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It Could Happen Here
How many of our opinions are created for us? How easily can our beliefs be manipulated or marginalized? Is what we read online part of an online democracy where all beliefs are equal? Set in our world of social media, Internet comment boards, twenty-four hour news updates, and ubiquitous cell phones, the novel It Could Happen Here explores possible answers to these questions. Along the way, the book explores institutional cover-up, violence against women, teen angst, and campus evangelism in a secular age. Most significantly, the novel is unabashedly preachy, and contains a thinly veiled missionary plot designed to influence the reader to embrace Christianity. You have been warned. Read it at your own risk!
222 pages, Paperback
Published October 6, 2018
14 people are currently reading
930 people want to read
About the author
Greg Watson
1 book192 followersGreg Watson is a Midwestern native who lives in North Alabama with his wife Mignon and their cat Reilly. It Could Happen Here is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 2, 2019
At first, I thought it was a non fiction book. But as I start the book, I am amazed that it was a novel.
This book relays a great message in our religious beliefs and the increasing digital gadgets and development we are using today. The world is complex and the author immulate a part of our world that is rarely tackle. Sexual assault, violence, conspiracy can be found in this book. But courage, nobility and a heart that is unique to each individual are present also. In a world that is full of corruption and two faced persons, the good (sometimes?) prevails...
In the end, life is a choosing you never know, it could happen here... 😉
This book relays a great message in our religious beliefs and the increasing digital gadgets and development we are using today. The world is complex and the author immulate a part of our world that is rarely tackle. Sexual assault, violence, conspiracy can be found in this book. But courage, nobility and a heart that is unique to each individual are present also. In a world that is full of corruption and two faced persons, the good (sometimes?) prevails...
In the end, life is a choosing you never know, it could happen here... 😉
April 28, 2021
"It Could Happen Here" I found a bit scary as it could happen here. In an electronic age where so many blindly rely on online information for the gospel truth, you may find it difficult to find the Gospel Truth. In this story an evil tech company tries to manipulate the information in a way to convince folks that bad is good by a skillful use of propaganda techniques. By changing the wording of how news is presented, hiding rebuttals, and generating phoney support of their agenda by use of computer generated trolls, naïve people are swayed to believe what is politically correct, and thereby giving support to those who attack any of an opposing view. Could it happen here? Does it happen here? Hum? Read this book. At least it may make you think.
December 21, 2023
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: June 21, 2018
Language: English
ASIN: B07DXS8C57
Sci-fi author Col. Tom Kratman has said words to the effect that he writes political and social commentary with just the thinnest possible veneer of science fiction. In IT COULD HAPPEN HERE, Greg Watson takes that approach but adds Christianity to the mix. Toward the middle of the book, it seems to forget that it is a novel and goes directly into conservative/evangelical Christian commentary about current issues at some length and with considerable enthusiasm. I happen to enjoy such commentary and discussion and found that I agree with many of Mr. Watson's views so I did not really mind. It helps that Mr. Watson's writing is clear and generally well done.
In his description of the book Watson does warn potential readers that he had a missionary purpose in writing this novel. For those interested only in the novel I will deliver one SPOILER - it ends as a feel good book in which the good guys prevail. Which reminds me. Strangely, as I read I kept thinking of Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND not because of story similarities but because both feature rich, powerful figures who have the backs of the other characters.
I downloaded this book via Kindle Unlimited.
Publication date: June 21, 2018
Language: English
ASIN: B07DXS8C57
Sci-fi author Col. Tom Kratman has said words to the effect that he writes political and social commentary with just the thinnest possible veneer of science fiction. In IT COULD HAPPEN HERE, Greg Watson takes that approach but adds Christianity to the mix. Toward the middle of the book, it seems to forget that it is a novel and goes directly into conservative/evangelical Christian commentary about current issues at some length and with considerable enthusiasm. I happen to enjoy such commentary and discussion and found that I agree with many of Mr. Watson's views so I did not really mind. It helps that Mr. Watson's writing is clear and generally well done.
In his description of the book Watson does warn potential readers that he had a missionary purpose in writing this novel. For those interested only in the novel I will deliver one SPOILER - it ends as a feel good book in which the good guys prevail. Which reminds me. Strangely, as I read I kept thinking of Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND not because of story similarities but because both feature rich, powerful figures who have the backs of the other characters.
