Rabbletown: Life in These United Christian States of Holy America

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Reviewer: "Not since George Orwell's 1984 have we had such a chilling look at what the future could be." Rabbletown: Life in These United Christian States of Holy America.

Way back in 1988 Pat Robertson ran for president and it scared the bejesus out of me. The whole religious right still terrifies me. I've always said that if fascism comes to America it will be through the pulpit. The year 1984 had passed with all its references to George Orwell's book and it got me wondering if in the future the religious right won the day what would America look like in 2084? Abortion would not only be a capital offense, pregnancy would be mandatory for married women of child-bearing age. I started the story from the viewpoint of a mason working on the cathedral project for the Pastor Governor of the Great Christian State of Kansas. The book came into shape creating a boy with a remarkable memory for Bible verses.

Maybe You'll Want to Become a Bobbite, too

I started writing Rabbletown: Life in These United Christian States of Holy America before 1984. I had a notion that when 1984 rolled around, there would be a lot of attention given to George Orwell's famous novel by that name and that I might get some attention for mine. I'd call it "2084." Nice idea, but the novel didn't get written. I had envisioned a long, complex novel that would create the characters that showed how the religious right gained political power over the United States and what they did with it.

Never been good at long, complex stories. So I cut to the chase and went right to the year 2084.

Then I created a manageable set of characters and let them live their lives in an environment where pastor governors and the Pastor President rule with a Bible in each fist and the computer in your hovel. But I wrote myself into a corner with Bobby. It took me a while to realize I had to let Bobby perform his miracles.

Best explanation of what Bobby is all about comes from an early review by one of Amazon's top 500 reviews:

I expected a few things when I started reading this book. I expected to be amused by a satirical take on the Fundamentalists that are doing their utmost to take over this country - sadly, it is difficult to make amusing, because the idea of Fundamentalists taking over this country and turning it into an Evangelical theocracy is absolutely terrifying. I expected to be outraged by the excesses of Fundamentalist leaders who grow rich, while the common people live in poverty. What I did not expect was to be profoundly moved. I did not expect goose bumps or a profound feeling of "rightness" to come over me while reading.

12-year-old Bobby Crowley is special. He has an amazing memory for Bible verses, and a strangely wise way of saying just the right thing at just the right time. And he has been carefully watching the formation of a significant alignment of stars in the sky, including a new star that just appeared three months ago, which are forming a cross. On a Friday like any other Friday - one that would see the stoning to death of a 6 people - Bobby takes his place among the great religious leaders of the world when he steps forward and speaks the words "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" and in the process saves the life of a beatific young woman: he gains a following and begins performing miracles, and providing proverbs of hope, peace and love.

Caught in his wake are a number of people; they go into Rabbletown, the slums of Topeka, where Bobby spreads the way of peace, love, acceptance and kindness, rather than the hate and manipulations used by those in power. And in a world where the leaders all emulate the practices and beliefs of the disgusting Fred Phelps, those sorts of teachings are threatening. Bobby and all who believe in him and his miracles are declared anathema and the Inquisition is sent after them.

This book does two things: it exposes the horror of a theocratic, fascist Evangelical Fundamentalist power structure, and it provides hope for redemption for anyone who chooses to live a truly good life, and follow the basic teachings that so many modern-day dogmatics seem to forget are the only two rules laid down by Christ - you know, the one Christians are supposed to emulate? 1) love each other and treat others like you would like them to treat you; 2) love the Higher Power of Creation, in whatever form you choose to comprehend It. This book - reading this book - will cause a profound shift in perception and I believe, honestly, that the world would be a better place if everyone followed the example set by Bobby. We all need to become Bobbites. Read this book and see if you don't find these truths to be as profound as I did.

The Reality of Rabbletown is Getting Closer

Folks. You just can't believe it. This guy, Todd Akin, talking about legitimate rape really could be the US Senator from Missouri. Do please go find the dystopian novel "Rabbletown: Life in These United Christian States of Holy America" and see where these right-wing, religious nut cases are taking us.

Rabbletown Review and My Response

Rabbletown: Life in These United Christian States of Holy America received a really interesting review from the writer Nancy Griffis on her blog. I hope you will go there first to see her review and then return here to read my comments below.

Dear Nancy,

Thank you for a fascinating review.

It made me ponder my own book and why I wrote it the way I did and I thought you'd be interested which of your comments got me to thinking and what those thoughts were.

Character development and plot:

I think effective character development (or character creation, as I call it) comes from seeing what a character does and his/her interactions and dialogue.

I don't outline. I try to discover characters and learn who they are and what they are doing and that usually leads me to a plot. And a plot is really a road down which characters travel. When I started this book in the 1980s I knew I had a stone mason working on a cathedral and I knew the religious right had dominated the society. I knew Bob Crowley would have a wife and many children.

And so I created other characters through which we could explore what kind of society had been created. My first working title for Rabbletown was 2084. I was working on the book close to the year of 1984, the date that is, in my opinion, also that most famous of dystopian works, Orwell's masterpiece.

I discovered Bob's son Bobby had an incredible memory for Bible verses. I explored the ways Evangelical Christians reached an accommodation with the Catholics and used their technical skills with computers which turned into spy machines. Then the book stalled on me. I couldn't get it to move forward until the late 1990s. I let Bobby perform his miracles. I let him be a Christ figure.

That is one reason there isn't a point of view from Bobby. Imagine if we had a point of view from Jesus in the Gospels. His presence is much stronger when his actions are reported on by others. That it why the stigmata scene is reported from so many different points of view. And just as Jesus is important to so many individual people; so it is with Bobby and his preaching and sayings.

Nancy, reading your comment you were "...kinda jealous I didn't write this one myself," is the highest compliment. I thank you for it!

RABBLETOWN: Life in These United Christian States of Holy America

Remember in 1988 when Pat Robertson was running for president? I do and it scared the bejesus out of me. The whole religious right still terrifies me. I've always said that if fascism comes to America it will be through the pulpit. The year 1984 had passed with all its references to George Orwell's book and it got me wondering if the religious right won the day and had its way, what America would be like in 2084. I started fiddling with time lines, seeing how many generations of Robertsons and Fallwells it would take to get to 2084. I figured that economic stimulus programs would be church-based. Abortion would not only be a capital offense, pregnancy would be mandatory for married women of child-bearing age. I started the story from the viewpoint of a mason working on the Great Christian State of Kansas cathedral project, who lived in a former duplext that now housed his family of 11 children and six other families.

The book proceeded and then stalled. I had written myself into a corner. From time to time, I would return to it and really liked its opening. Some very interesting things were going on, especially what happened to the Roman Catholic Church. The rise of Islamo-fascism provided the final prod and semi-retirement provided the time. I revisited the manuscript and found my way out of the corner. It came in the shape of a boy with a remarkable memory for Bible verses.

Shortly after I completed the manuscript, I got together with a former KU colleague, Michael Irvin, who is now doing freelance design work, and asked if he would look at the book. He agreed, liked it, and did the cover design.

It's live now on Amazon.com and Smashwords.

Short novel, about 40,000 words. Hope you'll give it a read.

http://www.amazon.com/Rabbletown-United-Christian-America-ebook/dp/B005DLZZTM/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311343282&sr=1-3

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/74354