Wild Faith

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An investigation into the rise of the Christian right over the last half-century that lays out the grim vision Evangelicals are enforcing on our democracy.
 
All across America, a storm is gathering: from book bans in school libraries to anti-trans laws in state legislatures; firebombings of abortion clinics and protests against gay rights. The Christian right, a political force in America for more than half a century, has never been more powerful than it is right now—and propelled Donald Trump to power, and they won't stop until they've refashioned America in their own image.

In Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking Over America, author Talia Lavin goes deep into the beliefs that motivate the Christian right, from its segregationist past to a future riddled with apocalyptic visions. Along the way, she explores what motivates anti-abortion terrorists; the Christian Patriarchy movement, with its desire to place all women under absolute male control; the twisted theology that leads to rampant child abuse; and the ways conspiracy theorists and extremist Christians influence each other to mutual political benefit. 

Using primary sources and firsthand accounts, Lavin introduces readers to "deliverance ministers" who carry out exorcisms by the hundred; modern-day, self-proclaimed prophets and apostles; Christian militias, cults, zealots, and showmen; and the people in power who are aiding them to achieve their goals. 
From school boards to the Supreme Court, Christian theocracy is ascendant in America — and only through exploring its motivations and impacts can we understand the crisis we face. Can a multiracial democracy survive in the face of an organized, fervent theocratic movement, one that seeks to impose its religious beliefs on every citizen of this country — whether they believe in Jesus, or somebody else, or no God at all? Talia Lavin is the author of the critically acclaimed book Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy. She is a journalist who has had bylines in the New Yorker, the New Republic, the New York Times Review of Books, the Washington Post, and more. She writes a newsletter, The Sword and the Sandwich, which is featured in Best American Food and Travel Writing 2024. 

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