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The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us
The Baptizing of Politics, Piety, and the Coming Theocracy exposes the systematic campaign by Christian fundamentalists to co-opt and take over every "room" of American society from the bedroom to the school room, hospital room, operating room, courtroom, work room, reading room and newsroom. This book focuses on the aggressive war currently being led by fundamentalist Christians to "baptize America." It is a battle that will determine whether the United States remains a spiritually vital country but without an officially established religion, or whether it will become "Christianized," a "faith-based nation" in which fundamentalist Christianity will be the sole legal dominant religion throughout the land. The war will decide whether America follows the path of many other nations and becomes a theocracy not unlike Iran and the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
336 pages, Paperback
First published December 20, 2005
3 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
James Rudin
10 books2 followersRabbi James Rudin was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. He attended Wesleyan University and graduated from George Washington University with academic distinction. While in college he was a member of the wrestling and track teams and a student government officer.
He received his rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and did graduate studies in History at the University of Illinois. The rabbi holds honorary doctorates from Saint Leo University, Saint Martin’s University and HUC-JIR.
As a member of the American Jewish Committee’s professional staff for thirty-two years, Rabbi Rudin served as the AJC’s Interreligious Affairs Director. He is currently the AJC’s Senior Interreligious Adviser and a member of the organization’s Board of Governors.
He is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Religion and Judaica at Saint Leo University and teaches at Florida Gulf Coast University Renaissance Academy.
Rabbi Rudin served congregations in Kansas City, Missouri and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois and was a United States Air Force Chaplain stationed in Japan and Korea.
Awards & Honors
Nostra Aetate Award
The Center for Catholic-Jewish Understanding
Sacred Heart University
Fairfield, Connecticut
Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations Shevat Achim Award
Nominated for 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Nominated for the 2016 National Jewish Book Award
Honorary doctorates from Saint Leo University, Saint Martin's University and HUC-JIR
Jewish-Catholic Accomplishment Award, St. Joseph’s University.
Guest of honor at the 1994 Vatican Concert that commemorated the Shoah.
Polish Council of Christians and Jews "Person of Reconciliation" Award
International Council of Christians and Jews Interfaith Gold Medallion
Anti-Defamation League Exceptional Leadership Award
American Jewish Committee Professional Leadership Award
International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations Leadership Award
Joseph Award of Villa Nazareth, a Pontifical institution
Eternal Light Award, Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies, Saint Leo University
Service to the United States
United States Air Force Chaplain
Stationed in Japan & Korea
Camp David Presidential Retreat Interfaith Chapel Committee
Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission
Voting Rights drive participant; Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Founding Member of the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law
Director of American Jewish Committee Hurricane Katrina Emergency Relief Services
Author
Authored or edited seventeen books
Commentary writer for Religion News Service (RNS) since 1991
Published by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and more.
He received his rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and did graduate studies in History at the University of Illinois. The rabbi holds honorary doctorates from Saint Leo University, Saint Martin’s University and HUC-JIR.
As a member of the American Jewish Committee’s professional staff for thirty-two years, Rabbi Rudin served as the AJC’s Interreligious Affairs Director. He is currently the AJC’s Senior Interreligious Adviser and a member of the organization’s Board of Governors.
He is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Religion and Judaica at Saint Leo University and teaches at Florida Gulf Coast University Renaissance Academy.
Rabbi Rudin served congregations in Kansas City, Missouri and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois and was a United States Air Force Chaplain stationed in Japan and Korea.
Awards & Honors
Nostra Aetate Award
The Center for Catholic-Jewish Understanding
Sacred Heart University
Fairfield, Connecticut
Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations Shevat Achim Award
Nominated for 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Nominated for the 2016 National Jewish Book Award
Honorary doctorates from Saint Leo University, Saint Martin's University and HUC-JIR
Jewish-Catholic Accomplishment Award, St. Joseph’s University.
Guest of honor at the 1994 Vatican Concert that commemorated the Shoah.
Polish Council of Christians and Jews "Person of Reconciliation" Award
International Council of Christians and Jews Interfaith Gold Medallion
Anti-Defamation League Exceptional Leadership Award
American Jewish Committee Professional Leadership Award
International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations Leadership Award
Joseph Award of Villa Nazareth, a Pontifical institution
Eternal Light Award, Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies, Saint Leo University
Service to the United States
United States Air Force Chaplain
Stationed in Japan & Korea
Camp David Presidential Retreat Interfaith Chapel Committee
Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission
Voting Rights drive participant; Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Founding Member of the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law
Director of American Jewish Committee Hurricane Katrina Emergency Relief Services
Author
Authored or edited seventeen books
Commentary writer for Religion News Service (RNS) since 1991
Published by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and more.
