HIJACKED!

A pastor presents a conservative vision for American spiritual and political revival.

This final installment of a four-volume series on how left-wing activists allegedly “hijacked” the Rev. Martin Luther King’s vision of racial equality centers on author Washington’s plan for American “recovery” from the “leftist radicalism” that he says has “taken root” throughout the government. The only way to avoid a dystopian near future, he asserts, is through “a genuine nationwide spiritual revival.” As pastor of the Abundant Life Community Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Washington draws on an ample array of Bible verses and stories that emphasize God’s blessings on nations that follow his commands. This book’s conservative interpretation of Scripture espouses a worldview that sees abortion, gay relationships, same-sex marriage, and legalized pornography and gambling as sins for which Americans must “repent and ask for forgiveness from God.” On numerous occasions, the book also suggests that former President Donald Trump “was indeed the man…who God could use to bring about a nationwide revival” before he was stonewalled by “deep state bureaucrats.” Just as many people on the political right have labeled moderate Republicans as “RINOs,” or “Republicans in name only,” Washington similarly lambasts “BINOs,” or “believer[s] in name only”; the author, who’s Black, particularly applies this label to Black people who profess to be Christian while voting for Democratic politicians. Readers who already share Washington’s conservative perspective may find the work’s relentless anti-liberal barbs appealing. However, there’s much to critique in this book’s narrow reading of Scripture, its demonization of non-Christians who follow “false” religions, its attacks on the millions of Christians who hold centrist or progressive values, and its overall penchant for hyperbolic rhetoric against supposed Marxists in American schools and government. Moreover, the book’s efforts to characterize King as a right-wing Christian nationalist—the same pastor who formed the Progressive National Baptist Convention following a public rift with the conservative National Baptist Convention—lacks engagement with King’s well-documented advocacy for a liberal “social gospel.”

A poorly argued polemic that relies on shopworn right-wing talking points and eschews reasonable debate.