I downloaded this book via Kindle Unlimited.
January 25, 2019
"It Could Happen Here" is a Christian current events thriller that isn't really all that far fetched, despite one of its genres being sci-fi and another dystopian. With all of our social media and technology one does sometimes begins to wonder if all the comments we see communicated are actually from real people. With facebook admitting to censoring posts (LA Times article: https://www.latimes.com/business/tech...) and Google playing with algorithms (Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/technolog... article : https://www.engadget.com/2015/03/20/f...) one has to begin to wonder if our opinions aren't being manipulated with what others want us to believe.
That is what the book is about, with its focus on Christianity and how some elements in the world would like to alter the theology of modern christian faith. An IT giant, Proteus, with oodles of money to play with, starts creating "false" chats with AI, called Evangel Blend, that people respond to and think it is real people talking. Proteus then infiltrates churches, spying on the clergy and members, recording conversations, to see how effective their subterfuge has been. Proteus is evil in other ways too-- from trafficking in young teen girls, kidnapping them to be "nice" to potential clients, and then abusing them. The invasion of privacy Proteus likes to conduct also extends to its own employees. Churches, through Proteus' efforts, do start to see changes in the way their members think.
Also, another point made is the overwhelming desire for acceptance. It portrays Brother Davis, with good motives, starts a program through his church and with support of his community, focusing on anti-bullying. Through Proteus' sponsored articles, the church and the program gains national attention, and initially Brother Davis think this is a blessing for the program and his church, until he feels pressured to alter his opinions to conform.
I liked Alex, the local teen and member of Brother Davis' church who is computer savvy and creates the computer software involved in the anti-bullying program, and takes a stand for what is right, risking harm to himself.
What disappointed me at the end-- I was waiting for justice for the young girls that Proteus had abducted and abused. The girls were delivered from that horrible situation-- but at the end of the book, Proteus was business as usual, still making their terrible, nefarious plans-- and no charges against them or attention brought to their horrible activities. Given, the author has stated that this is the first book in the Proteus series, so possibly justice will be seen for the girls in following books, but if a reader goes into it hoping to read it as a stand alone, I at least, was left hanging. If there was some type of resolution, or the hint that something legal was put into motion for Proteus' demise, I would have been happier and given the book a higher rating. All in all, I liked the book and its message, just wished for some closure at the end. So, if goodreads had 1/2 stars, it would be 3.5.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
That is what the book is about, with its focus on Christianity and how some elements in the world would like to alter the theology of modern christian faith. An IT giant, Proteus, with oodles of money to play with, starts creating "false" chats with AI, called Evangel Blend, that people respond to and think it is real people talking. Proteus then infiltrates churches, spying on the clergy and members, recording conversations, to see how effective their subterfuge has been. Proteus is evil in other ways too-- from trafficking in young teen girls, kidnapping them to be "nice" to potential clients, and then abusing them. The invasion of privacy Proteus likes to conduct also extends to its own employees. Churches, through Proteus' efforts, do start to see changes in the way their members think.
Also, another point made is the overwhelming desire for acceptance. It portrays Brother Davis, with good motives, starts a program through his church and with support of his community, focusing on anti-bullying. Through Proteus' sponsored articles, the church and the program gains national attention, and initially Brother Davis think this is a blessing for the program and his church, until he feels pressured to alter his opinions to conform.
I liked Alex, the local teen and member of Brother Davis' church who is computer savvy and creates the computer software involved in the anti-bullying program, and takes a stand for what is right, risking harm to himself.
What disappointed me at the end-- I was waiting for justice for the young girls that Proteus had abducted and abused. The girls were delivered from that horrible situation-- but at the end of the book, Proteus was business as usual, still making their terrible, nefarious plans-- and no charges against them or attention brought to their horrible activities. Given, the author has stated that this is the first book in the Proteus series, so possibly justice will be seen for the girls in following books, but if a reader goes into it hoping to read it as a stand alone, I at least, was left hanging. If there was some type of resolution, or the hint that something legal was put into motion for Proteus' demise, I would have been happier and given the book a higher rating. All in all, I liked the book and its message, just wished for some closure at the end. So, if goodreads had 1/2 stars, it would be 3.5.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
September 30, 2024
I truly loved it!
