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Hypocrisy, Inc.: How the Religious Right Fabricates Christian Values and Undermines Democracy Reviewed By John Cowans of Bookpleasures.com
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John Cowans

Reviewer John Cowans:  John  lives in retirement in Chester, NS ,where he has been an Instructor with Seniors College Association of Nova Scotia.

He is currently working on a personal memoir, Other People’s Children, and his first poetry collection, Hope.




 
By John Cowans
Published on January 31, 2013
 

Author: Rosemary Agonito

Publisher: CreateSpace,


ISBN: 978-1470159108

Author: Rosemary Agonito

Publisher: CreateSpace,

ISBN: 978-1470159108

What a timely book this is coming to my desk almost immediately after the 2nd Inauguration of President Obama on January 21. During that ceremony in Washington, the President made it clear what he believes in and what he will try to accomplish in his second term. Here in part is what he said.“We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity.... that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity..... that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war....that our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. ...[that] our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law “ In her excellent assessment  of the Religious Right in America today, Hypocrisy, Inc. How the Religious Right Fabricates Christian Values and Undermines Democracy, Rosemary Agonito explains in convincing detail the political stance taken by and the opposition that President Obama will face from the Religious Right of the Republican Party throughout the next four years.

Rosemary Agonito has written eight books and numerous articles. She has appeared on network TV and has lectured widely, and she holds a Ph.D in Philosophy from Syracuse University.

The expected reaction to the President’s message was not long in coming. The Hill, the Congressional Newspaper in Washington, opined, “Republicans have complained that Obama's speech, which called for the legalization of same-sex marriage and new environmental policies, in addition to other liberal goals, was divisive.” Speaker John Boehner struck an expected combative pose: “Given what we heard yesterday about the President’s vision for his second term, it’s pretty clear to me that he knows he can’t do any of that as long as the House is controlled by Republicans,” So we’re expecting over the next 22 months to be the focus of this administration as they attempt to annihilate the Republican Party.” As well,  one might have seen the  accusatory tirade, by Rand Paul, the Junior Senator from Arizona and prominent member of the Tea Party, at Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s Congressional

Hearing on the Benghazi Consulate attack. He and other fellowRepublican members of the Committee presented their overtly anti-Democratic views by castigating the Secretary throughout the Hearing.

To support her thesis of political hypocrisy, that is appearing to be supporting one philosophy but in fact supporting the opposite, Ms. Agonito presents the following for the readers’ consideration:

• “The religious right’s inability or unwillingness to embrace community and the common good..... While opposing community based activities, the religious right strongly supports capitalism and the profit motive.....The latest tragic result of unfettered capitalism, the financial calamity beginning in 2008 ...... Rampant greed and extreme individualism enriched the wealthy and the powerful and dramatically widened the gap between rich and poor.”

•”....its enthusiastic support of war...”  [even though as Jill Lepore wrote in the recent article in The New Yorker, “ The United States spends more on defense than all the other nations of the world combined.” (Jan. 28, 2013)]

•.”....fundamentalist and conservative opposition to women’s rights ....”

•”....homosexuality is seen as a perversion of God’s law...”

•”Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists have long stood against efforts to save the planet from destruction....”

• “In the run up to the 2012 presidential and congressional elections, all manner of voter suppression laws have sprung forth from Republican legislators across the country. All are designed to influence the outcome of the elections by preventing certain groups of people ( poor people, minorities, immigrants) from exercising their right to vote.”

Hypocrisy, Inc.is a must read for all compassionate and fair-minded people of whatever political or religious persuasion, and I would add that teachers of History and Civics in our Schools and Colleges would do well to add this slim but powerful volume to their reading lists.


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