Unholy

Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump

By: Sarah Posner

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 12 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

“In terrifying detail, Unholy illustrates how a vast network of white Christian nationalists plotted the authoritarian takeover of the American democratic system. There is no more timely book than this one.” (Janet Reitman, author of Inside Scientology)

Why did so many evangelicals turn out to vote for Donald Trump, a serial philanderer with questionable conservative credentials who seems to defy Christian values with his every utterance? To a reporter like Sarah Posner, who has been covering the religious right for decades, the answer turns out to be far more intuitive than one might think.

In this taut inquiry, Posner digs deep into the radical history of the religious right to reveal how issues of race and xenophobia have always been at the movement’s core, and how religion often cloaked anxieties about perceived threats to a white, Christian America. Fueled by an antidemocratic impulse, and united by this narrative of reverse victimization, the religious right and the alt-right support a common agenda – and are actively using the erosion of democratic norms to roll back civil rights advances, stock the judiciary with hard-right judges, defang and deregulate federal agencies, and undermine the credibility of the free press.

Increasingly, this formidable bloc is also forging ties with European far right groups, giving momentum to a truly global movement. Revelatory and engrossing, Unholy offers a deeper understanding of the ideological underpinnings and forces influencing the course of Republican politics. This is a book that must be listened to by anyone who cares about the future of American democracy.

©2020 Sarah Posner (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A meticulous deconstruction of the Christian right's long, slow infiltration of Republican politics. Sarah Posner has been writing on this subject for years, and it shows. Before Donald Trump, it was easy to claim the Christian right lacked the power it had during the 1980s; Posner shows that this analysis was dead wrong.” (Janet Reitman, contributing writer, The New York Times Magazine, and author of Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion)

"Sarah Posner reveals, with clarity and without hyperbole, the unholy alliance between Donald Trump and white evangelicals in this country. That relationship is not a transactional one, as so many would have us believe. Trump has all the attributes of the televangelists who exert so much influence in American Christendom. He reflects, in his demeanor and in his policies, what they hold dear. Reading Unholy unsettles you and shows that what ails this country goes way beyond the current occupant in the White House. This book is a must-read for anyone who claims to be Christian and for anyone who is concerned about our democracy." (Eddie S. Glaude Jr., author of Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own)

"Unholy explains how moralizing evangelicals fell in love with one of the most outwardly immoral presidents in modern American history. Religion reporter Sarah Posner makes bold claims, but she brings receipts. As a Christian, I found this book far more disturbing and damning than I expected. We ignore it at our collective peril." (Jonathan Merritt, author of Learning to Speak God from Scratch and contributing writer for The Atlantic)