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Mel White
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Holy Terror: Lies the Christian Right Tells Us to Deny Gay Equality Paperback – May 22, 2012

by Mel White (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 32 ratings
The best-selling author of Stranger at the Gate returns with an insider's exposé of the origins of the Christian fundamentalist movement and how its virulent anti-gay agenda has led to the rise of the Tea Party movement, among other forms of recent right wing extremism.

In Holy Terror, the Rev. Dr. Mel White argues that the true goals of today's fundamentalists are to break down the wall that separates church and state, superimpose their "moral values" on the US Constitution, replace democracy with theocratic rule, and ultimately create a new "Christian America" in their image. They believe this is a Christian nation that must be returned forcibly to its Christian roots.

Since the fall of "godless Communism," homosexuality and abortion have become the primary targets through which fundamentalists have created fear, raised money, and mobilized recruits. Originally published in hardcover as Religion Gone Bad, Holy Terror documents the thirty-year war that fundamentalist Christians have waged against gays and lesbians and offers dramatic, well-documented evidence that fundamentalist leaders are waging nothing less than a "holy war" against sexual minorities.
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  1. Print length
    350 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Magnus Books
  4. Publication date
    May 22, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1936833093
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1936833092
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Editorial Reviews

Review


Praise for Holy Terror (published in hardcover under the title Religion Gone Bad)

"Mel White is one of the great prophetic voices of our time. His voice is a unique and important one in American Christianity. I have been enriched and blessed by it."

Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America


"Mel White, the gay ghostwriter for both Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, lays bare in this book, as only an insider can do, the fierce anti-homosexual agenda of organized religion from the Vatican to the American television preachers. White paints a frightening picture of what they mean when they call for ‘making America a Christian nation.’ He issues a challenging wake up call both to those who are traditional Christians as well as to those who hold deeply human values. A consciousness-raising, must-read book."

John Shelby Spong, author of The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate in Search of the God of Love


"In this meticulously researched book, Mel White documents how Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, James Kennedy and other fundamentalist leaders are working to install a theocratic government in the United States. Essential reading for anyone concerned about the health of the church and the future of our nation."

Jack Rogers, Moderator of the 213th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Professor of Theology Emeritus at San Francisco Theological Seminary


"Mel White reveals the frightening plan of fundamentalist Christians to ‘reconstruct’ American democracy into a theocracy, a plan that is currently supported by the White House and many in Congress. No one writes about this subject with more credibility and urgency, because Mel White has known and worked with the ‘stars’ of the Christian Right, knows them to be unrelenting in their goal of making this a ‘Christian Nation’ and recognizes the cultural and political signs of their growing success."

Jimmy Creech, United Methodist pastor tried and defrocked for marrying a gay couple; Executive Director, Faith In America, Inc.


"A devastating and documented account of what happens when fanatical religion and fascistic politics hook up in a semi-secret affair that gives birth to spiritual, and sometimes physical, terrorism. Written by an insider who knows his truth from direct personal experience as well as methodical research, it should be read by all Christians who care about the credibility of their faith and by all Americans who care about the freedom of their country from the domination of religion gone rancid."

The Rev. Paul W. Egertson, Ph.D., Bishop Emeritus, Southwest California Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Senior Lecturer in Religion, California Lutheran University


"Mel White possesses unparalleled insight into the workings of the Anti-Gay Industry and its plan to create an American theocracy. Religion Gone Bad demonstrates why all Americans, secular and religious, gay and straight, must stand together to resist the attacks of the religious right on the humanity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people."

Matt Foreman, Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force


"Mel just nails it. He doesn't mince word or waste time. He uses his complex relationships with the movers and shakers of Christian fundamentalism to reveal what ails American Christianity. There is a spiritual maturity and authority in this book, as Mel builds his case relentlessly. This is the book we have been waiting for, and I predict will have many imitators."

The Rev Dr. Nancy Wilson, Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches


"I am profoundly grateful to Mel White for this insider’s book about the fundamentalists’ war on homosexuals. It is amazing to me how a so-called Christian group can change the Christian message of love into a message of hate. Mel also explains how this war against gays also is also a war against our American government, an attempt to change our democracy into a theocracy, and thus threatens not just gays but all of us. I hope this book will alert the public before it is too late."

John J. McNeill, author of The Church and the Homosexual


"Mel White's Religion Gone Bad reads like a page-turning whodunit. His careful recounting of the rise of fundamentalism in America is both chilling and enormously instructive. While religious progressives have been sitting around hoping that everyone would play fair with other faithful people, the fundamentalists have been planning and implementing a strategy for taking over the Christian church and the government. Religion Gone Bad is a wake up call to religious progressives to take back the Bible and stop being fearful of telling the story of our own salvation at the hands of an all-loving, all-merciful and inclusive God."

