Maelstrom

James Aho is Professor Emeritus at Idaho State University where he has taught for over forty years. Recognized as a Distinguished Researcher and Teacher, he is the author of many books, including Far-Right Fantasy: A Sociology of American Religion and Politics, Body Matters: A Phenomenology of Sickness, Disease and Illness (co-written with his son, Kevin), and Sociological Trespasses: Interrogating Sin and Flesh. Aho is also the author of two award-winning studies of religiously motivated political violence, The Politics of Righteousness: Idaho Christian Patriotism and This Thing of Darkness: A Sociology of the Enemy.

• EpigramAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1 The Collection: A Study of Right-Wing Extremism2 The American Far-Right: Historically and Sociologically3 Christian Dominionism and Its CriticsInterlude 1: Fetus Fetish4 Christian Dominionism and Violence5 The Big Lie: Its Model, Making, and Motive6 The Danse Macabre: Deadly Miscommunications Interlude 2: God and Guns7 The Case of the Minor Family8 Revisiting Authoritarianism9 ‘Fascism’ ReconsideredReferencesIndex

“This is the book we need today: a lucid and insightful analysis of the recent explosion of Christian nationalism, written by the most authoritative voice in the study of American right-wing extremism. It shows the inner logic and the awful attraction that makes this phenomenon such a powerful and insistent threat to social order. It is sobering, but essential for anyone concerned about the fate of democracy.”Mark Juergensmeyer, author of Global Rebellion: Religious Challenges to the Secular State