Mixing a magical aura and a Christian bias, it hit home. A childhood Aspie, I retreated more and more into mystical daydreams at age two. The adult world made no sense anymore! But I slogged on thru grade school notwithstanding.
In 1961, though, I was confirmed in our church through the good offices of a patient, kind man called Vavasour (his son, David, is now a nearby Anglican priest).
What kindness they showed me! Home was just hard knocks. To celebrate they took me along to the Church picnic, up north of us in Camp Pontiac. I felt like one of the family.
Friends, our world seems to have lost its zest, love and good works without faith!
I have stuck with it since age eleven, and have found peace in my life.
Greg is right - in our modern world there is only fractious, hard hitting absurdity - without the magical Big Picture.
For our ideal Big Picture ALWAYS gets us home again at the end, safe and sound!
Cause the Big Picture, like us, is subject to Magical Revision: until our Heavenly Father is happy.
Mixing a magical aura and a Christian bias, it hit home. A childhood Aspie, I retreated more and more into mystical daydreams at age two. The adult world made no sense anymore! But I slogged on thru grade school notwithstanding.
In 1961, though, I was confirmed in our church through the good offices of a patient, kind man called Vavasour (his son, David, is now a nearby Anglican priest).
What kindness they showed me! Home was just hard knocks. To celebrate they took me along to the Church picnic, up north of us in Camp Pontiac. I felt like one of the family.
Friends, our world seems to have lost its zest, love and good works without faith!
I have stuck with it since age eleven, and have found peace in my life.
Greg is right - in our modern world there is only fractious, hard hitting absurdity - without the magical Big Picture.
For our ideal Big Picture ALWAYS gets us home again at the end, safe and sound!
Cause the Big Picture, like us, is subject to Magical Revision: until our Heavenly Father is happy.
April 8, 2019
With a vital message and an agenda to make it known, It Could Happen Here by Greg Watson gets 3.5/5 stars from me. At a glance, it looks like a non-fiction book. Don't be mistaken; this is a novel with a fully-developed plot.
Who doesn’t enjoy a story that snoops around behind the closed doors of a conspiracy organization? Sure, we have our preferences for plots and genres, but the premise of this book seems inherently riveting. More intriguing still is the agenda of this conspiracy: to assimilate Christians into the rest of the world.
Author Greg Watson's story involves a large cast of characters. These represent the vast array of people in the real world. Our world is complex, which poses a hard task for the author trying to represent it well in his or her novel. As such, I empathize with the size of Mr. Watson’s task but found that the stories of the characters were confusing. The book jumped around in time to explain backstories, which, as a byproduct, made the telling feel disjointed.
Style and rough edges aside, this book relays a noble message. In story form, it exposes the mission of a fictional conspiracy and leaves us to ponder how much of this is only fictional . . . and how much is real. This is a book that urges believers to resist the tendency to compromise biblical standards. I say, ‘in story form,’ although the book does have an informative flavor. The author himself says on the back cover that “the novel is unabashedly preachy, and contains a thinly veiled missionary plot designed to influence the reader to embrace Christianity.” Whether or not this is the best method for communicating a message is outside the scope of this review, but even readers who are repelled by this style can appreciate that the author included this warning.
There is one more warning that I wish author Greg Watson had included on his back cover: a warning about sexual immorality. This book does not endorse sexual immorality, and I’m sure the author would be horrified should anyone think it did. But the inclusion of sexual immorality alone is a stumbling block to some in the same way that violence, fantasy, and offensive language are stumbling blocks to others. So I’ll include a warning for anyone reading my review: most of the numerous subplots include romance, and I can think of two instances of sexual immorality which are central to the plot and were disturbing to me.
In summary, It Could Happen Here by Greg Watson contains a much-needed message regarding a Christian's convictions, so long as you can read about sexual immorality with a clear conscience. I rate this book 3.5 stars out of 5.
Who doesn’t enjoy a story that snoops around behind the closed doors of a conspiracy organization? Sure, we have our preferences for plots and genres, but the premise of this book seems inherently riveting. More intriguing still is the agenda of this conspiracy: to assimilate Christians into the rest of the world.
