PositiveThe BafflerThe book, in essence an expanded and updated version of 2012’s The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children, is a timely and useful introduction to the single most organized force in American politics today ... While she devotes several chapters to a brief history of right-wing evangelicals in America, including Gary North and R.J. Rushdoony, she unfortunately does not address one of the most prominent self-identified \'Christian nationalists\' of the twentieth century: Gerald L.K. Smith, who founded the Christian Nationalist Crusade ... While the absence of Smith and other self-identified \'Christian nationalists\' is not a fatal omission...he and his followers are worth engaging with ... The Power Worshippers would have benefited from a thorough exploration of this history, particularly in light of Stewart’s excellent reporting on just who the Christian Right’s political fellow-travelers are today ... The most disturbing revelations in Stewart’s book stem from this first-hand reporting ... One of the biggest strengths of The Power Worshippers is its close attention to political economy. In fact, Stewart’s entire body of work demonstrates how the Christian nationalist movement has successfully redirected public resources to fund their own private religious initiatives...
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