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 24, 2023
A PROMINENT RABBI CRITIQUES ‘CHRISTOCRATS’
Rabbi James Rudin, is an international leader in interreligious relations, who has served as the American Jewish Committee’s Senior Interreligious Affairs Director.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 2006 book, “A specter is haunting America, and it is not socialism and certainly not communism. It is the specter of Americans kneeling n submission to a particular interpretation of a religion that has become an ideology, and all-encompassing way of life. It I the specter of our nation ruled by the extreme Christian right, who would make the United States a ‘Christian nation’ where their version of God’s law supersedes all human law---including the Constitution. That, more than any other force in the world today, is the immediate and profound threat to our republic.” (Pg. 1)
He continues, “Many of my colleagues and friends, both Christian and Jewish, think I am an alarmist by overstating the problem we face as a nation… I am convinced that despite the large U.S. population, the religious diversity, and the Constitutional and guarantees of church-state separation, the campaign to permanently transform America into a faith-based nation where one particular form of Christianity is legally dominant over all other religious communities.” (Pg. 3)
He goes on, “Christocrats are most likely evangelical Protestants, but they can be conservative Roman Catholics, members of a mainline Protestant church, or Eastern Orthodox Christians. Most of today’s Christocrats are white, but an increasing number of blacks and Hispanics also merit that term of identification. The ultimate goal of Christocrats is the establishment of a permanent American Christocracy.” (Pg. 11)
He quotes Genesis 1:26 [‘let them have dominion…’], and comments, “The traditional Jewish interpretation of the verse is that God grants to humans an awesome responsibility: stewardship of the earth and permission to use animals in agriculture, travel, and other similar endeavors, as well as for sources of food and clothing. But with that ‘dominion’ also comes the ethical imperative to respect all of nature, all animals and fish, and for humans, as faithful custodians of the environment, to use that ‘dominion’ with compassion. ‘Dominion’ in Judaism does not mean superiority or control; rather, it is the sacred commitment of caring for the planet’s well-being,., In exchange, humans are permitted to draw upon the resources of nature for their existence.” (Pg. 53)
He reports, “In later years, [Billy] Graham moved away from discussing politics or taking stands on contemporary issues and concerns. In his 2005 New York City Crusade, an ailing Graham eschewed that I attended and at his three public appearances that attracted nearly a quarter of a million people. But in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Graham was a close confidant and adviser to Richard Nixon, and it was in 1972 that he uttered his now famous anti-Jewish statements during a private White House conversation with the president. Unknown to the evangelist, Nixon secretly taped the exchange, and when Graham’s remarks were made public in 2002, he apologized to the Jewish community… saying he would ‘crawl on his hands and knees’ seeking forgiveness for his anti-Jewish remarks.” (Pg. 57)
He observes, “Until 1982, the SBC [Southern Baptist Convention] had been among the strongest Christian supporters of church-state separation, but since then the denomination has taken positions contesting that historical principle. Critics charge that Southern Baptist leaders and their Christocratic followers have abandoned a cherished and historically significant part of their spiritual tradition.” (Pg. 95)
He says about the SBC’s FamilyNet twenty-four hour TV network, “Despite its squeaky-clean programming, FamilyNet has been a perennial money-loser for its sponsor… N September 2004, nineteen of the network’s sixty-six employees were let go, and the annual budget was slashed by more than half… FamilyNet has continued to lose money, and its parent body… has made it clear that it cannot continue to subsidize FamilyNet indefinitely. After watching many hours of both [Pat] Robertson’s CBN and the SBC’s FamilyNet, I felt like one of the deep-sea divers afflicted with the bends and other problems when they resurface from a voyage to the bottom of the sea.” (Pg. 254-255)
He points out that “[James] Dobson has a global audience of more than 200 million people… In early 2005, Dobson lashed out at the producers of the popular children’s program ‘SpongeBob SquarePants.’ He accused them of teaching tolerance and diversity as a part of a hidden agenda to gain public acceptance of homosexuality.” (Pg. 260)
He concludes, “Anxiety and stress are likely to increase in the workplace as the Christocentric campaign intensifies. The already-blurry lines between the legitimate religious concerns of employees in a fiercely competitive economic environment and the aggressive Christian conversion campaigns aimed at workers make it harder for company executives to sort out what is actually happening in their workrooms… Taboo or no, the Christocrats have targeted the workplace in their escalating campaign to baptize America.” (Pg. 260)
This book will appeal to those seeking critiques of the ‘Religious Right,’ and similar movements.
