A liberal friend of mine gave me The Great Derangement by Matt Taibbi the other day. Being a conservative Christian, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Yes, that’s right. Matt attacks both conservatives and Christians throughout the book, and I laughed all the way through it. Not because of how wrong he is, but because of how right. I figure that if you can’t laugh at yourself, you shouldn’t believe what you believe. And if you want to laugh, there is almost nothing funnier than his chapter “The Three Longest Days of My Life.” It was so funny I read it three times, once out loud to my wife.
The book is an odd mix of two riot-inciting topics: religion and politics. He takes us inside the inner working of Washington DC, and goes undercover into the Hallelujah-filled halls of John Hagee’s megachurch. And Matt, though he comes from a different perspective than I do, confirmed what I have always suspected: people who are not conservative or Christian think we’re crazy. And I’ll admit it; we are crazy. In fact, for several years now, I cringe at the idea of being called a conservative or a Christian. I suppose in some circles that means I’m neither.
Which brings me to my only criticism of Matt’s book. He seems to imply that all who believe in God and follow Jesus are like the tongue-speaking, demon-vomiting, gay-hating, environment-polluting Christians he encountered at Cornerstone Church. There are some of us who are more like Matt than he realizes. He can argue with me any time he wants. And I promise, I won’t try to cast demons out of him.
Jeremy,
In a similar vein, you would enjoy Kevin Roose, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University. Particularly interesting because Roose hung around long enough to get a sense of some of the gradations amongst evangelicals.
Posted a review here if you’re interested.
Tim,
I have actually read that book. I did enjoy it. It was both entertaining and enlightening. I will go read your review right now.