Piety and Politics—authored by Reverend and Executive Director Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State—is billed as a book-length explanation of how "why the Religious Right has it all wrong." Lynn presents the Religious Right as a series of organizations and media-savvy individuals who have attempted—and continue to attempt—to steer the United States towards becoming a Christian nation. Lynn shows how the religious right—through a variety of different entities and organizing campaigns—has sought not only to change current policies but has sought preferential treatment for its organizations and has attempted to alter the popular perceptions of history and the United States' government. Lynn places all of these attacks in the context of an overall attack on religious freedom, emphasizing that many in the Religious Right are seeking to establish their faith as the true faith while attacking all others. As such, Lynn argues that the only defense against the desires of these organizations is a clear separation between church and state.
Lynn has written a readable book that provides and uncompromising defense of the separation of church and state in the United States. Lynn argues repeatedly and convincingly that a separation between church and state is needed and clearly proves that there is a historical basis for this separation. While the Religious Right has actively attacked the separation of church and state as being a liberal invention that undercuts the origins of the United States as a Christian nation, Lynn argues that the Religious Right's "stolen legacy" rhetoric has no historical basis. Lynn shows that the Religious Right has repeatedly attempted to take the words of early leaders of the United States—including Jefferson and Madison—to show that they supported a union of church and state, despite the fact that they clearly advocated for the separation of church and state. Such distortions of history have become a staple on the Religious Right as an organizing tool according to Lynn, with the Religious Right using these techniques—such as claiming that an atheist was responsible for court decisions restricting prayer in schools—as a means of creating the impression of Christianity under attack. He also details how Religious Right positions—including opposition to evolution and birth control—originate from a perspective at odds with prevailing scientific consensus.
Unfortunately, while the book succeeds in being easily readable and understandable for those who have not previously examined the Religious Right, Lynn's focus and writing style make the Religious Right out to be more of a joke rather than a force to be taken seriously. While Lynn's work and the work of his organization American United certainly shows that this is not the case, the book fails to convey this idea and instead the Religious Right is portrayed as a rather diffuse network of fanatical crusaders seeking to force people to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays," opposing sex for prudish reasons, fighting to display the Ten Commandments in public institutions, and being unduly obsessed with the sexual orientation of cartoon characters. While the ideology of the religious right varies depending on the group in question, Lynn does not attempt to provide a detailed analysis of the ideologies of the Religious Right. Instead, Lynn focuses on broad topic areas—gay rights, reproductive rights, church and state separation, and others—and discusses Religious Right activities in a broad manner, failing to convey the sense that the Religious Right—unlike the left—has a very clear idea of what it wants. Similarly, rather than directly focusing on the immense infrastructure of foundations, think-tanks, legal organizations, and media entities that the Religious Right has harnessed to push its agenda, Lynn only discusses these entities in passing. The power of Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is addressed, but other Christian media organizations are not mentioned. Moreover, Lynn only addresses the funding of these organizations—the majority of which comes from a number of wealthy Religious Right families—in the beginning of the book, highlighting the fact that Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, the Family Research Council, Coral Ridge Ministries, and the Traditional Values Coalition all take in millions each year in contributions to promote their agenda. This brief mention fails to examine the influence of family foundations on the Religious Right or the fact that these same families also tend to fund electoral campaigns as well.
Despite the aforementioned flaws, Lynn does present the Religious Right as a political force in the United States. While Lynn argues that only 14 to 18% of the United States identifies as part of the Religious Right (a number that is impossible to verify given the total lack of footnotes), he shows that the religious right continues to win victories in the country. For every failed campaign such as targeting libraries as "anti-family," the Religious Right wins victories, with Lynn citing the fact that in the 2000 and 2004 elections the Religious Right claimed victory in the election of President George W. Bush and that in this administration it now holds more power than it did ten years ago, despite a lessening of attention paid to the Religious Right over that period. Moreover, the Religious Right has not simply been content with maintaining its power, but it is fighting to expand its power by undertaking campaigns to modify the tax code to allow religious organizations incorporated as 501c3 non-profit organizations to take political stands and securing increased funding from the government for Religious Right programs and organizations. At the same time, Lynn asserts that the Religious Right wants to "control society" and even mentions that some in the Religious Right advocate for a theocracy with law based on the Bible. Of course, Lynn dismisses the notion of law or government being based on the Bible as absurd given the fact that it is not a text that sets out to do this, but in citing people in the Religious Right who would advocate for a death penalty for homosexuality, argues that the fact that people want to base the US government on such "laws" is a serious threat.
Piety and Politics succeeds in providing a brief introduction to those who are unfamiliar with the Religious Right and provides an important role in arguing for the need for separation between church and state. An understanding of both the Religious Right and the separation of church and state is essential for those doing organizing on the left, and while Lynn's book is uncompromising in arguing for the former, the analysis of the latter could be expanded. Lynn's presentation of the Religious Right is frequently torn between portraying them as a real threat and almost dismissing them as being almost humorously irrelevant when they attack the sexuality of cartoon characters. Unfortunately, this shifting of view compromises the overall quality of the book.
Barry Lynn, Piety and Politics: The Rightwing Assault on Religious Freedom, (Harmony Books, 2006)
