Religion Gone Bad-Mel White-Gay Former Far Right Fundamentalist

James Melville White, better known as Mel White, came out as gay in 1994. His coming out shocked the established religious right at the time because Mel was a speech writer and book ghost writer for the likes of such fundamentalist evangelicals as Billy Graham, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. In 1995, he published his memoir, Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America which documented his years of struggle with his homosexuality in relation to his deep and abiding evangelical Christian faith. 16 years after publication, that book remains a top seller.

Fast forward to the year 2006 and the upcoming mid-term elections where many congressional districts were up for grabs – ultra conservative fundamentalist religious groups got deeply involved in politics. They remain to this day. In 2006, White wrote a new book, Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right.

Product Description (From Amazon):

This Fall’s midterm elections will see much discussion about the enhanced power of the Christian fundamentalist Right, leaving many people to wonder: just who are these people and what exactly do they want? What are their ultimate goals? The Reverend Mel White, a deeply religious man who sees fundamentalism as “evangelical Christian orthodoxy gone cultic,” believes that it is not a stretch to say that the true goal of today’s fundamentalists is to break down the wall that separates church and state, superimpose their “moral values” on the U.S. Constitution, replace democracy with theocratic rule, and ultimately create a new “Christian America” in their image. White’s new book, Religion Gone Bad, is a wake-up call to all of us to take heed…

White is singularly qualified to write this exposé of the Christian Right because he himself was a true believer who served the evangelical movement as pastor, professor, filmmaker, television producer, author, and ghostwriter for such fundamentalist leaders as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Billy Graham, all of whom he got to know well. As he writes, “These are not just Neocons dressed in religious drag. These men see themselves as gurus called by God to rescue America from unrighteousness. They believe this is a Christian nation that must be returned forcibly to its Christian roots.”

He is also a gay man, who made news when he came out more than twelve years ago. White has gained a unique understanding of the fundamentalist agenda because, since the fall of “godless Communism,” homosexuality and abortion have become the primary targets through which fundamentalists have created fear, raised money, and mobilized recruits. Religion Gone Bad documents the thirty-year war that fundamentalist Christians have waged against homosexuality and gays and lesbians and offers dramatic, heartbreaking evidence that fundamentalist leaders-Protestant and Catholic alike-are waging nothing less than a “holy war” (jihad) against sexual minorities. By focusing on the current plight of gay people in this country, White addresses the wider issue that fundamentalist Christianity-like fundamentalist Islam-has become a threat not just to gays, but to all Americans who disagree with fundamentalist Christian “values.”

Now, I copied that because it gives a truly excellent synopsis of the content of this book. I would add these things to that overview:

• Mel White very clearly explains the difference between evangelical Christians and Fundamentalist Christians early in the book. Understanding the distinction is key to understanding the book and the line of thinking among the religious far right.
• There are many, many reviews of this book. From the start, it is made clear that White intended the book to address the agenda of the fundamentalist religious right with regard to their treatment of homosexuals and all manner of LGBT issues. Many reviews, mostly by admittedly straight reviewers, feel the book dwells too much on the fundamentalists views on gays and that it should also cover some or all of the other extreme viewpoints they harbor. While White admits these other concerns are very important, because he is gay himself and can speak from insider experience, and because this is the biggest platform they push, that they in fact obsess over, that is where he felt the focus of the book needed to be and that is why he wrote it.
• White defines 14 aspects of fascism in the book and demonstrates well that many popular Christian right leaders demonstrate fascist tendencies.
• He devotes a portion of the book to a 1994 meeting in Colorado Springs that would set the tone for fundamentalists for many years to come and he documents things that came out of those meetings then that came to fruition in the years leading up to this book.

This book was written in 2006. Reviews at the time were generally favorable and most reviewers were in agreement that the fundamentalist religious right was gaining too much political influence and power but they felt then that, especially with the information dissemination capability of the internet, that the leaders of the movement would be exposed for all of their flaws and for their true agendas and that they would lose favor. There was a consensus that they would quickly lose followers or stop gaining them as they were completely exposed to the American public. We can see that from the time of publication in 2006, through the present, that has not been the case. They have gained followers, funds and influence at every turn.

Read this book…you’ll be shocked at how much 2006 and 2011 have in common.