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Dennis M. McCrea

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Christian Nationalism is a perversion of mine and many other faiths.

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-22-23

I read this book to better understand the growing strain of Christian Nationalism and the religion that supports it. I find signs of it in most fundamentalists and Evangelicals and even in those of my faith, Latter-day Saints. It is disheartening to observe how misguided, even under/ill-informed many are. The sense of religious revival that one encounters in the practitioner’s sphere only discredits any viability their arguments may hold. This book was to help me know to some sense what is going on. It only bolstered the knowledge I’ve gained from other similar recent readings, to include ‘Jesus and John Wayne’ by Dr. Kristin Kobes Du Mez and ‘The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism’ by Katherine Stewart.

Here is a quote by the author in the book that deeply affected me: “By seeking to graft his religion onto the structure of the American government, the Christian Nationalist is simply showing his religion to be a bad one. Not only bad, but also, according to Thomas Jefferson, erroneous, for “it is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.””

The author continues: “Christian Nationalists’ attempt to co-opt the power and prestige of the American Enlightenment (as demonstrated in The Constitution through the experiment of separation of Church and State) for their own ends says far more about their insecurity and the genuine blindness of their faith than it does about America’s founding.”

And then there is then presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, who in 1960 said this:

“I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute - where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote - where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference - and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.”

“I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish - where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source - where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials - and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.” (JFK, Remarks to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, September 12 1960)

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Jim Crow was practiced in the North I grew up in through the 1970’s.

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-19-23

First published in 1955, a year after Brown v Board of Education and based upon a series of lectures the author delivered prior at U of Virginia, Dr. Martin Luther King endorsed it as “the historical Bible of the Civil Rghts movement.”

When I first read this MLK quote, it was really all I needed as an incentive to read this book. While much of the book was really no surprise to me because of prior exposure to points made, I did find it enlightening to have an author point out that Jim Crow wasn’t just practiced in the Deep South but in the North I grew up in. I experienced it reading/watching in the news the efforts to integrate the Boston School system through busing in the early 70’s. I saw and felt the distrust (Jim Crow) of many of my relatives and neighbors in Michigan as Detroit broke out in riots in 1967 and as Governor George Wallace won a large amount of Michigan votes in the 1968 General Election and won the 1972 Michigan Democratic Primary. I witnessed the derogatory/belittling comments of some of my relatives during this epoch. So Jim Crow was practiced in Michigan and many northern states and cities into the 1970’s and beyond.

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A reality check on today’s GOP and her passage into inconsequentiality, especially if Trump is the 2024 nominee.

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-17-23

This book documents the latest (the 2020 national election forward) iteration of what the GOP has become. There are many who declare that Trump/Trumpism is a recent phenomenon. But to me, they’ve forgotten that this is what the GOP has gradually come to represent since at least the era of McCarthyism of the 1950’s.

Pre/post 2020 election President Trump, AZ Congressman Paul Gozar, GA Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, FL Congressman Matt Gaetz, CO Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, former NC Congressman Madison Cawthorn, former WY Congresswoman Lynn Cheney, former Mi Congressmen Peter Meijer and Fred Upton are all discussed in this book and their influence on the direction the GOP is taking today, whether it be to increased MAGA wackiness or away from it. In short, this book in reality is a cynical look at how the GOP is floundering and could very well become inconsequential after 2024,
especially if Trump is again the presidential candidate.

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1 person found this helpful

An enlightening book.

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 03-20-23

Often referred to as “the father of public relations,” Edward Bernays in 1928 published this seminal book: Propaganda, in which he argued that public relations is not a gimmick but a necessity. A nephew twice over of Sigmund Frued, he was a early utilizer of the term propaganda, from a psychological standpoint. I personally was first exposed to the term propaganda via the many books I read some 50 years ago (early 70’s) in my quest to understand all related to WWII. Then it was Goebbels and Nazi related propaganda. Since this book came out in 1928, Goebbels’ Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment widely referred to and utilized it through the end of the Nazi regime in 1945.

Before I read this book I had never associated the term propaganda with the idea of commercial advertising to sway and encourage the masses’ purchasing decisions. Quite the literal personal culture shock for me to learn that this was a Bernays’ principle application. Because of the Goebbels/Nazi’ negative connotation of propaganda, the term had always held a negative relationship to me. Yet actually, I can personally still safely declare that the common advertisement techniques, our modern day propaganda, has little to no influence on my purchase decisions. In fact, it is a favorite pastime of mine to mock everyday commercials and wonder to whom such and such a commercial is directed and how much of a snuck one must be to respond to the varied messages.

Most importantly I read the book to better understand our country’s latest and in reality successful propaganda campaign- the Trump/Trumpism/Conservatism/GOP united grift since 2016, if not many years, even decades earlier.

One final thought. Back in Bernays’ period of reference, a company founder and CEO also practiced important propaganda by the way they maintain high mores and standards in their sense of social contract to the communities they reside in. How this sense of responsibility has changed in the last 40 plus years. Today? It would seem even the most educated and enlightened business leaders now now to the concerns of the stock and bond holders, the general societal wellbeing be damned.

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Sad to read the negative reviews of the cognitive dissonant.

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-11-23

I’ve just taken a few moments to read the reviews of those who left negative reviews. How sad yet understandable given the high level of under-informed there are in today’s political electorate. How can one fall for the dog whistles of Trump, Trumpism and today’s political conservatism and White Christian Nationalism? The naysayers of this book are but evidence number 1.

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And the author is a journalist? Really?

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 12-12-21

This books passage through the events preceding the Triple Crown and the actual winning was at times very hard to follow. Very disjointed.

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A great intro to his triad book series

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
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5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-11-19

A great intro to his triad book series. I feel comfortable now buying all 3

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I loved it!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-15-19

Outstanding production but requires a 2nd listen to capture all the nuances. SNL fans will love...a cross with Monte Python and Search For the Holy Grail.

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2 people found this helpful

For the SNL Fans Out There!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-06-18

I simply love this book. I love the minutiae, the background, the small details that have filled out this fan’s understanding of the hows and whys of the show.

The book has not disappointed me!

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1 person found this helpful

Great book

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-19-16

I have always loved Van Halen's sound since the first time I heard them on the radio. And it was fun with this book to follow their development from obscure band to rock phenomena.

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