernardino Cty. Lib., CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
According to [the authors], the Religious Right has done more harm than good... -- Publishers Weekly, February 22, 1999
When Ronald Reagan won the 1980 presidential election by a landslide, conservative Christians discovered what could happen when they flexed their electoral muscles. Suddenly, faith and politics seemed a promising matchand before the eyes of the astonished media, a new movement called the Moral Majority and its leader, Jerry Falwell, rocketed from obscurity to national prominence. The Religious Right was born.
Today, with luminaries including Pat Robertson, James Dobson, James Kennedy, and Ralph Reed, the Right remains a powerful political force. Yet, despite nearly twenty years of vigorous and sophisticated activism, it has failed in its mission to end abortion, eliminate pornography, restore the shattered American family, and usher in a better world built on traditional values.
Why?
Few know the answers better than Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson. Former insiders with the Moral Majority, they share never-reported information on a movement they helped shape in order to show why it cannot and should not succeed. And they tell what it will really take to stem the ungodliness that is sweeping our nation.
Whenever the church cozies up to political power, it loses sight of its all-important mission to change the world from the inside out, writes Thomas. In blurring the lines between politics and Christianity, the Religious Right has traded the only power that can truly change America; the Gospel's power to transform hearts for the methods of a kingdom that is of this world.
What, then, is the alternative? Given such critical issues as abortion and gay activism, are Christians to simply disengage from the political process? Hardly. Uninvolvement is not the answer, say the authors, but a shift in perspective. As Christians, they insist we must realize that God's agenda does not rise or fall with political causes; and we must rediscover that our most potent influence is not the ballot booth, but lives that extend God's grace in the home, in the workplace, and in all spheres of our culture.
Blinded by Might calls us to realign ourselves with a kingdom infinitely more powerful and certain than politics, that advances initially through changed hearts that inevitably must change and impact government -- Publisher
From the Publisher
It was 1980. They had just helped to elect their president, Ronald Reagan. They had millions of dollars, the attention of the national media, and a supposed army of mobilized followers. This was their moment to reverse decades of creeping secularism, intrusive socialism, threatening communism, and raging humanism. They called themselves the Moral Majority. But they failed. They failed in their first stated objectives to end abortion, eliminate pornography, restore the shattered American family, and usher in a better world in which traditional values were not only accepted but embraced. What happened? Why is America no better--and probably worse--after nearly twenty years of vigorous, sophisticated, and relentless political action by the church? Blinded by Might is the story of two men who were at the center of the Moral Majority.
Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson, behind-the-scenes lieutenants to the architects of the religious right, argue that the reason the Moral Majority or any other religious-political movement cannot succeed is because they have been using the wrong tools in the wrong way for the wrong reasons. The authors retrace their own steps, showing why the efforts of people like Jerry Falwell, Ralph Reed, and James Dobson were doomed from the start. They disclose never-reported inside information on a movement that they helped create in order to show why it failed. And they use their mistakes and the mistakes of others to point people of faith in a more positive direction. The authors call for unilateral disarmament by the religious right and a re-armament using different weapons and different strategies. This stirring book offers a new vision for America from the architects of the Moral Majority. And it shows how conservative Christianity offers hope for lasting transformation through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
From the Author
Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist appearing in more than 450 newspapers. He took a five year sabbatical from journalism to be the Moral Majority's spokesman behind Jerry Falwell. Ed Dobson helped draft the Moral Majority's platform and served as a personal assistant to Jerry Falwell. He now pastors Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan
From the Back Cover
Authors Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson once believed the best way to fight the "liberal agenda" was to beat them at their own game. Mobilize voters. Organize boycotts. Get invited to the White House. And raise a ton of money to keep the war chest full. Not anymore. Blinded by Might takes you inside the early and heady days of the Moral Majority, tracing its well-intentioned but fatally flawed battle plan aimed at reversing America's slide into a moral wasteland. It shows how groups like the Christian Coalition, which stepped in when the Moral Majority ran out of steam, have not changed, cannot change, and will not change the trajectory of American culture. Written by two conservative Christians who worked closely with Jerry Falwell in the 1980's, Blinded by Might explains what you can do for your country that twenty years of heavily financed political activism has failed to do.
About the Author
Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist appearing in more than 475 newspapers. He took a five-year sabbatical from journalism to be the Moral Majority's spokesman behind Jerry Falwell. He is the author of The Things That Matter Most.; Edward G. Dobson, pastor of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, MI., was named "Pastor of the Year" by Moody Bible Institute in 1993. He is the author of Starting a Seeker-Sensitive Service and a contributing editor to Leadership magazine. He has served on the board of the Moral Majority and as a personal assistant to Jerry Falwell.
