Paranoid Science: The Christian Right's War on Reality

by Antony Alumkal

Overview

Explores the Christian Right’s fierce opposition to science, explaining how and why its leaders came to see scientific truths as their enemy

For decades, the Christian Right’s high-profile clashes with science have made national headlines. From attempts to insert intelligent design creationism into public schools to climate change denial, efforts to “cure” gay people through conversion therapy, and opposition to stem cell research, the Christian Right has battled against science. How did this hostility begin and, more importantly, why has it endured?

Antony Alumkal provides a comprehensive background on the war on science—how it developed and why it will continue to endure. Drawing upon Richard Hofstadter’s influential 1965 essay “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” Antony Alumkal argues that the Christian Right adopts a similar paranoid style in their approach to science. Alumkal demonstrates that Christian Right leaders see conspiracies within the scientific establishment, with scientists not only peddling fraudulent information, but actively concealing their true motives from the American public and threatening to destroy the moral foundation of society. By rejecting science, Christian Right leaders create their own alternative reality, one that does not challenge their literal reading of the Bible.

While Alumkal recognizes the many evangelicals who oppose the Christian Right’s agenda, he also highlights the consequences of the war on reality—both for the evangelical community and the broader American public. A compelling glimpse into the heart of the Christian Right’s anti-science agenda, Paranoid Science is a must-read for those who hope to understand the Christian Right’s battle against science, and for the scientists and educators who wish to stop it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479874293
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	11/21/2023
Series:	Goldstein-Goren American Jewish History
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	251
File size:	824 KB

About the Author

Antony Alumkal is Associate Professor of Sociology of Religion at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. He is the author of Asian American Evangelical Churches: Race, Ethnicity, and Assimilation in the Second Generation.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction 1

1 Fear of a Darwinist Culture: The Intelligent Design Movement 17

2 Sex, Sin, and Science: The Persistence of the Ex-Gay Movement 65

3 "Our Way or a Brave New World": Christian Right Bioethics 115

4 Seeing Red over Green Evangelicals: The Crusade against Environmentalism 153

Conclusion 193

Notes 203

References 227

Index 239

About the Author 243

Editorial Reviews

03/13/2017
Since the 1970s, according to sociologist Alumkal (Asian American Evangelical Churches), there have been four frontal assaults on science by hard-right theocrats: intelligent design over evolution, ex-gay therapy over acceptance of human sexuality, bioethics based on human exceptionalism, and climate change denial. Alumkal calls these the “paranoid science” movements. Drawing on historian Richard Hofstadter’s 1963 lecture on “the paranoid style in American politics,” Alumkal maps key features in the contemporary Christian Right, including a tendency toward conspiracies, apocalyptic parameters, dualistic thinking, an inability to compromise, and feeling “dispossessed.” This dispossession, as Hofstadter described it, is one where “America has been largely taken away from them and their kind, though they are determined to try to repossess it and to prevent the final destructive act of subversion.” Through extensive research, Alumkal provides a rich, nuanced, and detailed view of mid-20th-century American evangelicalism’s right-wing political expression and its often dangerous impact on science in the service of the common good. His conclusions indicate that when such a powerful paranoia cannot be deescalated, it must be contained. Education and persuasion are the tools for change, and Alumkal’s book succeeds in both respects. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"An important and timely book."

Nova Religio

"Alumkals book is troubling and eye-opening."

Church & State

"Paranoid Scienceoffers valuable insights about the ability of religious and scientific interests to rally public support and potentially influence public policy. It will be of interestto sociologist who study religion, science, social movements and to those interested in any of the four historical episodes that organize the books empirical chapters."

Sociology of Religion

"Alumkal shows that hostility toward science — including a kind of fearful contempt toward scientists — is fairly palpable."

Inside Higher Ed

"Alumkal pulls no punches here… Alumkal’s book deserves a place in the book collections of scholars of the Christian Right... There is much here that furthers our knowledge of a complicated and controversial political movement"

American Journal of Sociology

"Alumkal’s text is about the beliefs, politics, and propaganda of the Evangelical Right in American Christianity [...] Paranoia is the leitmotif that links the 4 chapters of this book."

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

""A small but highly organized network of conservative Christians maintains a successful pseudo-scientific campaign to challenge established scientific topics including evolution, sexual orientation, bioethics, and climatology that they find threatening to their worldview. Alumkals unflinching critical analysis of their popular writings and educational media provides an excellent window into the political culture and theological motivations, mindsets and machinations within this movement. Fit for the times, Paranoid Science is engaging reading that elucidates the extent to which religious motivations can distort scientific inquiry for political ends.

"

Jerry Z. Park

"Particularly in today's America, where science, religion, and politics seem so inflammatory, Alumkal's calm voice of reason has much to offer."

Catholic Library World

"Paranoid Science is a reliable and insightful guide to the fever swamps of evangelical science denial. A gripping, disturbing, and important contribution."

Glenn Branch

"This is a volume for those who seek a better understanding of the USs contemporary cultural conflict."

Choice

Particularly in today’s America, where science, religion, and politics seem so inflammatory, Alumkal’s calm voice of reason has much to offer. Recommended for all libraries.”- Catholic Library World

"Alumkal shows that hostility toward science — including a kind of fearful contempt toward scientists — is fairly palpable."- Inside Higher Ed

"Paranoid Science offers valuable insights about the ability of religious and scientific interests to rally public support and potentially influence public policy. It will be of interest to sociologist who study religion, science, social movements and to those interested in any of the four historical episodes that organize the book’s empirical chapters."- Sociology of Religion

"Particularly in today's America, where science, religion, and politics seem so inflammatory, Alumkal's calm voice of reason has much to offer."- Catholic Library World

“Alumkal’s book is troubling and eye-opening.”- Church & State

"A small but highly organized network of conservative Christians maintains a successful pseudo-scientific campaign to challenge established scientific topics including evolution, sexual orientation, bioethics, and climatology that they find threatening to their worldview. Alumkal’s unflinching critical analysis of their popular writings and educational media provides an excellent window into the political culture and theological motivations, mindsets and machinations within this movement. Fit for the times, Paranoid Science is engaging reading that elucidates the extent to which religious motivations can distort scientific inquiry for political ends."

-Jerry Z. Park,Associate Professor of Sociology, Baylor University

"Through extensive research, Alumkal provides a rich, nuanced, and detailed view of mid-20th-century American evangelicalism’s right-wing political expression and its often dangerous impact on science in the service of the common good. His conclusions indicate that when such a powerful paranoia cannot be deescalated, it must be contained. Education and persuasion are the tools for change, and Alumkal’s book succeeds in both respects."- Publishers Weekly

“This is a volume for those who seek a better understanding of the US’s contemporary cultural conflict.”- Choice

" Paranoid Science is a reliable and insightful guide to the fever swamps of evangelical science denial. A gripping, disturbing, and important contribution." -Glenn Branch,Deputy Director, National Center for Science Education

From the Publisher