"Ambitious . . . The book’s title is a pun, and it’s an apt one. What stands out the most from this gripping volume is how a reverence for authority—if the right person is in charge—is encoded into the various strands of this movement. . . . The Power Worshippers is required reading for anyone who wants to map the continuing erosion of our already fragile wall between church and state." - The Washington Post
"Stewart has produced both a warning about the influence of religious nationalists and, in a brisk epilogue, the beginnings of a handbook about combating religious nationalists. The tools of the counter-revolution she hopes will stanch the religious nationalist drive to power are [an end to] gerrymandering, fresh initiatives to enforce voter rights, and vigilance against abuses at the ballot box. . . . This is a book that is both an examination of a new social and cultural phenomenon—and a call for action." - The Boston Globe
"As November’s election looms, The Power Worshippers is a timely political exposé, indispensable reading for 2020 voters regardless of their religious beliefs. . . . With more than a decade of experience covering conservative Christianity, Stewart is adept at conveying the gravity of its aims. She goes deeper than any facile culture-wars discourse, digging into the evangelical right’s fervor to gain political power and privilege in the name of religious liberty." - Texas Observer
"Chilling . . . Much of what Stewart recounts would seem incredible were it not presented through extensive quotations from speeches by, documents of, and conversations with movement leaders." - Foreign Affairs
"Stewart has accomplished the near-impossible in a volume lacking doorstop heft: a truly informative and smooth read about a sprawling movement and the many ways it exercises power over the lives of all Americans. If you’re not alarmed by the time you reach the last page—if not long before—you may lack a pulse altogether." - Democracy Journal
"[The Power Worshippers] effectively reminds us that even though the religious right comprises a minority of the American populace, it has become very effective at insinuating itself in the national, state, and local seats of power . . .The answer [is not] to reinvent America—rather, it’s to reinvigorate its democratic roots . . . a powerful and persuasive argument, one that Stewart illuminates with an array of history and political reporting, effectively weaving a portrait of our current grim situation with the threads from the past." - Daily Kos
"Bringing some clarity to the make-up of the Christian nationalist movement is just one of the myths Stewart busts in her upcoming book . . . Equally important for us to understand is that this movement isn’t simply about culture wars." - Washington Monthly
"[Stewart is] a seasoned investigative journalist, weaving together historical analysis and on-the-ground reporting to create engaging narratives . . . offer[ing] a behind-the-scenes view of how an interconnected network of think tanks, advocacy groups, and pastoral organizations joined forces with global anti-democratic religious nationalists long before entities like Russia became players in the 2016 presidential election." - The Humanist
"A must-read for those interested in the influence of religion on politics and the effects on our political institutions." - Library Journal, starred review
"A timely and useful introduction to the single most organized force in American politics today . . . One of the biggest strengths of The Power Worshippers is its close attention to political economy. In fact, Stewart’s entire body of work demonstrates how the Christian nationalist movement has successfully redirected public resources to fund their own private religious initiatives, like the public financing of religious charter schools through tax breaks and grant programs." - Baffler
"Stewart provides a comprehensive, chilling look at America’s Christian nationalist movement, which she convincingly portrays as a highly organized political coalition that has ‘already transformed the political landscape and shaken the foundations upon which lay our democratic norms and institutions.’ . . . Her insightful investigation places the power of Christian nationalism into full context." - Publishers Weekly
"[The] thoroughly researched facts as she lays them out are hard to argue with . . . [an] undeniably powerful examination of the Christian right's political motives." - Kirkus Reviews
"A more comprehensive, if still compact, journey through the labyrinth of interlocking organizations and personalities that form the ecosystem of a movement that embraces ‘identity-based authoritarian rule over pluralistic, democratic processes,’ and seeks to transform the U.S. to serve that vision . . . A journalist who has spent a decade covering the activities of the Christian Right painstakingly exposes the movement's effort to undermine the United States' pluralistic democracy." - Shelf Awareness
"The Power Worshippers is a comprehensive, if compact, journey through the labyrinth of interlocking organizations and personalities that form the ecosystem of a movement that embraces ‘identity-based authoritarian rule over pluralistic, democratic processes,’ and seeks to transform the U.S. to serve that vision." - Shelf Awareness for Readers, starred review
"Invaluable . . . The Power Worshippers should be read by all Americans who believe in democracy and the separation of church and state, especially as the 2020 elections nears." - New York Journal of Books
"Eye-opening . . . We learn, here, from a committed deep researcher—years of devoted travel, interviews, reading—that this movement is a good deal more dedicated and scarily more ambitious than the rest of us have so far noticed." - Sullivan County Democrat
