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Publisher's Weekly: Click here to read the Publisher's Weekly profile of Lauren Sandler
She makes no bones about approaching her interviewees with skepticism, and the book is loaded with her sly comments and hilariously sarcastic observations about those brainwashed by the Bible. At the same time, she’s more than a fair listener; she totally comprehends religion’s “allure of community and purpose in a world that offers little of either,” and argues (a bit vaguely) that the secular left’s only hope is to offer a greater sense of life’s value. Sandler’s encounter with members of the Air Force Academy, who believe that God is using the U.S. military as his deadly tool, is enough to make even atheists fall to their knees and pray. (Read the full review here.) "While always forthright about being at odds with the worldview of the young Evangelicals she tracks, the author writes with keen insight and empathy about those involved in a range of youth ministries. Her first book not only presents vivid, spirited sketches of a burgeoning subculture, but also a plea to fellow secularists to wake up and proffer an alternative." (Read the full review here.) "Lauren Sandler’s “Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement” is a crash course on the new face of Christian proselytism. Written in a clear, crisp journalistic style, it offers frank and disturbing highlights of the subcultures that have formed within Christian America. Sandler’s excellent and frank reporting does much to shed a spotlight on the complexities of the evangelical youth movement." (Read the full review here.) "Sandler smartly uses herself as a foil for the evangelicals she meets, many of whom regard her as a spiritual charity case or potential convert. She makes her skepticism clear, but still presents a portrait of evangelical life that is balanced and nuanced. Sandler draws characters deftly and has an ear for dialogue; she's helped by her subjects, many of whom are articulate, ambitious, media-savvy hipsters—that is, media-savvy evangelical hipsters." (Read the full review here.) "Her writing is crisp and some of her best work comes when she seems, like the old hymn, to be almost persuaded to join the fold. She finds an intriguing mix of faith and a complicated approach to authenticity within it, one that is not limited to the red states. Still, this would be just one more interesting - and well-written - swing through America's religious landscape, save for the last few pages. There, Sandler makes a plea for the secular and the religious left to provide for these youths precisely what their own interpretation of religion does: a home. A sense of belonging. A fellowship not found in the strictures of pew-bound religion." (Read the full review here.) "Sandler does her homework, plunging deep into enemy camp without disguise. Compassion for her subjects and brisk writing make her increasingly alarming story go down easily". (Read the full review here.) "A young, Jewish, Ivy-League-educated editor at Salon, Lauren Sandler confesses that she feels the power of charismatic Christianity during her travels to explore the evangelical youth movement--a hormone-infused blend of right-wing fervor and alt-cult style--that, she writes, is thriving in the wake of 9/11. As a rock hymn wails at a sanctuary in Colorado, she writes, "I feel a brokenness inside. And I can't stop crying." Her engaging report focuses on right-wing rockers, holy skateboarders, and new-media evangelists--a "disciple generation" that, she predicts, could spur a kind of cultural revolution. Smart and compassionate, Sandler brings a keen eye to a surpassingly strange scene." "The prevailing belief that “moral values” were the decisive factor in George W. Bush’s 2004 victory evidently set many a book proposal in motion, and now, just in time for the midterm congressional elections, we have a crop of books that take the measure of “evangelical America.” Sandler, a self-described “unrepentant Jewish atheist” whose book focuses on evangelical youth culture, is considerably less sanguine about evangelicals’ burgeoning clout, but offers the most interesting conclusion: a call for the return of wonder, fellowship, and authenticity to the secular public sphere." You will find Sandler's book worth every penny. It is a siren call for all people of faith, or no faith, who find fundamentalism unsettling, whether it be Muslims insisting on theocracy in the Middle East or a certain brand of Christians wanting it here. Yet this is not a total bash book. Despite her obvious misgivings, Sandler acknowledges a certain admiration, even warmth, for many of the young men and women she encountered along the way. (Read the full review here.) "Sandler has an old-fashioned reporter's knack for telling details. Her portraits of the leaders of this movement are sharp and often hilarious (she skewers the proselytizing pretensions of born-again actor Stephen Baldwin, who parlayed his status as a minor Hollywood actor into celebrity on the Christian youth revival circuit). And Sandler is honest about her own perspective. Her hostility to traditional conservative values makes her an unlikely tour guide through the world of evangelical Christianity. Sandler clearly has a talent for getting people to open up about their beliefs, and she has enough respect for her subjects that she rarely indulges in caricatures. Sandler's book is an intriguing journey into a burgeoning and often contradictory phenomenon. The glimpses it gives us of a new, God-fearing generation of young Americans -- intelligent, comfortable with popular culture, technologically savvy and intent on saving souls -- will surprise many readers, even if it does not convince them of the righteousness of this movement's cause." "A thought-provoking report, worth a look no matter what side you fall on." "Righteous is a warning call, alerting America to an apocalyptic army that has already declared war against us."