Author Greg Watson's story involves a large cast of characters. These represent the vast array of people in the real world. Our world is complex, which poses a hard task for the author trying to represent it well in his or her novel. As such, I empathize with the size of Mr. Watson’s task but found that the stories of the characters were confusing. The book jumped around in time to explain backstories, which, as a byproduct, made the telling feel disjointed.
Style and rough edges aside, this book relays a noble message. In story form, it exposes the mission of a fictional conspiracy and leaves us to ponder how much of this is only fictional . . . and how much is real. This is a book that urges believers to resist the tendency to compromise biblical standards. I say, ‘in story form,’ although the book does have an informative flavor. The author himself says on the back cover that “the novel is unabashedly preachy, and contains a thinly veiled missionary plot designed to influence the reader to embrace Christianity.” Whether or not this is the best method for communicating a message is outside the scope of this review, but even readers who are repelled by this style can appreciate that the author included this warning.
There is one more warning that I wish author Greg Watson had included on his back cover: a warning about sexual immorality. This book does not endorse sexual immorality, and I’m sure the author would be horrified should anyone think it did. But the inclusion of sexual immorality alone is a stumbling block to some in the same way that violence, fantasy, and offensive language are stumbling blocks to others. So I’ll include a warning for anyone reading my review: most of the numerous subplots include romance, and I can think of two instances of sexual immorality which are central to the plot and were disturbing to me.
In summary, It Could Happen Here by Greg Watson contains a much-needed message regarding a Christian's convictions, so long as you can read about sexual immorality with a clear conscience. I rate this book 3.5 stars out of 5.
Want to Read
April 1, 2019Aloha,
I try this book a couple times and could not get into it. It not the subject matter nor the author. It is me. I will try this book again down the road.
Mahalo,
RM
🇺🇸🐾
I try this book a couple times and could not get into it. It not the subject matter nor the author. It is me. I will try this book again down the road.
Mahalo,
RM
🇺🇸🐾
November 8, 2020
In some ways this excellent fictional story is something new under the sun. It explores the sometimes baleful influence that social media has on all of us (Christian and non-Christian), and how easily we can be manipulated by malevolent tech giants for their own purposes.
But in other ways, it is a story as old as human history. For myself, the most important message of the book is a warning about the danger of Christians seeking the approval and applause of the world instead of obediently following the Word of God. This is a problem that has plagued the Church for thousands of year.
Thank you for a brilliant book Mr. Watson!
But in other ways, it is a story as old as human history. For myself, the most important message of the book is a warning about the danger of Christians seeking the approval and applause of the world instead of obediently following the Word of God. This is a problem that has plagued the Church for thousands of year.
Thank you for a brilliant book Mr. Watson!
February 11, 2020
STORY
If you read In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, you need to read this book, too. This novel is, as the blurb points out, unabashedly preachy, but not in a cringe-worthy way (this term seems to coin that reaction). If you have served any time in the church or are active on social media, this novel will uncover truths you're already (most likely) aware of.
Handling tough topics, the book handles them tastefully, and doesn't shy away from portraying the realistic dilemmas our world faces today. I enjoyed the story. While the story-telling style does resemble that of Sheldon's or novels that encompass a small town cast, thus occasionally it took effort to recall certain characters, it all wrapped up at the end.
THEMES
So many important themes were dealt with in this novel. Violence against women? Check. Cases of rape ignored for the sake of small town politics? Check (and this is close to my heart). Campus evangelism issues? Check. So many hard topics, all handled well and tactfully. I enjoyed reading the thoughts and explanations for topics such as the LGBT+ community, hell vs. heaven, and such. Tying other works of fiction in was very insightful. I won't go into my personal opinions and thoughts on these topics, but if you want a book that makes you think, it's definitely meant for that!
CHARACTERS
It was a small town novel where many characters were introduced, so I got a bit overwhelmed at who was who at times (this was pretty much fixed by the end, though, it got easier to keep them straight). I also never really resonated with anyone, but I didn't resonate with anyone in In His Steps, either, so that's just me.
I really loved Emily. Her actions were so inspiring. America needs a revival and my fire for helping--even if it seems in a small way--such a thing to take place was definitely flamed.
Kent was amazing, I loved him right away, and his role was soo cool. I'm a sucker for his types of characters, OK?
Overall, a really interactive cast. I loved the epilogue--so cute.
