Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"An eerily prescient guide to the phantasmagoria of our political moment."-The New York Times Book Review

"American democracy isn't simply dying. It is, as Stewart observes, being murdered."-The New Republic

"Meticulously researched, elegantly written, and hard-hitting."-Kristin Kobes Du Mez

From the acclaimed author of The Power Worshippers, "an indispensable citizen's guide to the anti-democratic MAGA Right in America" (Congressman Jamie Raskin).

Why have so many Americans turned against democracy? In this deeply reported book, Katherine Stewart takes us to conferences of conspiracy-mongers, backroom strategy gatherings, and services at extremist churches, and profiles the people who want to tear it all down. She introduces us to reactionary Catholic activists, atheist billionaires, pseudo-Platonist intellectuals, self-appointed apostles of Jesus, disciples of Ayn Rand, women-hating opponents of "the gynocracy," pronatalists preoccupied with the dearth of white babies, Covid truthers, militia members masquerading as "concerned moms" and battalions of spirit warriors who appear to be inventing a new style of religion even as they set about attacking democracy at its foundations.

Along the way, she provides a compelling analysis of the authoritarian reaction in the United States. She demonstrates that the movement relies on several distinct constituencies, with very different and often conflicting agendas. Stewart's reporting and comprehensive political analysis helps reframe the conversation about the moral collapse of conservatism in America and points the way forward toward a democratic future.

"Katherine Stewart has written what may be the most important political book of the day, exposing the networks of dark money funded, ultra right-wing subversives who have already done enormous damage to our Constitution and the rule of law and are now perilously close to overthrowing the American government as we know it"-Sean Wilentz

Author: Katherine Stewart
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 02/18/2025
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 9.38h x 6.51w x 1.12d
ISBN: 9781635578546


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 12/02/2024
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2025
Shelf Awareness 03/02/2025

About the Author
Katherine Stewart is the author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, the award-winning book upon which the documentary feature, God & Country, produced by Rob Reiner, is based. She has covered the intersection of faith and politics for over 15 years; her work appears in the New York Times, the New Republic and others. Her 2012 book, The Good News Club, covered the religious right's effort to infiltrate and undermine public education. Find her at @kathsstewart and katherinestewart.me.