"Shrewd perception combines with spirited writing in RIGHTEOUS, Lauren Sandler's cross-country portrait of the right-wing Christian youth movements…Sandler believes a secular Great Awakening is needed to counteract this tide, and parents and young people alike can begin by reading her frightening portrait." “If you have any doubt that there is a culture war that must be waged and won by secularists in America, read this book.”—Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation "At once controversial, critical, blasphemous and compassionate, RIGHTEOUS offers a compelling journey into a growing youth subculture typically dismissed by urban intellectuals. Sandler has written a provocative and illuminating portrait of young people desperately seeking meaning, community and love in an empty, often terrifying social landscape. Evangelical youth---the Disciple Generation---are a generation rising, and we do need to pay attention.”—Dr. Donna Gaines, sociologist and author of Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia's Dead End Kids and A Misfit's Manifesto: The Spiritual Journey of a Rock & Roll Heart "It is no easy thing to enter into the world of the young evangelicals, to feel deeply their alienation, to breathe their air and share their electric conviction that they are the rising counterculture against an empty world. Lauren Sandler has done it, and done it with an effervescence and honesty that make her travels in Disciple America jump off the page." "Lauren Sandler has traveled among the believers and returned with a story that alarms, informs, and enlightens. She reveals the rise of a fundamentalist-style youth movement that has replaced faith with closed-minded certainty and is frighteningly cult-like. Read this book and you will understand this Disciple Generation and the challenge it poses to a civil society." "Righteous is a lively, probing account of today's fresh, sometimes bizarre sub- cultures of American evangelism. Both the term ‘alternative’ and ‘evangelical’ will mean something new to you after this book. Sandler's conclusions are important: These kids have been forgotten by their original social worlds, by secular organizations and even by Left-Liberal causes. In a cold new world, getting saved can now seem like a young American's only source of community and warmth." "Righteous is the most adroit and fascinating examination of a great national ill, the muddling of faith and politics, the secular and the divine." |
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After several years of documenting America's Christian youth for NPR in the late 1990s, Sandler sensed there was more to tell about what she calls the "Disciple Generation." So, like any good journalist, she went back out on the road, traveling from coast to coast seeking the youth who "feel broken and lonely, who desire kinship and purpose, who look for structure and hope, and through their deft organizing efforts and boundless energy...are amassing their own civilian army." A Christian army, that is. Readers will encounter rebel skateboarders for Jesus, tattooed crusaders against abortion, and even a pastor in Atlanta named Creflo Dollar who waxes on about "why God wants you to be rich." In clear, compelling prose, Sandler tells of spending the night camping with members of Rock for Life and visiting one of the most militant Christian colleges in America. She narrates with vivid detail the genesis and current status of some of this country's fastest growing and most extremist evangelical youth groups. She also reveals the fascinating stories of the individuals who have found salvation within them-from the ordinary convert to the charismatic leader. With a flair for storytelling and description, Sandler provides a riveting read for anyone interested in generation next. (Sept. 11) |
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