CONTENT
No heavy sensual content. The instances of prostitutes were handled very cleanly. The attempted rape scene was also not detailed. No swearing. No violence/gore. Pretty clean read, probably PG or PG-13 for topics.
OVERALL
Fascinating book, I look forward to the next book, Proteus.
I received this book free from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
If you read In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, you need to read this book, too. This novel is, as the blurb points out, unabashedly preachy, but not in a cringe-worthy way (this term seems to coin that reaction). If you have served any time in the church or are active on social media, this novel will uncover truths you're already (most likely) aware of.
Handling tough topics, the book handles them tastefully, and doesn't shy away from portraying the realistic dilemmas our world faces today. I enjoyed the story. While the story-telling style does resemble that of Sheldon's or novels that encompass a small town cast, thus occasionally it took effort to recall certain characters, it all wrapped up at the end.
THEMES
So many important themes were dealt with in this novel. Violence against women? Check. Cases of rape ignored for the sake of small town politics? Check (and this is close to my heart). Campus evangelism issues? Check. So many hard topics, all handled well and tactfully. I enjoyed reading the thoughts and explanations for topics such as the LGBT+ community, hell vs. heaven, and such. Tying other works of fiction in was very insightful. I won't go into my personal opinions and thoughts on these topics, but if you want a book that makes you think, it's definitely meant for that!
CHARACTERS
It was a small town novel where many characters were introduced, so I got a bit overwhelmed at who was who at times (this was pretty much fixed by the end, though, it got easier to keep them straight). I also never really resonated with anyone, but I didn't resonate with anyone in In His Steps, either, so that's just me.
I really loved Emily. Her actions were so inspiring. America needs a revival and my fire for helping--even if it seems in a small way--such a thing to take place was definitely flamed.
Kent was amazing, I loved him right away, and his role was soo cool. I'm a sucker for his types of characters, OK?
Overall, a really interactive cast. I loved the epilogue--so cute.
CONTENT
No heavy sensual content. The instances of prostitutes were handled very cleanly. The attempted rape scene was also not detailed. No swearing. No violence/gore. Pretty clean read, probably PG or PG-13 for topics.
OVERALL
Fascinating book, I look forward to the next book, Proteus.
I received this book free from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
November 15, 2018
3.25 stars!
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
It Could Happen Here is a novel exploring the topic of Christianity in today’s culture and the lengths some people will go to denounce the Christian faith while also providing the reader with hard evidence in favor of Christianity and its healing and redemptive hope.
I’ll start off by saying that I very much appreciated the concepts that this novel explored and the positive light Christianity was portrayed in. However I found the characters a little one dimensional at times and with there being so many, I occasionally confused who was who simply because not all of them seemed very fleshed out. The villainous characters were also at times caricatures of a hypocritical Christian or even an “evil” member of secular society. That’s not to say that there aren’t people like that who exist, but it did seem overdone at times, particularly with the coffee shop employees.
This also took the form of ‘telling rather than showing’ in the writing at times which is one of my personal pet peeves with writing styles because it makes it more difficult to connect with the characters. This is the author’s first novel so the writing can only improve from here and I hope to see the idea of showing a character’s thoughts and motivations through writing and character actions rather than just telling the reader how they feel in a sentence or two.
I think, for the most part, this novel gets its message across well once all of the storylines came together but the road to that point was a bit rocky. I will be looking forward to this author’s next works though to see how he continues to explore Christianity in the contemporary fiction realm.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
It Could Happen Here is a novel exploring the topic of Christianity in today’s culture and the lengths some people will go to denounce the Christian faith while also providing the reader with hard evidence in favor of Christianity and its healing and redemptive hope.
I’ll start off by saying that I very much appreciated the concepts that this novel explored and the positive light Christianity was portrayed in. However I found the characters a little one dimensional at times and with there being so many, I occasionally confused who was who simply because not all of them seemed very fleshed out. The villainous characters were also at times caricatures of a hypocritical Christian or even an “evil” member of secular society. That’s not to say that there aren’t people like that who exist, but it did seem overdone at times, particularly with the coffee shop employees.
This also took the form of ‘telling rather than showing’ in the writing at times which is one of my personal pet peeves with writing styles because it makes it more difficult to connect with the characters. This is the author’s first novel so the writing can only improve from here and I hope to see the idea of showing a character’s thoughts and motivations through writing and character actions rather than just telling the reader how they feel in a sentence or two.
