That many preaching of “family values” would be embroiled in sexual misconduct scandals, well….īut some of the more fascinating people she profiles are lesser known today. Names like James Dobson, Anita Bryant, Phyllis Schafly, Oliver North, Tim and Betty Lahayne, and the Holy Trinity of ‘80s sweating, screaming TV evangelists: Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, and Jerry Falwell (with a cameo from Pat Robertson). Throughout the book, Kobes du Mez parades a cast of real-life, right-wing characters including preachers, pastors, activists, authors, and politicians who all moved into different spheres of the religious world.
But as a professor of history at Calvin University whose previous writings have focused on gender, religion, and politics, she sticks to the facts, damning as they are, with the ghost of a certain western movie star acting as a shadow overseer. Book cover In this fascinating and fervent book, Kobes du Mez doesn’t exactly look at her topic objectively, nor refrain from letting the reader know her thoughts (your first hint might be the subtitle).
