Slaves to Faith - by Calvin Mercer (Hardcover)

About the Book

As Dr. Mercer posits, the fundamentalist is fundamentally driven by anxiety layered over a fragile sense of self-identity constructed upon a system of beliefs that is both logically inconsistent and highly suspect in light of modern science. As a result, the fundamentalist completely rejects modernity while battling mightily in the arena of national politics and culture to bring about a world that aligns more closely with the fundamentalist worldview.

Focusing on Christian fundamentalists, the author puts Christian fundamentalism in its historical and theological contexts. At the same time, Mercer calls upon cognitive theory to explain that the fundamentalist's life story is not particular to Christianity or any other religious belief system but that fundamentalist Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and those of all other faiths share a common psychological profile. Indeed, Mercer insists that if the Christian terminology were eliminated from contemporary fundamentalist Christian rhetoric, what would remain would be a framework that fundamentalists from other religions would find quite familiar and even comforting. In other words, the structure of the fundamentalist worldview, and the psychology beneath it, is pretty much the same across religions. It is a controversial thing to say about Christian fundamentalism, a thesis that has already proved contentious in the author's public appearances, and one that is sure to generate considerable attention and passionate debate as the U.S. populace continues to divide into opposing camps.

Book Synopsis

As Dr. Mercer posits, the fundamentalist is fundamentally driven by anxiety layered over a fragile sense of self-identity constructed upon a system of beliefs that is both logically inconsistent and highly suspect in light of modern science. As a result, the fundamentalist completely rejects modernity while battling mightily in the arena of national politics and culture to bring about a world that aligns more closely with the fundamentalist worldview.

Focusing on Christian fundamentalists, the author puts Christian fundamentalism in its historical and theological contexts. At the same time, Mercer calls upon cognitive theory to explain that the fundamentalist's life story is not particular to Christianity or any other religious belief system but that fundamentalist Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and those of all other faiths share a common psychological profile. Indeed, Mercer insists that if the Christian terminology were eliminated from contemporary fundamentalist Christian rhetoric, what would remain would be a framework that fundamentalists from other religions would find quite familiar and even comforting. In other words, the structure of the fundamentalist worldview, and the psychology beneath it, is pretty much the same across religions. It is a controversial thing to say about Christian fundamentalism, a thesis that has already proved contentious in the author's public appearances, and one that is sure to generate considerable attention and passionate debate as the U.S. populace continues to divide into opposing camps.

Review Quotes

"Mercer (religion and biblical studies, East Carolina U.) is also a clinical psychologist, and draws on both fields to offer advice to colleagues on how to understand and deal with the particular ways of thinking that fundamentalist Christians exhibit. He covers the birth of fundamentalism, core fundamentalist beliefs, a psychological profile, and strategies
for dialogue. Particular topics include the fundamentalist view of the Bible and problems with it, the Rapture, left-behind theology, the threat from rapid cultural change, and talking theology." --Reference & Research Book News

"Slaves to Faith will be of greatest interest to readers who are intrigued about the history of fundamentalist Christianity in the United States, who want to know the foundational beliefs of fundamentalist Christianity, and who want to step into this world and empathically experience the depression and anxiety that can arise as a result of these beliefs. This book will be more useful to those in a teaching rather than a clinical context for several reasons. . . . Returning to the humorous portrayal of fundamentalist Christians sequestered in the soundproof room in heaven, I can imagine teachers and clinicians wanting to follow St. Peter's injunction and tiptoe past this room, leaving such believers to make sense of the world and deal with their anxieties in their own ways. Mercer invites us into this room in ways that are engaging and intriguing. We want to stay, find out more, and enter in dialogue." --PsycCRITIQUES

About the Author

Calvin Mercer is professor and codirector of the Religious Studies Program at East Carolina University. For twenty years, Dr. Mercer has worked with fundamentalist Christians in the classroom as a professor of biblical studies and in the consulting room as the go-to therapist for fundamentalist Christians in his city. He is coauthor of The Writings of Swami Sivananda (Edwin Mellen, 2007) and co-editor of Religion and the Implications of Radical Life Extension (Palgrave-Macmillan, forthcoming). He has published numerous articles in both religion and psychology journals and has presented a number of papers at the American Academy of Religion and other scholarly societies.