I think, for the most part, this novel gets its message across well once all of the storylines came together but the road to that point was a bit rocky. I will be looking forward to this author’s next works though to see how he continues to explore Christianity in the contemporary fiction realm.
January 29, 2021
Starting off the book appears to be a nonfiction but as I read further into it I see that it is not.
To be honest with you the book does not appeal to me.
We live in a digital age and how much of what we read on chat boards, flash news updates and any other sort of social media bombardment is real and how much is thrown at us to influence our minds into thinking and believing a certain way done, in a sneaky way that we don't even realize it is happening?
The author does warn us that the plot is a thinly veiled missionary plot designed to influence the reader to embrace Christianity. In my opinion it is too preachy . What about those who are already Christians but don't want someone's beliefs pushed down their throat?
There are topics covered in the book that while they need covered and the author did so in a respectful way that made me very uncomfortable.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.
To be honest with you the book does not appeal to me.
We live in a digital age and how much of what we read on chat boards, flash news updates and any other sort of social media bombardment is real and how much is thrown at us to influence our minds into thinking and believing a certain way done, in a sneaky way that we don't even realize it is happening?
The author does warn us that the plot is a thinly veiled missionary plot designed to influence the reader to embrace Christianity. In my opinion it is too preachy . What about those who are already Christians but don't want someone's beliefs pushed down their throat?
There are topics covered in the book that while they need covered and the author did so in a respectful way that made me very uncomfortable.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.
November 21, 2022
Why I read this book: The author offered me a copy, review optional; it sounded interesting, and I’m not one to say no to free books.
Format: Paperback
Synopsis: It Could Happen Here is a fictional exploration of the consequences of a Big Tech company attempting to manipulate human behavior through their internet services and AI. The company performs a real world experiment on a small, mostly Christian town in Texas. It also depicts very well the consequences triggered by churches that allow external, secular, and digital culture to be incorporated into their teaching and sharing of the gospel, rather than just sharing the gospel as it is and letting it speak for itself.
What I Thought: It took me several tries to read this book all the way through. Mostly because I would start it and then suddenly not have time or energy for reading. As a result I made it to the same point nearly every time, and was expecting the story to go in a completely different direction than it did. I had some difficulty keeping track of the characters, although I’m not sure if that was the writing or my lack of mental focus at the time. Keeping a list of characters with notes on who they knew or were reflated to, and where they worked was very helpful.
Overall, I liked the storyline and the exploration of “what if big tech used AI to influence Christianity”? I was raised with the understanding that just because a book is written by an author who says they are a Christian, a resource is sold by a Christian bookseller, or just because I heard it on the Christian radio station, didn’t mean it necessarily aligned with the essential Biblical truths my parents and church were teaching me. The internet wasn’t really a resource for me until around high school, and It Could Happen Here emphasized to me that I could probably be even more careful than I already am regarding the spiritual information I glean from the internet. As a podcaster I listen to says: “listen [or read] with an open Bible, not an open mind!”
As far as the author’s intent: “…the novel is unabashedly preachy, and contains a thinly veiled missionary plot designed to influence the reader to embrace Christianity”, I think the book falls short. In the beginning, there were a lot of things pointed out and referenced regarding denominations, Bible colleges, and doctrines within evangelical Christianity. It seemed to be assumed that I was familiar with everything mentioned. As few as 5 years ago, most of this would probably have been over my head. Although I now recognize most of the terminology, I don’t have good or accurate mental definitions. As a result I had to spend some time in the early chapters looking things up, which slowed my reading progress considerably.
The characters who shared their faith seemed focused on a loving God requiring legalism, rather than the gospel message of repenting of sin and salvation by grace through faith in Christ. The evangelism efforts of one character are are primarily based on summarizing literary works and applying it to scripture, the ‘God Talk’ events that she leads are emotionally manipulative. Another character has gone into pastoral ministry but is clearly Biblically unqualified for the position; although he later sees at least some of his errors, in my opinion, he should have stepped down instead of remaining in the position.
