A groundbreaking investigation into the origins of morality, which turns out to be the basis for religion and politics. The book explains the American culture wars and refutes the "New Atheists."

In what we tell ourselves is an age of reason, we are behaving increasingly irrationally. An astonishing number of people subscribe to celebrity endorsed cults, Mayan armageddon prophecies, scientism, and other varieties of new age, anti-enlightenment philosophies. Millions more advance popular conspiracy theories: AIDS was created in a CIA laboratory, Princess Diana was assassinated, and the 9/11 attacks were an inside job. In The World Turned Upside...

"A definitive account of the psychology of zealotry, from a National Book Award winner and a leading authority on the nature of cults, political absolutism, and mind control"--

"This book explores America's history of using the Bible in politics, highlighting moments of proper practice and examples of deep misuse, and helps us apply the Scriptures in our political participation"-- In June 2020, after the killing of George Floyd, President Donald Trump posed with a Bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. For many, the scene epitomized the relationship between scripture and politics: the Bible is a prop,...

"Today's culture wars are more heated than ever. Education, public policy, and the separation between church and state have become a battlefield, and many are frustrated with the success the Religious Right has had in shaping the national agenda, from putting the brakes on gay marriage in California to stripping textbooks in Texas of references to Thomas Jefferson. But today, a growing nonreligious minority, nearly 20 percent of Americans, are finally...

Barack Obama. The speculation about his religious life abounds. Is he a closet Muslim? Is he really a Christian? Did his faith have anything to do with his governing? As the picture of President Obama's faith has emerged, questions about the foundation of his beliefs continue to ignite debate. In this international bestseller “The Faith of Barack Obama”, author Stephen Mansfield explores the claims of Obama's detractors and supporters alike, while...

New York Times bestselling author Sarah Vowell explores the Puritans and their journey to America in The Wordy Shipmates. Even today, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Vowell investigates what that means -- and what it should mean. What was this great political enterprise all about? Who were these people who are considered the philosophical, spiritual, and moral ancestors of our nation? The people she finds are highly literate, deeply...

"One of America's finest reporters and essayists explores the powerful currents beneath the roiled waters of a nation coming apart. Across the country, men "of God" glorify materialism, a gluttony of the soul, while citing Scripture and preparing for civil war--a firestorm they long for as an absolution and exaltation. Lies, greed, and glorification of war boom through microphones at hipster megachurches that once upon a time might have preached peace...