Description
Book SynopsisLooks at two groups that represent, in one case, the "hard" right, and in the other, the "soft" right-Pete Peters' "Scriptures for America" and James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" - in order to investigate the specific methods these groups rely on to appeal to their followers.
Trade Review“
Lift High the Cross teaches scholars, activists, and a popular audience the all-important historical background and differences among various groups on the Right, but just as importantly, it also teaches a way of performing politics that demands both activism and thinking. This sophisticated discussion of politics, religion, and religious narratives could not be more timely, in particular because the activist left has had such a hard time grappling with religion.”—Linda Kintz, author of
Between Jesus and the Market: The Emotions that Matter in Right-Wing America“In
Lift High the Cross Ann Burlein crafts fascinating case studies exploring boundaries between the Christian Right and the Extreme Right. She simultaneously shows how both ideologies intersect and share notions of a hierarchical natural order embedded in mainstream assumptions—themselves shaped by a cloaked history of cultural violence that we all share.”—Chip Berlet, coauthor of
Right Wing Populism in America
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
The Violence of Culture: Countermemory and Niche Marketed Masculinity
1. Countermemory, Children, and Ignorance-Power
2. Converging Case Studies: Body Politics as Brand Recognition
Christian Identity, Scriptures for America, and Pete Peters
3. Mainstream Roots
4. Biblical Memories and the Erotics of Domination: “Not Politically Correct but Biblically Correct”
5. Nichemarketing the Apocalypse: Violence as Hard-Sell
The Christian Right, Focus on the Family, and James Dobson
6. The Power of Soft-Sell Style: Building a Multimillion-Dollar Ministry by Subverting Feminism
7. Remembering the Sixties as Pop Cultural Conspiracy: “Everyone’s Best Interest Group”
8. Nichemarketing the Family Homestead: Rearticulating Mainstream Silences in the Romance of Privatism
Conclusion
9. The Bowl, the Crossing Point, and the Moment After
Notes
Selected Bibliography of Secondary Sources
Index