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire

About the Author

During the past twenty five years, the Rev. Dr. Mel White and his partner, Gary Nixon, have traveled across the country, speaking on university campuses, teaching the "soul force" principles of Gandhi and King, organizing people of faith to do justice, and confronting religious leaders whose anti-gay rhetoric White believes, "leads to the suffering and death of God's lesbian and gay children."

In 1997, in Atlanta, Georgia, Mel received the ACLU's National Civil Liberties Award for his efforts to apply the "soul force" principles of relentless nonviolent resistance to the struggle for justice for sexual minorities. In 1994 Simon and Schuster published Mel's autobiography Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay And Christian In America.

Much has happened to Mel and Gary since Mel's best selling autobiography was released. On February 15, 1995, Mel was arrested for "trespassing" at Pat Robertson's CBN Broadcast Center. The story of his arrest, the 22 day prison fast, and the "little victory" that followed, made news across the nation.

For 30 years, Dr. White had served the evangelical Christian community as a pastor, seminary professor, best-selling author, prize-winning filmmaker, communication consultant and ghost writer to its most famous and powerful leaders. From the beginning the media pictured Mel as an employee of these leaders on the "religious right." Although Mel did not work with nor write speeches for these leaders. he was hired by national publishers to write books -- primarily "autobiographies" -- for his ghost-writing clients including Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy, and Pat Robertson. Looking back Mel wishes he had never been a ghost writer "but at the same time," he adds, "it proves that God has a marvelous sense of humor. Seeing these leaders up close and personal gave me a priceless opportunity that would later be a real advantage."

Mel's latest book, Religion Gone Bad: Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right is an expose of the fundamentalist Christian war being waged against sexual and gender minorities. Across this country," Mel explains, "our gay brothers and lesbian sisters are the victims of a tidal wave of intolerance, discrimination, and violent crime flowing directly out of the anti-gay rhetoric of the radical right. We people of faith, gay and straight alike, must take our stand to end the suffering."

After Dr. White's 22 day fast in the Virginia Beach City Jail, Pat Robertson visited him in jail, heard White's plea and went on the air to say clearly that he "abhorred the growing violence against gay and lesbian people." "Pat Robertson is not our enemy,' White said later. "He is a victim of misinformation like we all have been. In the spirit of Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. we must go on believing that Pat and the others can change."

Dr. White has dedicated his life to a ministry of change. "Until this nation accepts God's gay and lesbian children as full members of the human family," White explains, "we must go on telling that truth in love, whatever it costs us."

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Magnus Books; Reprint edition (May 22, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 350 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1936833093
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1936833092
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 out of 5 stars 32 ratings

About the author

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Mel White

Mel White

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The Rev. Dr. Mel White has been a Christian minister, author, and filmmaker all his adult life. Raised as an Evangelical Christian, taught that homosexuality was a sin, Mel fought to overcome his own homosexual orientation for decades in all ways available to him: prayer, psychotherapy, exorcism, electric shock, marriage and family.

That struggle and his halting, poignant steps to understand and accept his homosexuality, reconcile it with his Christian faith, and express his sexuality respectfully and responsibly, are described in his book Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America, published in 1994. His latest book, Religion Gone Bad: Hidden Dangers from the Christian Right (2006) tells the tragic true story of the war fundamentalists have been waging against gays and lesbians. (Re-released in 2010 as HOLY TERROR: Lies the Christian Rights Tells us to Deny Gay Equality).

In 1993, Mel White came out publicly when he was installed as dean at the Dallas Cathedral of Hope a Metropolitan Community Church (UFMCC). He announced during his first sermon, "I am gay. I am proud. And God loves me without reservation." In 1996, Mel was appointed Minister of Justice for the Metropolitan Community Church with more than 350 congregations across the U.S. and around the world.

Mel White founded Soulforce Inc. in 1998 with his partner, Gary Nixon. Mel was dismayed by the increasing confrontational tone on both sides the issue and the hateful words and actions that increased the divide. Inspired by the nonviolence movements of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., White developed a program based on their principles. These principles were called satyagraha or "soul force" by Gandhi, who based many of them on the teachings of Jesus. White adapted the "soul force" principles to guide his struggle to end the religion-based suffering of lesbian and gay people.

For the past 25 years, Mel has traveled across the country recruiting, training and mobilizing a new generation of "take it to the streets" activists. He has worked tirelessly to bring hope and healing to those impacted by injustice and to help cut off that injustice at its source.

