The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America.

edited by Kimberly Blaker (New Boston, Michigan, New Boston Books, 2003); 287 pp; $24.95 cloth, $15.95 softcover

   "My friends, this election is about much more than who gets what. It
   is about who we are. It is about what we believe. It is about what we
   stand for as Americans. There is a religious war going on in our
   country for the soul of America. It is a cultural war, as critical to
   the kind of nation we will one day be as was the Cold War itself."

   --Patrick J. Buchanan at the 1992 Republican National Convention

Much to my dismay, the term culture war seems to have mostly fallen from the U.S. lexicon. Many people frowned at the use of the term--indeed, of any military metaphors at all--when attempting to describe the clash of values in the nation's social, political, and religious spheres. Characterizing politics and those who stand on either side of the cultural divide as warriors fighting a battle can be uncomfortable for many Americans.

However, it is hard to deny that the military metaphor holds a certain truth. When secularists clash with religious extremists over issues such as church-state separation, sex education, gay marriage, and stem cell research, what are they fighting about? These issues don't exist in a vacuum; the memes that dominate these debates will forever shape the nation's intricate cultural tapestry. Wars have been fought for numerous reasons--many of them for less important causes than dominance of one way of life over another. How can Americans ignore that they are fighting a battle with the outcome being nothing less than the future direction of U.S. society?

Now comes a book that helps place opposition into context. The Fundamentals of Extremism--written by influential individuals within the Humanist movement, including Edwin Kagin of Camp Quest, Bobble Kirkhart of Atheist Alliance International, and Herb Silverman of the American Humanist Association--provides an in-depth view of the motivations and goals of the fundamentalist Christians in the United States. In providing explanations as to why fundamentalists believe what they do (such as opposing the use of Ritalin in treating attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) the book enables readers to better defuse arguments made by religious extremists. Critical examinations also focus on religious fundamentalists' orientation toward rightwing authoritarianism, which can lead to higher levels of child abuse; their need for dominance over women; and their motivation for blatantly misreading the First Amendment. Apart from these various insights, some parts of the book are almost mind-numbingly familiar--such as the various shenanigans that the Christian Coalition was involved in during its height of power.

Humanists can recite the litany of ways that organizations like Focus on the Family are harmful to society, where Catholics for a Free Choice is a positive influence. Where does this leave people in the mainstream who aren't fully comfortable on either side of the cultural divide? Are they so estranged because the Humanist movement hasn't been articulating the dangers that religious extremists pose to our society? Or is it because the extremists hide their real intent and draw on the sympathies of church-going Americans? I fear it is a mix of both. Because of the unlikelihood that a majority of religious believers will suddenly leave their churches for a brighter and more enlightened life, the burden is on Humanists to spread the word about the dangers that the religious right poses.

For the book merely to sit on the shelf of every Humanist and freethinker in the United States isn't enough. Instead, The Fundamentals of Extremism needs to reach those in mainstream society who mistakenly believe they have nothing to fear from the likes of the Christian Coalition's Ralph Reed and Focus on the Family's James Dobson. The strength of the book lies not in its nine hundred footnotes but instead in its clear description of how fundamentalist Christianity is unsuccessful in providing a better and more fulfilling life for individuals who embrace it. This failure foreshadows the incredibly regressive and destructive leaps that society would take if these religious extremists were able to impose their views on everyone else.

The Fundamentals of Extremism draws the battle lines in this culture war and presents an unambiguous argument for which side Humanists need to take.

Jende Huang is a field assistant for the American Humanist Association. For more information about The Fundamentals of Extremism, visit New Boston Books online at www.NewBostonBooks. com