An Angel Directs the Storm
Apocalyptic Religion and American Empire
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This passionate and powerfully argued book takes its title from President Bush's inaugural speech, when he quoted 18C statesman John Page, who enquired if it were not 'an angel who directed the storm' within which America came into being.
Michael Northcott appraises two visions of religious freedom: the apocalyptic vision of George W. Bush and the Christian conservatives who back his policies, particularly in relation to Iraq and the so-called war on terror; and the peaceable vision of a Christian majority elsewhere who resist what they view as American neo-imperialism with an overlay of Christian apocalyptic rhetoric.
Northcott suggests that Americans urgently need to recover a Christian critique of 'Empire' if their religion is to avoid the charge of idolatry.
"I would hope that this book will be read widely in both Great Britain and America. It shows with skill and perspicuity that the nature of the US reaction to 9/11 had been long prefigured by the American subversion of Christianity. [It is] a mature, historically informed and passionate analysis of the current American psyche, that tells Americans things ... of which they urgently need to take heed." Stanley Hauerwas "The thinking man's Michael Moore.' The Independent