Freedom Writer - December 1995 BOOK REVIEW Diamond's 'Roads to Dominion'provides a solid l

Freedom Writer - December 1995

BOOK REVIEW
Diamond's 'Roads to Dominion'provides a solid look 
at the Right

ROADS TO DOMINION: Right-Wing Movements and Political 
Power in the United States by Sara Diamond. 445 pp. 
Guilford Press (1995).

By Skipp Porteous

Sara Diamond's much awaited new book, _Roads_to_Dominion:_
Right_Wing_Movements_and_Political_Power_in_the_United_
States_, is finally out. Diamond's first book, _Spiritual_
Warfare:_The_Politics_of_the_Christian_Right_, inspired 
activists across the land to take a stand against the 
political agenda of the Radical Religious Right. (_Spiritual_
Warfare_ continues to be one of our bestsellers in 
the _Freedom_Writer_'s "Books by Mail.")

_Road_to_Dominion_ offers a sweeping chronology of 
the rise of right-wing groups in America. Diamond carefully 
dissects the subtle differences and nuances between 
the political right, the racist right, and the Religious 
Right — and explains why, when, and where they interconnect. 
_Roads_to_Dominion_ will quickly bring the newly initiated 
anti-Religious Right activist up to speed. However, 
while offering a wealth of information on the rise 
of the Radical Right over the last 50 years, _Roads_
to_Dominion_ has its shortcomings.

Diamond dispenses with the important question of who 
funds the Religious Right in two sentences. "The archetypical 
right-wing funding conduit was the Coors beer company. 
Chief executive Joseph Coors poured millions of dollars 
into dozens of evangelical and New Right organizations 
and established a pattern for other corporate funders: 
the Scaife, Smith Richardson, Olin, and Noble foundations; 
the Kraft, Nabisco, and Amway corporations, to name 
just a few." 

Those who read Diamond's _Spiritual_Warfare_ will immediately 
notice the lack of vitality, zest, and spirited discourse 
in her latest tome. Since receiving her doctorate in 
sociology, Diamond has seemingly crossed the threshold 
from activist writer to dry scholarship. It's been 
reported that _Roads_to_Dominion_ is an expanded version 
of Diamond's doctoral dissertation. _Roads_to_Dominion_ 
offers no new revelations or insights. In fact, everything 
in the book is admittedly taken from previously published 
sources. However, considering the wealth of data in 
this book, this is no small feat.

More importantly, Diamond misses the opportunity to 
introduce her readers to the powerful Council for National 
Policy (CNP). She relegates this group to a footnote 
in the back of the book. It's not that she thinks the 
group isn't  important, for in the footnote she refers 
to the CNP as "the New Right's leading coordinating 
body for funding and strategy." More than any other 
organization today, the CNP represents the movers and 
shakers of America's political and Religious Right. 
Much of the ultra-right-leaning political activism 
today comes out of the CNP.

Diamond mistakenly gives the Christian Coalition credit 
for the Christian Right's successes in San Diego county 
in 1990. In actuality, then only a year old, the Christian 
Coalition had not yet organized in San Diego county.

Few, if any, pithy quotes from Religious Right leaders 
or activists can be found in this book. Some unreported, 
or little-known quotes, would have given the book some 
life.

In her text, Diamond carefully avoids mentioning by 
name any liberal organizations. This may have been 
done to avoid discrediting her book by using information 
obtained from these groups, or, perhaps, as a way not 
to offend any group by omitting them. In any case, 
it seems strange not to mention groups like People 
for the American Way, Americans United for Separation 
of Church and State, and the Institute for First Amendment 
Studies. References to these groups do show up, however, 
in a careful review of the notes at the end of the 
book. 

Although claiming to approach her subject objectively, 
Diamond's personal biases show through, especially 
in her attack on the Anti-Defamation League. In relationship 
to a harangue about the ADL, Diamond asserts that there 
is nothing "radical" about the Christian Coalition.

Diamond provides an excellent bibliography and a fairly 
thorough index. These are most helpful to the serious 
researcher.

Unfortunately, _Roads_to_Dominion_ will neither arouse 
nor disturb anyone. But, if the Radical Religious Right 
is ultimately successful, future students can read 
Roads to Dominion_ to learn how it was accomplished. 
Although dry and dispassionate, _Roads_to_Dominion_ 
is an excellent source of historical material on the 
rise of the Radical Right in America.

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