Attack of the Theocrats!

How the Religious Right Harms Us All - and What We Can Do About It

By: Sean Faircloth

Narrated by: Sean Faircloth, Richard Dawkins

Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

At no time in history has the United States had such a high percentage of theocratic members of Congress - those who expressly endorse religious bias in law. Just as ominously, especially for those who share the values and views of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, at no other time have religious fundamentalists effectively had veto power over one of the country's two major political parties. As Sean Faircloth argues in this deeply sobering yet highly engaging book, this has led to the crumbling of the country's most cherished founding principle - the wall of separation between church and state.

While much of the public debate in the United States over church-state issues has focused on the construction of nativity scenes in town squares and the addition of "under God" to the Pledge, Faircloth, a former politician and current executive director of the Secular Coalition for America, moves beyond the symbolism to explore the many ways federal and state legal codes privilege religion in law. He demonstrates in vivid detail how religious bias in law harms all Americans-financially, militarily, physically, socially, and educationally - and directs special attention to the outlandish words, views, and policy proposals of the most theocratic politicians, a group he labels the Fundamentalist Fifty. Sounding a much-needed alarm for all who care about the future direction of the country, Faircloth concludes by offering an inspiring ten-point vision of an America returned to its secular roots and by providing a specific and sensible plan for realizing this vision. Both his vision and his plan remember and remind that the United States is, above all else, one nation under the Constitution.

Sean Faircloth is the director of policy and strategy for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (US). He served for a decade in the Maine State Legislature, where he successfully spearheaded over thirty pieces of legislation. He was elected majority whip by his colleagues in his last term.

Richard Dawkins is a scientist and author of numerous best sellers, including The Magic of Reality, The Greatest Show on Earth, and The God Delusion

©2012 Sean Faircloth and Richard Dawkins (P)2012 Pitchstone Publishing

...and What We Can Do About it

Would you listen to Attack of the Theocrats! again? Why?

YES! I have listened/read/watched other what I'll call

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

That daycare centers affiliated with a religion do not have the same regulations as far as child safety as the non-religious ones. What kind of a deal is that? Child safety concerns should be universal, either its a good idea to keep medicines locked away or it isn't, for example.

A Solid Message Foiled by Author's Self-Narration

If you could sum up Attack of the Theocrats! in three words, what would they be?

On Religio-Industrial villainy.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

This is former Majority Whip Sean Faircloth casting a light on the evils of believers put in positions of power. It's an undeniably important message, and the lengthy discussion of childcaregivers is some gruesome, damning stuff. But given a heavier-handed editor, this could've been whittled down significantly and lost very little of its content.

How could the performance have been better?

Faircloth could've turned over the narration reins to virtually anyone else and we'd have produced a better product. Dawkins performs his own forward and it's as spot-on as his other reads, but Faircloth suffers from a host of unedited vocal snafus. Heavy breaths, awkward pauses and jarring stumbles mar the message of the text. And, for whatever reason, his insistence on vocalizing every "open quote-- end quote" annoyed the ever-lovin' piss out of me.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely, but the performance made doing so nigh intolerable.

Any additional comments?

Ultimately, I just couldn't finish it. Where a better narrator could have pulled the book through some of its more meandering segments, Faircloth slogging through his own words started to take on an almost filibustering tone. I reluctantly returned this one, my first time doing so.

Great cover, but a little preachy

I admit that I bought this largely because I loved the cover illustration. It was interesting and well read. It's worth a read if you are interested in the subject. Ironically, it's a bit preachy (and I say that largely agreeing with the author). Still, it's worth a once over.

We've let religion takeover our country!

I did have a slight conundrum at the beginning of this: would I give it 4 stars or 5? It was a great book, but there was about a half hour near the end about the Richard Dawkins Foundation and the authors Association with it. But really, I appreciate the things that are pointed out and brought to light about religion on the whole and the nominal foundation of our country! To see how our politicians and government have corrupted the basic ideas represented by our Constitution as well as the way they've corrupted primary religions nominally exercised by the majority of United States citizenry is appalling! I demure from saying that I am an atheist, although I do admit to being a Jewish atheist! And the majority of people I know and know of truly have difficulty believing every "God-given law and rule" without doing a little "pick and choosing" at best!
Whether the reader personally chooses the Richard Dawkins Foundation as his/her "go-to" organization for non-theocratic rights and policies, the book is really good!