Rating: 
Summary: What kind of "editorial review" was that?
Review: I've rarely seen such a biased review being used as "the" review for any book. The Left wants to ignore the point David Limbaugh makes -- that in the name of religious freedom, Liberals have systematically attacked Judeo-Christian religions for decades. One can walk around wearing a pentagram but not a cross. One can get permission to hold Wiccan, Zoroastrian or Satanist worship on public grounds, but try putting up a nativity set on your front lawn on Christmas! Oh, forgot... can't even say Christmas anymore, it has to be "winter holiday". However, your freedom to celebrate the Winter Solstice is protected.
Rating:
Summary: The slow destruction of Christian values
Review: Wonderful how the people who "reviewed" the book sat in the store, flipped through it, and put it back. Limbaugh has provided a catalog of bigotry against evangelical Christians and traditional Roman Catholic Christians that should make anyone who takes "free speech" seriously just a little angry. Liberal orthodoxy permeates most colleges and universities, even those claiming a "Catholic" or "Christian" foundation--many Roman Catholics find themselves persecuted at "Catholic" schools because their faculty don't agree with the Bible or the Church. Christianity seems to be the last acceptable focus for discrimination and "hate speech." Limbaugh has done a great service with this text.
Rating: 
Summary: Persecution
Review: If all you read in this book were the first page or two of each chapter you would cry "paranoia" and neo-con extremism. David L. like his brother Rush wears his bias on his sleeve and tends to over-state his case for his fundamentalist and Catholic audience.But the redeeming value of the book is the review of the history of the christian movement from the arrival of the western europeans to this part of the continent. Needless to say, I could not and would not try to verify every anecdotal story in the book and certainly his references leave room for question (newspaper quotes and a lot of hearsay evidence). And to his credit it even provides a positive glance toward the liberal view from time to time. So there is value in this book for those of us are trying to find some middle ground between the self-righteous right and the pc-driven left.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Thesis
Review: As a liberal and as a Christian, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to exist in David Limabugh's thesis. The most I've been able to read out of the book when I peruse the bookstores is that christians=the religious right. And since liberal political beliefs will clash with christian conservative political beliefs, this clash is an indication that liberalism is opposed to Christianity. Example after example that Limbaugh gives are based on this conflating the religious right with Christianity. So for instance, any issue of separation of church and state is taken to be an attack on Christianity, fully ignoring the fact that every mainline Protestant and Jewish denomination in this country would favor such a separation. Regardless of how well researched (and I'm not privy enough about the book to know), since he simply pretends liberal Christians don't exist, his thesis at the start falls apart. The other part of this, is that the clash of political ideas and actions (especially when one throws themselves in the political debate) is called democracy, not persecution. Just some observations.
Rating:
Summary: A Few Good Points, But.....
Review: David Limbaugh (brother of Rush, the talk-show host of whom I am a fan, by the way, and a subscriber to his web site) has written a book about the perception that Christians are persecuted in this country, a belief that he holds. I sat in the bookstore and read his book, then put it back on the shelf, so I don't have a copy in front of me to refer to. When the local library gets a copy, perhaps I'll annote this review. However.....what was most striking to me was his constant reference to children not being allowed to force religion on their schoolmates. Children not being allowed to push Bibles on their classmates in the halls, to sing explicitly Christian songs in school choirs, etc. He constantly refers to the children's constitutional rights. This made me laugh. He and his ultra-conservative ilk are some of the most anti-child people on this planet. They are in favor of parents being allowed to hit their children with belts, rods, switches, etc., in the name of "discipline," and of school officials being allowed to paddle at will. This sudden insistence that children have rights is exploitation at its finest. They constantly make fun of liberals for talking about "the children," but when it suits their purposes, they do so even more egregiously. He does make some good points. There have been a number of cases where school personnel went too far in trying to be careful about church/state issues, and some ridiculous court decisions. This hardly adds up to persecution. Christian churches and ministries take in BILLIONS of dollars a year -- every penny of it untaxed, despite the overwhelming number of those churches engaging in partisan political activity. Find me a national politician who has ever been elected without professing Christianity, or even a state-level one (with the possible exceptions of California, Vermont, and Massachusetts, three bastions of liberalism out of 50 states -- that's 6% for you math majors). In a country where churches exist on every corner, you can't flip through the TV without seeing Christians promising God's favor if you send them your money, and you can't even walk through most malls without teenagers passing out tracts - when the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons have both been at my door in the last ten days -- cries of "persecution!" are laughable and childish.