"If anyone is wondering how the Religious Right and President Donald Trump ended up in their unholy alliance, Katherine Stewart has the answer. The Power Worshippers provides a fascinating x-ray into the political eco-system of religious conservatives who threaten the health of our democratic institutions. She argues that this movement is much more about power, money and invented pasts than ethics, theology and God. Stewart’s book is an important contribution to our understanding of contemporary politics." - Julian E. Zelizer, author of THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW
"Katherine Stewart knows from years of investigative reporting why the Trumpvangelicals who use faith to whitewash corruption are a preeminent threat to American democracy. Read The Power Worshippers and you will understand why nothing is more important to the health of our common life than challenging the false moral narrative of religious nationalism." - William J. Barber, II, President of Repairers of the Breach & Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
"Katherine Stewart presents chilling evidence that millions of American churchgoers are being inflamed and exploited by a cynical, well-funded alliance of power seekers. Read The Power Worshippers to understand what the relentless political agitation against abortion and homosexuality has really achieved—and for whom." - Nancy MacLean, author of DEMOCRACY IN CHAINS
"Employing a sharp investigative eye, Stewart connects the dots between radical theocratic groups that want to create an officially ‘Christian nation’ and extreme free-market libertarians who despise social programs for the poor, taxes and public institutions. After reading this book, you should be prepared to fight back like nothing less than our democracy is at stake – because it is." - Rob Boston, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
"Katherine Stewart takes on the enormous task of revealing who exactly is pulling the levers of power in our communities, statehouses, and federal government. A must-read." - Andrew Whitehead, author of TAKING AMERICA BACK FOR GOD
"We are faced with a religious movement that is fundamentally opposed to pluralism and has long-term plans to transform America into a Christian nation. An adept, highly readable and important work." - Julie Ingersoll, author of BUILDING GOD'S KINGDOM
"The Power Worshippers provides a detailed explanation of how the Religious Right has used its power to advance religion-based government in harmful ways." - Justia
"Both [The Power Worshippers and Shadow Network] have done impressive archival and on-the-ground research. These books are two of the fullest accounts of Christian nationalism to date. . . . Together, they paint a multidimensional portrait of the politicization of Christian faith that has neither a single source nor a majority of support among American Christians, despite its disproportionate impact." - Christian Century
★ 12/01/2019
Journalist Stewart (The Good News Club) paints a disturbing picture in this thorough accounting of the rise of religious nationalism, which promotes that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that the government should pass laws informed by a particular reading of the Bible. The movement consists of an ever-changing group of activists, leaders, and organizations and relies on donations from some of the wealthiest families in America, such as that of late publisher Richard Mellon Scaife as well the as the family of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Stewart explains how, under the Trump administration, religious nationalists have regular access to senior government officials through Bible studies attended by legislators and cabinet officials. Religious nationalists have had great success in getting jurists appointed to federal courts and have seen courts rule in their favor on the funding of private religious schools with public money, along with the erosion of the separation of church and state. VERDICT A must-read for those interested in the influence of religion on politics and the effects on our political institutions.—Chad E. Statler, Westlake Porter P.L., Westlake, OH
2019-10-29
An exposé of the righteous hypocrisy driving Christian nationalism.
In the late 1970s, a self-appointed group of radical right-wing Christians decided to take on an impossible-sounding task that would, in their view, restore America's moral foundation. They would form a political organization with the goal of taking over every element of government in the U.S.—first Congress, followed by the presidency, the federal courts, state legislatures, and local governments—and imbue them with their religious ideas. However, according to Stewart (The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children, 2012, etc.), the initial purpose of the Christian nationalists, as she calls them, had little to do with religion or morality. In the beginning, their efforts were focused on overcoming the Internal Revenue Service's attempt to rescind the tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University. To succeed, they knew they needed a hot-button issue they could ride to success; they settled on abortion even though Judaism teaches that life begins at birth, and Jesus never challenged that. Nevertheless, the plan worked so well that today, four decades later, Christian nationalism has become a frighteningly powerful voice in the Republican Party. It was instrumental in getting Donald Trump elected president, and now it has a committee that suggests candidates for the federal bench that Trump rubber-stamps and blindly sends out for confirmation. Currently, the Christian nationalists are moving rapidly in their plan to take over state legislatures, which they're accomplishing through "Project Blitz." Though its stated aim is to advance religious freedom, Stewart argues convincingly that the true goal is to inundate as many states as possible with so many right-wing bills that it will jam the state legislative processes. Many readers will consider the book advocacy journalism because the author didn't seek out her targets' comments, but the thoroughly researched facts as she lays them out are hard to argue with.
A one-sided but undeniably powerful examination of the Christian right's political motives.