Rabbi James Rudin, is an international leader in interreligious relations, who has served as the American Jewish Committee’s Senior Interreligious Affairs Director.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 2006 book, “A specter is haunting America, and it is not socialism and certainly not communism. It is the specter of Americans kneeling n submission to a particular interpretation of a religion that has become an ideology, and all-encompassing way of life. It I the specter of our nation ruled by the extreme Christian right, who would make the United States a ‘Christian nation’ where their version of God’s law supersedes all human law---including the Constitution. That, more than any other force in the world today, is the immediate and profound threat to our republic.” (Pg. 1)
He continues, “Many of my colleagues and friends, both Christian and Jewish, think I am an alarmist by overstating the problem we face as a nation… I am convinced that despite the large U.S. population, the religious diversity, and the Constitutional and guarantees of church-state separation, the campaign to permanently transform America into a faith-based nation where one particular form of Christianity is legally dominant over all other religious communities.” (Pg. 3)
He goes on, “Christocrats are most likely evangelical Protestants, but they can be conservative Roman Catholics, members of a mainline Protestant church, or Eastern Orthodox Christians. Most of today’s Christocrats are white, but an increasing number of blacks and Hispanics also merit that term of identification. The ultimate goal of Christocrats is the establishment of a permanent American Christocracy.” (Pg. 11)
He quotes Genesis 1:26 [‘let them have dominion…’], and comments, “The traditional Jewish interpretation of the verse is that God grants to humans an awesome responsibility: stewardship of the earth and permission to use animals in agriculture, travel, and other similar endeavors, as well as for sources of food and clothing. But with that ‘dominion’ also comes the ethical imperative to respect all of nature, all animals and fish, and for humans, as faithful custodians of the environment, to use that ‘dominion’ with compassion. ‘Dominion’ in Judaism does not mean superiority or control; rather, it is the sacred commitment of caring for the planet’s well-being,., In exchange, humans are permitted to draw upon the resources of nature for their existence.” (Pg. 53)
He reports, “In later years, [Billy] Graham moved away from discussing politics or taking stands on contemporary issues and concerns. In his 2005 New York City Crusade, an ailing Graham eschewed that I attended and at his three public appearances that attracted nearly a quarter of a million people. But in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Graham was a close confidant and adviser to Richard Nixon, and it was in 1972 that he uttered his now famous anti-Jewish statements during a private White House conversation with the president. Unknown to the evangelist, Nixon secretly taped the exchange, and when Graham’s remarks were made public in 2002, he apologized to the Jewish community… saying he would ‘crawl on his hands and knees’ seeking forgiveness for his anti-Jewish remarks.” (Pg. 57)
He observes, “Until 1982, the SBC [Southern Baptist Convention] had been among the strongest Christian supporters of church-state separation, but since then the denomination has taken positions contesting that historical principle. Critics charge that Southern Baptist leaders and their Christocratic followers have abandoned a cherished and historically significant part of their spiritual tradition.” (Pg. 95)
He says about the SBC’s FamilyNet twenty-four hour TV network, “Despite its squeaky-clean programming, FamilyNet has been a perennial money-loser for its sponsor… N September 2004, nineteen of the network’s sixty-six employees were let go, and the annual budget was slashed by more than half… FamilyNet has continued to lose money, and its parent body… has made it clear that it cannot continue to subsidize FamilyNet indefinitely. After watching many hours of both [Pat] Robertson’s CBN and the SBC’s FamilyNet, I felt like one of the deep-sea divers afflicted with the bends and other problems when they resurface from a voyage to the bottom of the sea.” (Pg. 254-255)
He points out that “[James] Dobson has a global audience of more than 200 million people… In early 2005, Dobson lashed out at the producers of the popular children’s program ‘SpongeBob SquarePants.’ He accused them of teaching tolerance and diversity as a part of a hidden agenda to gain public acceptance of homosexuality.” (Pg. 260)
He concludes, “Anxiety and stress are likely to increase in the workplace as the Christocentric campaign intensifies. The already-blurry lines between the legitimate religious concerns of employees in a fiercely competitive economic environment and the aggressive Christian conversion campaigns aimed at workers make it harder for company executives to sort out what is actually happening in their workrooms… Taboo or no, the Christocrats have targeted the workplace in their escalating campaign to baptize America.” (Pg. 260)
This book will appeal to those seeking critiques of the ‘Religious Right,’ and similar movements.
September 1, 2018
Meh. Ok. A lot of this book is “do as I say, not as a do”. “Don’t call Jews names. Here are some good ones to start with! Also bonus, here’s some for Christians!”
As someone who’s read much of the work that the author is speaking of, we maaaaay have over stated our case a bit. That being said, there’s a lot of interesting ideas that I’ve not thought of before that helped me see things from another perspective. The author has good nuance in understanding denominations.
As someone who’s read much of the work that the author is speaking of, we maaaaay have over stated our case a bit. That being said, there’s a lot of interesting ideas that I’ve not thought of before that helped me see things from another perspective. The author has good nuance in understanding denominations.
September 23, 2009
Written in 2005 and less relevant after the Democratic wins in the last two elections. Nevertheless still interesting.
January 16, 2013
Everyone should read this! The Religious Right are a threat to our Democracy.
March 9, 2010
Extremely intriguing. Makes you think about what you really want for religious freedom in America.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews