Grand Theft Jesus

February 25, 2008
Full of wordplay, puns and parodies, this no-holds-barred satirical polemic eviscerates the religious right. Conservatives, McElvaine argues, “have committed... grand larceny on the grandest scale: they have kidnapped Jesus.” The religious right has adopted a “ChristianityLite,” claiming “salvation in return for nothing” except belief and espousing a message that directly contradicts what Jesus instructed in the Gospels. Using chapter titles like “Amazing Disgrace,” “The Greed Creed” and “Unintelligent Design,” McElvaine targets George W. Bush's presidency, the Iraq War, the prosperity gospel, biblical inerrancy and the politics of fear, division and hate. His section on sex and gender includes theories on the female origin of agriculture and male fear of women very loosely tied to his overall theme. As demonstrated by McElvaine's detailed research itself, many thoughtful critiques have already been written about the impact of the religious right at the beginning of the 21st century. While the author directs his ire primarily toward the movement's leaders, whom he calls “Jesus Thieves”—including Jerry Falwell, Ted Haggard, James Dobson and D. James Kennedy—he leaves unaddressed the tantalizing question of why the religious right's ideas have been so compelling to a significant portion of the American population.

March 15, 2008
Historian McElvaine critiques and even ridicules what he calls "Lite Christians," self-proclaimed believers offering, as he sees it, a "no commitment, no-hardship, salvation plan." He expands this critique to assail the beliefs of historic Christianity and, to a lesser extent, the Judaism recorded in the Old Testament. On a positive note, he trumpets Jesus's teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, wherein Jesus spoke of sacrificial deeds and loving kindness to one's neighbors. He ignores, however, Jesus's condemning words in this sermon to guilty hearers, his warnings of "the hell of fire," selectively utilizing Jesus's words to authenticate his own thesis for loving, sacrificing, and doing good. Though McElvaine is clearly knowledgeable and clever, his book would have been better had he gracefully pointed to Jesus's words advocating love and service within the entire context of the Scriptures. As it stands, he is guilty of the charge he reserves for others: "these Christians alter everything important in the teachings of Jesus." Because of McElvaine's generally mean and jesting critique, this is not an easy book to read for anyone not fully in accord with his personal beliefs. Not recommended.George Westerlund, formerly with Providence P.L., RI

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