During those years "on the front lines" Mel was harassed, threatened, arrested, tried and jailed. In 1997, the Rev. Dr. Mel White was awarded the ACLU's National Civil Liberties Award for his efforts to apply the "soul force" principles of Gandhi and King to the struggle for justice for sexual minorities.

With his experience in theology, communications and the media, White was uniquely qualified to start Soulforce. He did graduate work in communications and film at University of Southern California, received his doctorate at Fuller Theological Seminary and taught there for over a decade. During this time he also worked as a senior pastor in Pasadena, California.

Mel has produced, written, and directed 53 documentary films and television specials, focusing on stories that inspire and inform the struggle to be human. He is also an author; among his 16 books (nine bestsellers), he wrote about the Philippines' Ninoy and Corazon Aquino ("Aquino"), the Jonestown tragedy ("Deceived"), David Rothenberg, the child burned by his father ("David") and Bible stories not for children, ("Lust: The Other Side of Love.")

In addition, he ghost wrote for Fundamentalist Christian leaders including Billy Graham ("Approaching Hoofbeats"), Pat Robertson ("America's Date with Destiny"), Jim Bakker, and Jerry Falwell ("If I Should Die Before I Wake" and "Strength for the Journey").

In 2010, Mel retired from Soulforce and moved to Long Beach, California. Although Mel plans to spend the next ten years speaking and writing, he also plans to find a warm beach where ("at least occasionally") he can walk his dog Allie and meditate on these past fulfilling but frenetic years as a Christian leader and civil-rights activist.

You've seen Mel's story on:

60 Minutes, Larry King Live, PBS, NPR, Fresh Air, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Newsweek, Time, Dallas Morning News, Oregonian, Austin Statesmen,

and the Southern Poverty Law Center's "Intelligence Report"

BOOKS BY MEL WHITE

1. Religion Gone Bad: Hidden Dangers from the Christian Right (2007)

HOLY TERROR: Lies the Christian Right Tells Us to Deny Gay Equality (2010)

2. Stranger at the Gate: To be Gay and Christian in America (1994)

3. Compassionate Capitalist (1993)

4. Standing on the Promises: W.A. Criswell (1990)

5. Aquino: The Story of Ninoy and Cory Aquino (1989)

6. A Gift of Hope: Tony Melendez Story (1989)

7. Strength for the Journey: Jerry Falwell (1987)

8. If I Should Die Before I Wake (1986)

9. America's Dates with Destiny: Pat Robertson (1986)

10. David: The David Rothenberg Story (1985)

11. Approaching Hoofbeats (1983)

12. Mike Douglas: When the Going Gets Touch (1983)

13. Margaret of Molokai: Last Person to leave "Leper Island" (1981)

14. Deceived: The Jonestown Tragedy (1979)

15. Tested by Fire (1979)

16. Lust, the Other Side of Love: Bible Stories not for Children (1978)

17. In the Presence of My Enemies (1973)

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Customers find the book well worth reading and appreciate its information content as a great source of knowledge. One customer describes it as scary enough to be considered a horror story.

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Customers find the book well worth reading.

"...It is compelling and important reading and I thank Mel for exposing the lies told to deny GLBT people their rights and urge you to order a copy for..." Read more

"...It's a great book to learn how homosexuals have been treated unfairly, even victimized...." Read more

"...Also traces the origins of the movement. A well worth read!" Read more

"...I feel I have been decieved. The content is interesting, well written, similar in style to Mel White's first book: Stranger at the Gate...." Read more

7 customers mention "Information content"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be a great source of information, with one customer noting it provides deep insights into the inner workings of the topic.

"After reading stranger at the gate, I read this one. It's packed full of information on how to stand up for yourself and others who have been..." Read more

"...personally, has written about them, and for them, and knows the innermost workings!..." Read more

"...I feel I have been decieved. The content is interesting, well written, similar in style to Mel White's first book: Stranger at the Gate...." Read more

"Mel White has given us a powerful, insightful,probing expose of the war that the Christian Right is waging against the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and..." Read more

3 customers mention "Scariness level"0 positive3 negative

Customers find the book scary, with one review describing it as revealing frightening facts about fundamentalist Christianity.

"...The book is a difficult read, only because of the frightening facts that it conveys...." Read more

"Reveals the Scary Truths about Fundamentalist Christianism!..." Read more

"Scary Enough to a Horror Story; yet its real life...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Chuck Phelan
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Book of Exceptional Importance - BUY IT and READ IT!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    This is an exceptional book that I highly recommend to anyone who would like to better understand the ways the Christian fundamentalists of the religious right tell outright lies and bend and distort the truth in a relentless effort to deny gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, both in the United States and worldwide, their human and civil rights. It is MOST un-Christian behavior and Mel White exposes it for exactly what it is. " Holy Terror" is a must-read for those who would work to confront these untruths. Mel adroitly explains how today's Tea Party movement is really what the Moral Majority of yesteryear has transformed itself into.

