Blinded by Might: Can the Religious Right Save America? - Hardcover

Two "insiders" from the religious right explore why the Moral Majority has failed to accomplish its goals despite two decades of aggressive political maneuvering. Although the authors reveal secrets and lies, such as the fact that most of the Moral Majority's so-called "state chapters" are "little more than a separate telephone line in a pastor's office," this is not a tawdry kiss and tell book. In fact, Dobson and Thomas strongly support most of the Christian values behind the organization's political machinery. But they have come to believe that politics is too corrupt and distorted an arena for Christians to use to enact social change.

Ed Dobson, who helped draft the Moral Majority platform and served as personal assistant to Jerry Falwell, offers a particularly compelling chapter in which he compares the U.S. to Northern Ireland, where Dobson grew up as a Protestant. "We have politicized the gospel with our agendas," he writes. "To be part of the Christian right is to be part of the Republican party. For some, this means to be a real Christian, you must be a Republican. That is heresy and is only a short distance from the extremism of my Irish counterparts."

Ultimately, devout Christians and the people they are trying to influence are the most hurt by the corruption of church through politics, according to coauthor Cal Thomas, a former spokesperson for the Moral Majority. For example, by making the Pro-Life movement a political issue, he claims the Christian right has lost sight of more supportive antiabortion tactics, such as focusing on offering homes and finding jobs for destitute single mothers. Ultimately, the duo calls for a change in strategy--hoping to create followers of the Christian agenda through positive example, consistent living, and devout faith rather than brute political force. --Gail Hudson

It was 1980. They had just helped to elect their president, Ronald Reagan. They had millions of dollars, the attention of the national media, and a supposed army of mobilized followers. This was their moment to reverse decades of creeping secularism, intrusive socialism, threatening communism, and raging humanism. They called themselves the Moral Majority. But they failed. They failed in their first stated objectives to end abortion, eliminate pornography, restore the shattered American family, and usher in a better world in which traditional values were not only accepted but embraced. What happened? Why is America no better--and probably worse--after nearly twenty years of vigorous, sophisticated, and relentless political action by the church? Blinded by Might is the story of two men who were at the center of the Moral Majority. Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson, behind-the-scenes lieutenants to the architects of the religious right, argue that the reason the Moral Majority or any other religious-political movement cannot succeed is because they have been using the wrong tools in the wrong way for the wrong reasons. The authors retrace their own steps, showing why the efforts of people like Jerry Falwell, Ralph Reed, and James Dobson were doomed from the start. They disclose never-reported inside information on a movement that they helped create in order to show why it failed. And they use their mistakes and the mistakes of others to point people of faith in a more positive direction. The authors call for unilateral disarmament by the religious right and a re-armament using different weapons and different strategies. This stirring book offers a new vision for America from the architects of the Moral Majority. And it shows how conservative Christianity offers hope for lasting transformation through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.