Sadly, the Christianity that the author seems to want the reader to embrace is emotionally manipulative, not based on a strong scriptural foundation, a bit legalistic, and overly focused on God’s love, to the exclusion of His other attributes. Having personally experienced most of these spiritual abuses from various churches and denominations over the years, I want nothing more to do with them. Thankfully God has directed my path to a wonderful church that is committed to teaching the Bible and I have been healing from those things.
Ultimately, It Could Happen Here seems like a book appropriate for those who are well versed in their theology. I could see it being useful in a group study setting. While it kept my interest all the way through, I didn’t really enjoy as a novel. This was mostly because I needed to keep stopping to think about various things, and whether or not I agreed with them, and why or why not. I did enjoy it as an exercise in critical thinking, though.
The Bottom Line: I would recommend It Could Happen Here to a mature Christian who has a good grasp of apologetics.
Format: Paperback
Synopsis: It Could Happen Here is a fictional exploration of the consequences of a Big Tech company attempting to manipulate human behavior through their internet services and AI. The company performs a real world experiment on a small, mostly Christian town in Texas. It also depicts very well the consequences triggered by churches that allow external, secular, and digital culture to be incorporated into their teaching and sharing of the gospel, rather than just sharing the gospel as it is and letting it speak for itself.
What I Thought: It took me several tries to read this book all the way through. Mostly because I would start it and then suddenly not have time or energy for reading. As a result I made it to the same point nearly every time, and was expecting the story to go in a completely different direction than it did. I had some difficulty keeping track of the characters, although I’m not sure if that was the writing or my lack of mental focus at the time. Keeping a list of characters with notes on who they knew or were reflated to, and where they worked was very helpful.
Overall, I liked the storyline and the exploration of “what if big tech used AI to influence Christianity”? I was raised with the understanding that just because a book is written by an author who says they are a Christian, a resource is sold by a Christian bookseller, or just because I heard it on the Christian radio station, didn’t mean it necessarily aligned with the essential Biblical truths my parents and church were teaching me. The internet wasn’t really a resource for me until around high school, and It Could Happen Here emphasized to me that I could probably be even more careful than I already am regarding the spiritual information I glean from the internet. As a podcaster I listen to says: “listen [or read] with an open Bible, not an open mind!”
As far as the author’s intent: “…the novel is unabashedly preachy, and contains a thinly veiled missionary plot designed to influence the reader to embrace Christianity”, I think the book falls short. In the beginning, there were a lot of things pointed out and referenced regarding denominations, Bible colleges, and doctrines within evangelical Christianity. It seemed to be assumed that I was familiar with everything mentioned. As few as 5 years ago, most of this would probably have been over my head. Although I now recognize most of the terminology, I don’t have good or accurate mental definitions. As a result I had to spend some time in the early chapters looking things up, which slowed my reading progress considerably.
The characters who shared their faith seemed focused on a loving God requiring legalism, rather than the gospel message of repenting of sin and salvation by grace through faith in Christ. The evangelism efforts of one character are are primarily based on summarizing literary works and applying it to scripture, the ‘God Talk’ events that she leads are emotionally manipulative. Another character has gone into pastoral ministry but is clearly Biblically unqualified for the position; although he later sees at least some of his errors, in my opinion, he should have stepped down instead of remaining in the position.
Sadly, the Christianity that the author seems to want the reader to embrace is emotionally manipulative, not based on a strong scriptural foundation, a bit legalistic, and overly focused on God’s love, to the exclusion of His other attributes. Having personally experienced most of these spiritual abuses from various churches and denominations over the years, I want nothing more to do with them. Thankfully God has directed my path to a wonderful church that is committed to teaching the Bible and I have been healing from those things.
Ultimately, It Could Happen Here seems like a book appropriate for those who are well versed in their theology. I could see it being useful in a group study setting. While it kept my interest all the way through, I didn’t really enjoy as a novel. This was mostly because I needed to keep stopping to think about various things, and whether or not I agreed with them, and why or why not. I did enjoy it as an exercise in critical thinking, though.
The Bottom Line: I would recommend It Could Happen Here to a mature Christian who has a good grasp of apologetics.
January 22, 2022
So incredibly one sided and paranoid. This book makes it sound like evangelicals are being insidiously wiped out from behind the scenes by some all-powerful shadow operation run by secularists that want everyone to be the same. Definitely science fiction taken to the extreme.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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