The Power Worshippers

Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism

By: Katherine Stewart

Narrated by: Tosca Hopkins

Bloomsbury presents The Power Worshippers by Katherine Stewart, read by Tosca Hopkins.

The inspiration for the documentary God & Country

For fans of Democracy in Chains and Dark Money, a revelatory investigation of the Religious Right’s rise to political power.

For too long the Religious Right has masqueraded as a social movement preoccupied with a number of cultural issues, such as abortion and same-sex marriage. In her deeply reported investigation, Katherine Stewart reveals a disturbing truth: this is a political movement that seeks to gain power and to impose its vision on all of society. America’s religious nationalists aren’t just fighting a culture war, they are waging a political war on the norms and institutions of American democracy.

Stewart pulls back the curtain on the inner workings and leading personalities of a movement that has turned religion into a tool for domination. She exposes a dense network of think tanks, advocacy groups, and pastoral organizations embedded in a rapidly expanding community of international alliances and united not by any central command but by a shared, anti-democratic vision and a common will to power. She follows the money that fuels this movement, tracing much of it to a cadre of super-wealthy, ultraconservative donors and family foundations. She shows that today’s Christian nationalism is the fruit of a longstanding antidemocratic, reactionary strain of American thought that draws on some of the most troubling episodes in America’s past.

It forms common cause with a globe-spanning movement that seeks to destroy liberal democracy and replace it with nationalist, theocratic and autocratic forms of government around the world. Religious nationalism is far more organized and better funded than most people realize. It seeks to control all aspects of government and society. Its successes have been stunning, and its influence now extends to every aspect of American life, from the White House to state capitols, from our schools to our hospitals.

The Power Worshippers is a brilliantly reported book of warning and a wake-up call. Stewart’s probing examination demands that Christian nationalism be taken seriously as a significant threat to the American republic and our democratic freedoms.

©2020 Katherine Stewart (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

While I was asleep in church...

I had absolutely no idea that all of these religious groups were plotting in the name of freedom but against true democracy. It is startling and very concerning. Everyone should read or listen to this reporting of a little known movement.

insightful and informative

I loved the book and the narration made understanding it so easy. if you have struggled, like myself, to understand why church folk supported a leader with zero morals. this book will turn on all the lights.

This book was very informative and horrifying.

This book was very informative and horrifying. The religious wackos in the U.S. are attempting to turn the United States into a Christian version of Saudi Arabia. Our democracy is at stake even more so as of the week I am writing this review.

Somebody had to say it.

I enjoyed the book and felt vindicated by the author’s basic premise that America’s challenges are so deeply rooted in its culture that it will be next to impossible to eradicate it. White supremacy and white nationalism is not going away quietly. Denial is the first hurdle. The author it clear that our work as a nation to repair its racist past is far from over and in many ways has not even begun.

Incredible book. Very disappointing narration, tho.

Incredibly comprehensive explanation of how many far-right religious groups are organizing against democracy.

The narrator did a great disservice to the author and the work, though, with frequent mispronunciations of very common words. If a listener assumed they were listening to the author, much credibility would be lost.