    I read Mel White's" Stranger at the Gate -To Be Gay & Christian in America" in one reading and found that I could not put "Holy Terror" down once I started reading it either. It is compelling and important reading and I thank Mel for exposing the lies told to deny GLBT people their rights and urge you to order a copy for yourself to educate yourself about a war of, literally, biblical proportions.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • L
    5.0 out of 5 stars It's a great book to learn how homosexuals have been treated unfairly
    Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    After reading stranger at the gate, I read this one. It's packed full of information on how to stand up for yourself and others who have been victimized by those who don't care to study their bibles deep enough to find the truth, or those who have caught up in mob mentality. It's a great book to learn how homosexuals have been treated unfairly, even victimized. It talks about how the far right has banded together, even if they don't agree on other religious issues, and denied the rights of homosexuals. It encourages you to do all you can to protect yourself and others from the homophobic actions of fundamentalists Christians.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Sam Equality
    4.0 out of 5 stars Reveals the Scary Truths about Fundamentalist Christianism!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2013
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    Mel White has known these fundamentalist leaders personally, has written about them, and for them, and knows the innermost workings! He also defines the term "fundamentalist" and differentiates between those who are fundamentalists from others who are "evangelical". He lists the several rigid rules established for trusted followers of the fundamentalist Christian movement. Also traces the origins of the movement. A well worth read!
    One person found this helpful
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  • E A Magnus
    3.0 out of 5 stars One book, two titles
    Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Recently I purchased a book by Mel White: Religion Gone Bad, (2006) Before reading that book I purchased Holy Terror also by Mel White, (2006) They are the same book, the first is hard cover, the second softbound. The latter is listed on this sight with a copyright date of 2012 but inside the book the copyright is 2006. They are essentially the same book, word for word, except for the preface. There is nothing to indicate that one is simply a reprint of the original. I feel I have been decieved. The content is interesting, well written, similar in style to Mel White's first book: Stranger at the Gate. Reader beware. Don't pay twice for the same thing.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • goodsam
    5.0 out of 5 stars 'Holy Terror'
    Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Born into, raised in, and an active member of a Baptist church for 46 years (total), I thought I was all-too-familiar with how typical 'church people'think. However, the 'fundamentalist agenda' of turning our country into a theocracy is a terrifying thing to try to comprehend!
    Mel White does a masterful job at documenting how today's fundamentalists are working to take our country back into the distant centuries behind us. Especially frightening is the 'war on women', and the puzzling anxiety that same-sex marriage seems to cause this money- & power-driven group of men. The book is a difficult read, only because of the frightening facts that it conveys. However, EVERYONE in this country should read it & become informed.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Ted McKnight
    5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Terror; Lies The Christian Right Tells Us To Deny Gay Equality
    Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Mel White has given us a powerful, insightful,probing expose of the war that the Christian Right is waging against the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in America, and even beyond to other countries. White speaks from his intimate knowledge of fundamentalist Christianity,having grown up in the Southern Baptist Church and worked as a ghost writer for such fundamentalist preachers as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Billy Graham. This is a sober and scary account and should serve as a wake-up call to those who do not share the Christian Right point of view. It might even be an eye-opener to many fundamentalist Christians.
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  • Darlene K. Bogle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Terror-lies the Christian Right tells us to deny Gay Equality
    Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Mel has done a wonderful historical presentation about the political and relligious efforts through the years, that are designed to demonize the gay and lesbian community. It is not the gay agenda, but the religious right agenda to terminate homosexuality in this country. This is must reading for anyone who thinks we are just in a battle for equality...It goes far beyond that goal.

    Mel shares from his heart and I'm proud to call him a friend and a brother!
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Jani
    3.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a textbook - dry and boring
    Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2022
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    Some people would love this book. I’m not one of them. The subject I agree with, however, the book is dry and boring. I didn’t finish reading it.
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  • Uwe Leising
    5.0 out of 5 stars Erschreckende Einsichten in den christlichen Fundamentalismus
    Reviewed in Germany on February 15, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Das Buch gibt einen erschreckenden Einblick in die amerikanische Fundamentalistenszene. Nicht alle Details und Personen sind für deutsche Leser entscheidend. Aber da kann man auch mal schnell weiterblättern, um dann wieder an Spannendem hängen zu bleiben.Auch deutschen Freikirchlern werden die Zusammenhänge so nicht deutlich sein.
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