Rating: 
Summary: Religious Warfare in the USA
Review: David Limbaugh, younger brother of Rush Limbaugh, is a conservative columnist and occasional author who has written a few books about conservative thought and practice. In this book, Limbaugh presents some arguments explaining why he feels that the liberal establishment is waging war against Christians and Christianity. Limbaugh composed this book as part history lesson and part modern- day political guide. He talks about the educational system in the United States, pointing out that the Bible was once the center of schooling for all youngsters. Today, teachers are forbidden from leading students in prayer or from promoting Biblical passages in the classroom. Public displays of religious symbols on government property were once the
norm. Today, they have been ruled unconstitutional by the "liberal" judicial system. He talks about speech codes, political correctness, and other changes that he feels have been made for the worst in the past fifty or so years. I can agree with some of the complaints that Limbaugh has with the American system. It is true that, in many cases, political correctness has gone way too far. It is also true that Christians as a group are often singled out for harassment. I don't agree that they are being "persecuted", because there hasn't been any bloodshed or physical pain endured. But it is true that Christians as a whole have been targeted for personal attacks. One problem I have with this book is its explanations regarding America's foundation and constitutional laws. Limbaugh correctly points out that most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and most of the population in general back in the late 1700's was Christian. But he seems to think that merely "being" Christian means that the constitution and the basis of law are also religious in nature. I can agree that these men were, mostly, men who believed in a higher power. But that doesn't mean that they wanted the U.S. government to be founded on religion. If they wanted this, they would have explicitly added it to the constitution. Limbaugh writes this book in a respectful way, and he avoids the tendency for authors like himself to resort to immaturity by calling their opponents names and belittling them at every turn. There is no doubt which side of the road Limbaugh is coming from. But he sticks with his arguments and avoids the temptation to hurl insults at those he disagrees with. This is the type of book that some will love and others will hate. I have many issues with Limbaugh's ideas and his questionable logic. But I can also agree with him on some points, like the silliness of political correctness and the targeting of Christians for harassment. It is true that they are being targeted, but not necessarily because of religion, per se. I think Christians are attacked simply because they are in the majority, making them an easy target. If you like some good, intellectual debate to get yourself thinking, then you might enjoy "Persecution". Like me, you may not agree with everything Limbaugh has to say, but his writing is still pretty good and he does avoid name calling and other acts of immaturity. I recommend taking a look at this book to see what you think.
Rating: 
Summary: An eye opening book
Review: There are three stages of persecution: Disinformation, discrimination, and outright persecution. This book does a good job of showing how the first two stages are taking place in this country.
This book is primarily a summary of stories that are going on. Most of the book tells of the problem, with multiple stories to substantiate its theme.
The final chapter is also insightful. David Limbaugh interviews several Christian thinkers, such as James Dobson, Ravi Zacharias, Marvin Olasky, and D. James Kennedy.
