Product Description

In this New York Times bestseller, David Limbaugh exposes the liberal hypocrisy of promoting political correctness while discriminating against Christianity. From the elimination of school prayer to the eradication of the story of Christianity in America from history text-books, this persuasive book shows that our social engineers inculcate hostility toward Christianity and its values in the name of "diversity," "tolerance," and "multiculturalism."

Limbaugh explains through court cases, case studies, and true stories the widespread assault on the religious liberties of Christians in America today and urges Christians to fight back to restore their First Amendment right of religious freedom.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1161177 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-01
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 446 pages

From Publishers Weekly
They may not get thrown to the lions any more, but today's Christians endure subtler forms of martyrdom, argues this strident manifesto. Limbaugh (Absolute Power: The Legacy of Corruption in the Clinton-Reno Justice Department) recites a litany of abuses and insults perpetrated, he claims, by separation-of-church-and-state absolutists and the forces of secular humanism. Most of them are familiar complaints of the Christian Right: school children are forbidden to pray before football games; nativity scenes are banned from municipal property; the media ridicule Christian politicians, and Hollywood caricatures Christians as Bible-thumping yahoos or axe-wielding fanatics. At universities where Darwinism, relativism and "sexuality studies" hold sway, Limbaugh says, vocal Christians get packed off to the psych ward. Most insidiously, Christians are continually subjected to sensitivity training-which often promotes a "homosexual agenda"-and silenced when they object. Many of the cases Limbaugh cites raise legitimate questions about society's hypersensitivity to religious expression (although the really serious abuses were often remedied after the inevitable lawsuit). Unfortunately, he tends to equate political controversy with religious bigotry, and Christianity with fundamentalism. Many of the issues he cites, like Democratic opposition to pro-life judicial nominees, or laws requiring Catholic employers to cover contraceptives in health insurance, amount to political disputes pitting conservatives like Limbaugh against liberals, feminists, gays or users of contraceptives, with Christians ranged on both sides. Limbaugh has a point: there are anti-Christian tendencies-rigid school bureaucrats, militant atheists and an often profane and irreligious popular culture-in American society. But there are plenty of pro-Christian tendencies too, such that Limbaugh's persecution complex seems overblown.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
David Limbaugh is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Absolute Power, and a nationally syndicated columnist and political commentator.

From AudioFile
The point of view is that persecution of Christians in the media and public life is not recognized with the same consistency it is when other groups--such as minorities and gays--are similarly persecuted or criticized. The articulate author says that attacks on Christian expression, often framed as a concern about separation of church and state, have gone too far in removing God from our educational institutions. Since many kinds of controversial expression are being suppressed these days, the essay is a welcome effort to open up the marketplace of ideas we call public discourse. Though provocative and even captivating, the arguments still fall short of the sound and nuanced discussion this topic deserves. The audio also would have been helped by a professional speaker. T.W. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Interesting book.
It's interesting that the individual from Oregon stated, "After all the misery and torture Christians have dished out over the past 2000 years, I would expect at the very least that those same children be sent to gas chambers for their beliefs before anyone dare write a book about how Christians are persecuted." This is an incredibly asinine statement...go checkout Stalin and numerous other individuals who have killed millions and was an Atheist. Second, Limbaugh provides an interesting viewpoint on this whole debate. We live in a country where the ten commandments have been removed from a court house...but, they allow statues of Athena (a pagan god)...within our libraries. But, we can't have the ten commandments within a courthouse even though our legal system is based upon them. Also, go check out the trim on the Supreme Court...Moses holding the ten commandments. What are they going to do next...chisel it off?

Very Revealing
Limbaugh always uses facts to back up his assertions. I think the book may not be well received by the egalitarian types. Why do liberals have unlimited sympathy for Islam when Christianity compels it's members to spread the message just as Islam does?

A modern belief that secularism is the foundation of a stable and progressive society is driving many on the left to believe that no religion is appropriate in the public arena. This belief
operates most vigorously against the dominant religion in society. In our case, it is Christianity. Of course our political traditions spring from Judaism and Christianity which allow for such misguided movements.

Excellent reading, excellent points.

What Elephant in the Living Room?
David Limbaugh's "Persecution" forces us to look squarely up the trunk of the elephant in the liberal living room: the "secret" that the modern-day heirs of a political tradition built on fighting for justice, tolerance, and freedom have become some of the most unjust, intolerant oppressors in recent American history, at least where Christianity is concerned. Limbaugh documents case after case of religious discrimination perpretrated by liberals against Christians, all in the name of tolerance and open mindedness.

We might expect a book entitled "Persecution" to be only another mindless rant from a stereotypical uneducated fundamentalist. But this is not the case here. Limbaugh does veer into the territory of diatribe every so often, but the bulk of his book is a series of carefully documented incidents of liberals denying Christians opportunities in employment, education, and even freedom of speech. Opening up "Persecution" to a random page, we find successful college football coach Ron Brown denied a head coaching position because of his religious beliefs. Turn a few more pages and we find a public office in Dade County Florida having Hannukah and Kwanzaa displays set up during the Christmas holiday season, but prohibiting a nativity scene. One more turn and we find a town in California ordering a church to take down a banner advertising summer vacation Bible school, while other organizations had banners on display throught the town. I just grabbed these cases at random from the book. You will also find cases of Christians being fired and sued for things like wearing crosses or keeping a Bible on their work desk.

Limbaugh details discriminations that Christians have faced in public schools, universities, government, industry, and in the media and entertainment industries. If you are the least bit unsure that Christians are getting less than a fair shake in many sectors of modern public life, "Persecution" should put an end to all your doubts.

The book is not without its problems. First and foremost is the lion on the front cover. That's certainly overkill. Despite Limbaugh's clear chapter headings ("The Battle for the Academy", "Muzzling Public Officials, Employees, and Appointees", etc.), the book could use some better organization. More than once I found myself trying to remember just what the current chapter was supposed to be about. The next to last chapter, where Limbaugh attempts to demonstrate the relationship between the Founders' Christian faith and their politics is, unfortunately, the weakest. I think he makes his point, but he could have made it stronger by supplying us with more quotes from original sources and less from modern commentators. (I couldn't help but notice that he quotes quite a bit here from writers who were published by his own publisher.) And he gets a few things wrong. Thomas Jefferson, for instance, was an out and out Deist, Limbaugh's arguments to the contrary notwithstanding. (Given T.J.'s numerous and egregious moral shortcomings, if someone want to call him a Deist, it's perfectly OK with me.)

But these blemishes do not detract from the validity of the work in any important respect. Not many honest options are open to us if we want to disagree with Limbaugh. We can try to refute his documentation point by point. Good luck. (In this regard, my admittedly non-exhaustive perusal of this page's 1-star reviews has turned up none that actually deal with the cases Limbaugh presents.) Or, we can try to show that plenty of groups in America are being similarly disadvantaged -- that things are tough all over. This tack seems to hold little promise either. We might try to say that Limbaugh is just going to bat for his poitical "religious right" cronies. But this won't do either. Not many of the people he defends in this book are "political." Most of them that are "poltical" became so because it was the only way they could see to secure for themselves the rights and privileges those around them enjoy.

"Persecution" is not the book to read if you want to know what everyone else is reading. Limbaugh's audience will be mainly conservative Christians, the people least in need of his book. However, if you're wondering what that big pachyderm-looking thing behind the sofa is that only the Christians are pointing at, "Persecution" will draw back the curtains and let you seeit in the full light of day.