Michael Parenti brings his critical acumen and gifted writing skills to bear on the dark side of religion, the many evils committed in the name of godly virtue throughout history. This is not a blanket condemnation of all believers. The focus is on the threat posed by fundamentalists and theocratic reactionaries. Historically anchored and biblically informed, this eloquent indictment of organized religion’s delusions and abuses will be welcomed by secular laypersons and progressive religionists alike.

Parenti delves into a wide and fascinating range of subjects:

• The harsh narratives of the Old and New Testaments, from the appalling accounts of violence, draconian justice, and moral turpitude in the older books of the Bible to the latent anti-Semitism in the New Testament.

• Creationism and intelligent design in both laughably crude and sophisticated forms.

• The duplicities of gurus, with a revealing scrutiny of such icons as Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, various US televangelists, the Dalai Lama, and even Jesus himself.

• The hypocrisies of "family-values" religionists and politicos, their rapacious financial schemes and frauds.

• The sexual predation, pedophilia, and criminal cover-ups perpetrated under the cloak of religion.

• The totalitarian theocratic goals of Christian and Islamic extremists, and the Shangri-La myths about feudal Old Tibet.

• The growing strength of secular freethinkers and liberal theologians who are doing battle against the intolerant theocratic usurpers of public life.