God-botherers and Other True-believers: Gandhi, Hitler, and the Religious Right

244 Pages·2008·0.91 MB·English

by  F. G. Bailey

God-Botherers and Other True-Believers
ALSO BY F.G. BAILEY
Caste and the Economic Frontier, 1957
Tribe, Caste and Nation, 1960
Politics and Social Change, 1963
Stratagems and Spoils, 1969, New Edition, 2001
Gifts and Poison (ed.), 1971
Debate and Compromise (ed.), 1973
Morality and Expediency, 1977
The Tactical Uses of Passion, 1983
Humbuggery and Manipulation, 1988
The Prevalence of Deceit, 1991
The Kingdom of Individuals, 1993
The Witch-Hunt, 1994
The Civility of Indifference, 1996
The Need for Enemies, 1998
Treasons, Stratagems, and Spoils, 2001
The Saving Lie, 2003
G -B
OD OTHERERS AND
O T -B
THER RUE ELIEVERS
Gandhi, Hitler, and the Religious Right
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F.G. Bailey
Berghahn Books
New York (cid:129) Oxford
Published in 2008 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
©2008 F.G. Bailey
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bailey, F. G. (Frederick George).
God-botherers and other true believers : Gandhi, Hitler, and the religious right / F. G. Bailey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-84545-512-5 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Religion and politics. 2. Religious fundamentalism. 3. Religious right—United States.
4. Christian conservatism—United States. 5. Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869–1948. 6. Hitler, Adolf,
1889–1945. 7. National socialism. I. Title.
BL65.P7B35 2008
201'.72—dc22 2008007616
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Printed in the United States on acid-free paper
ISBN: 978-1-84545-512-5 hardback
For Paula Levin, Amica Nostra Verissima

. . . remembering above all to walk gently in a world where the
lights are dim and the very stars wander.
—Gilbert Murray, Five Stages of Greek Religion
The spectacle of what is called religion, or at any rate organized
religion, in India and elsewhere has fi lled me with horror, and I
have frequently condemned it and wished to make a clean sweep of
it. Almost always it seems to stand, when it comes to practice, for
blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition and ex-
ploitation, and the preservation of vested interests. And yet I knew
well that there was something else in it, something which supplied
a deep inner craving of human beings. How else could it have been
the tremendous power it has been and brought peace and comfort
to innumerable tortured souls?
—Jawaharlal Nehru, An Autobiography
And malt does more than Milton can
To justify God’s ways to man.
Ale, man, ale’s the stuff to drink
For fellows whom it hurts to think:
Look into the pewter pot
To see the world as the world’s not.
—A.E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad

C
ONTENTS
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Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
PART I | FAITH AND POLITICS 13
1 Faith, Reason, and Consequences 15
Three Kinds of Faith 15
Only Believe! 20
Humanism 23
Oneness 26
A Point of View 28
2 Religion and Persuasion In Politics 39
Religion and Political Involvement 39
The Problem of Order 40
What Should Go On and What Does Go On 43
Defi ning Situations 46
Information Costs: Political Clairvoyance 51
Creating Trust 56
Persuading 60
Reality Testing 65
PART II | ANTAGONISTIC RELIGIONS 69
3 Desert, Marketplace, and Forum 71
The Religious Right (and Left) 71