If I could give this half stars, I would give this 3 1/2. For me, this is old news. However, unfortunately I think I'm in a minority, and thus I want to encourage people to check this book out.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent source of hope
Review: David Limbaugh is an excellent writer and a clear speaker on the cd audio version. The well-researched and carefully supported conclusions in Persecution show how the battle between Christians and atheistic communists has been and is being fought in the United States. The bad news is that there are communists who persist with their failed doctrine of destruction even though Stalin himself regretted his practice of destruction by communism. The good news is that <font color="ff0000">the power of Christ</font color> is active in America since orthodox Christians, wise philosophers and enlightened politicians are winning battle after battle. These courageous men and women are similar to the courageous Americans in the past who continually work to preserve what Ayn Rand called the "greatest country in the history of the world" (1974). Chapter Five of Persecutionis an excellent summary of the religious influences of the the founding fathers and mothers. Limbaugh is smart to include Alex de Toqueville in his book since this Frenchman clearly saw how religion is a necessary ingredient in a successful political system and how Christianity is probably the best religious ingredient in the most successful political system known as the <font color="0000ff"?>Federal Republic of the United States of America</font9 color>
Rating:
Summary: Scary!
Review: David Limbaugh gives example after example of how secularists are using the government, particularly the courts, to establish the religion of secularism. He covers a wide range of areas, from school to the political field to the homes and churches of ordinary citizens. It is absolutely scary how far their reach extends.
Rating:
Summary: Prelude to Tyranny
Review: David Limbaugh, Rush's lawyer brother, cobbles together a 300+ page mountain of sensationalized anecdotes that allege a systemic and conspiratorial campaign to isolate and ultimately destroy Christianity-the reigning religion that dominates most aspects of American life. By whom? The Limbaughs' political adversaries of course-the liberals, secularists, civil libertarians, to name a few. That's not to say that many of Limbaugh's examples do not underscore the fact that ignorance, bureaucratic short-sightedness, political-correctness, and militancy are to be found across all varieties of political, ideological, and religious persuasion-left and right. But does Limbaugh make the case that sectarians and liberals are out to destroy Christianity?
I feel compelled to remind Limbaugh and his would-be adherents that separation of church and state was designed not only to protect the state from the church, but more importantly in the minds of the framers, to protect the church from the state. The driving agenda behind such charges as those made here by Limbaugh are to, under the pretense of protection, breakdown this distinction and put Christianity at the center of government. This I believe would be hazardous not only to the civil liberties and democratic freedoms of "non-believers" but also ultimately to the future liberties and freedoms of religious citizens as well. If Christianity should become integral to the state, then who's Christianity shall it be? Catholic? Baptist? Anglican? (a review of the repressive and bloody church-state history of England should be enough to give anyone who values religious freedom pause).
And lest we forget, Jesus was not crucified by the liberal sectarians but by the religious conservatives of his time who could not tolerate the challenge to their established beliefs or authority. I see little to suggest that Jesus would fare much better today amidst the likes of modern day pharasees and rabble-rousing zealots like the Limbaughs. As for persecution of the Christian majority at the hands of liberals, secularists, libertarians, anarchists, etc...where have we heard that before? Munich? Belgrade? Phnom Penh? Rwanda? It seems that every low life despot and every craven act of aggression taken against an another begins with the aggressor casting themselves as "persecuted" and "victim" to others' supposed treachery. The question here is who is persecuting who?
I fear there may soon come to pass a time when many so-called Christians, like Limbaugh, may be "persecuted" in the form of a backlash more consistent with self-fulfilling prophecy than anything to do with Jesus. "Persecution" may come not because of their alleged righteousness, clean living, and life of faith, but as a reaction against the sheer meanness and mean-spirited attitude taken against often the most vulnerable of society-society's "niggers:" the homosexuals, the mentally ill, the homeless, the alienated and maladjusted, the artists, those who still dare to think freely and question.
As the popularity of screeds such as Limbaugh's attests, we are entering into a period of spiritual and intellectual darkness where reason and probing moral searching has been eclipsed by mob emotion and a superficial herd morality. As devastating as this period may well prove to be, it will eventually pass and the pendulum will inevitably swing back again toward greater critical reflection and sensibility (as it did post-McCarthy). In the meantime, the question that each of us must be ready to answer is: "where were you when the lights went out and what did you do about it?"
| 
