American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century

AMERICAN THEOCRACY: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century

BY KEVIN PHILLIPS VIKING 2006, 462 PAGES, $26.95

Former Republican strategist, political and economic commentator for more than 30 years, and author of 13 books, Kevin Phillips writes for the Los Angeles Times, Harpers Magazine, and Time. In American Theocracy, he examines "the coalition of forces that threatens the nation in the 21st century"; significantly, he dedicates the book to the millions of past and present Republicans who have opposed the "Bush dynasty and the disenlightenment of the 2000 and 2004 elections." Topically arranged in three parts--Oil and American Supremacy, Too Many Preachers, and Borrowed Prosperity--the book has a 16-page preface, and 33 pages of chapter notes with interesting comments. The title reflects the author's opinion that religion's new political prowess in the "projection" of military power in the Middle Eastern Bible Lands has effected a "potent change" in U.S. domestic and foreign policymaking. The Republican Party has led the country in a theocratic direction: for the first time in U.S. history, "ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington."

The author introduces the section on oil with a brief history of Western "Fuelishness." The U.S. always has played the "oil supremacy game" to win; oil, foreign policy, and overseas military intervention have come together as "petro-imperialism." Phillips suggests the U.S. already has "embraced" military seizure of portions of the Middle East: both the war to expel Iraq from Kuwait and the current Iraqi war exemplify U.S. oil-related "gunboat diplomacy." Basically about access to oil, the invasion of Iraq also had other motivations: to align oil objectives with the global war against terror, "cement" the dollar's role in global oil sales, and make the purpose broad enough for the biblically-minded Christian right to see it as destruction of the "new Babylon" towards "Armageddon and redemption."

The author accuses Washington and London of having cooperated clandestinely to provide Saddam Hussein with dual-use materials making possible pursuit of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; subsequently, the two powers "lubricated" the invasion by deceit similar to the "Big Lie" used by Germans to begin World War II. In all fairness, the author blames former Pres. Bill Clinton as well as George W. Bush for oil-related actions against Iraq. Clinton signed the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act calling for a regime change and signed a Finding (PL 105-235) accusing Iraq of building weapons of mass destruction.

"Too Many Preachers" (four chapters and 163 pages) dominates the book. Phillips proposes the last two presidential elections "transformed" the Republican Party into the first religious party in U.S. history and equates "religious hucksters with Shiite Ayatollahs." The Republican national coalition dramatically has regressed in a theocratic direction: an elected leader believes himself in some way to speak for God, and a ruling political party representing religious true believers seeks to mobilize the churches. Implementation of domestic and international political agendas seems driven by religious motivations and biblical world views.

According to Phillips, religiosity impacts "across the board" in domestic and foreign affairs: support for invading Iraq, Bible-based disbelief in Darwinian theories of evolution, dismissal of global warming, rejection of global population planning, derogation of women's rights, and opposition to stem-cell research. These ideas have "warped the Republican party and its electoral coalition, muted Democratic voices," and created a threat to America's future. Phillips equates the threat to disciplining Galileo for saying that the sun, not Earth, was the center of the solar system. Phillips sees "yesteryear's supposed fringes" (evangelicals, fundamentalists, and Pentecostals) taking over American Protestantism with one in four people now affiliated with conservative Protestant churches whose true believers consider the commitment to Biblical inerrancy a theological mandate. Phillips dubs Bush "America's preacher-in-chief" with a sense of religious mission.

"Borrowed Prosperity" examines the perils of debt and financial excess as an unsustainable credit bubble mimics the stock bubble that burst in 2000. The Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate (FIRE) sector of the U.S. economy has escalated to 20% of the gross domestic product, in excess of manufacturing (14.5%). Phillips compares fees and interest rates on unpaid balances to loan-sharking. Historically, top world economic powers have experienced national debilitation marked by excessive debt, great disparity between the rich and poor, and unfolding economic decline. Termed "financiatization," financial services subjugate economic, cultural, and political functions of national economies. The present debt and credit revolution constitutes the third major peril facing the U.S. "The debt fox is loose in the fiscal hen house," he declares.