My book, An Aamerican Theocracy, shows the effects of theocracy in the lives of everyday people. It is all based on factual events. It is the equivalent of "In His Steps" for those interested in the issue of church/state separation.
In the early 90s an ambitious and extremely ruthless minister named Rick Scarborough fomented a plan to seize control of Pearland, TX, a bedroom community close to Houston, TX.Within a few short years Scarborough was able to take advantage of traditional low voter turnout in local elections and use the voter clout in his congregation to take control of city government.At one time he and his church controlled the city council and the school board.The city manager, high school principal, police chief, and school superintendent all were members of Scarborough’s church.Several city council members were church deacons.
The damage from the takeover is felt to this day in Pearland.Corruption by the city manager cost the city more than a million dollars. The church received insider information on a piece of land that netted them prime real estate in the business district of the city at a fraction of its cost.The police chief was witnessed trying to bribe a county official with the promise of votes in an attempt to initiate false prosecutions of uncooperative city council members.Suicide, blackmail, wholesale intimidation, and massive cover-ups were all part of the story.
I moved to Pearland in the middle of this firestorm and was part of the group that fought to take back control of the city.As time went by I decided to try to document the devastation caused by Rick Scarborough’s attempted theocracy.As I read books about theocracy and church/state separation, I found many great ones that were filled with facts, stories, and concepts.I found, however, that no one had written anything about how events like those in Pearland directly impacted the lives of people living in this kind of environment.
As I was growing up one of the books that affected my viewpoint of Christianity was the classic, In His Steps, by Charles Sheldon.The power of this work lay in its ability to demonstrate the application of Christian principles on a personal level and show the positive result.It didn’t preach or use many scripture references.I became convinced I could use the same concept to effectively demonstrate the effects of theocracy.
In my Book, An American Theocracy, I tell not only the story of what happened during the Rick Scarborough era, I lay bare what is happening all over our country on a daily basis.I do this by showing the effects of a theocracy on different members of a mythical town I have named BayouCity.There’s a single mom, a teacher, a business owner, and a factory worker among others.Of course the central figure of the book is the power-driven minister, Mike Burrows.
In telling this story, I draw from my years of living in fundamentalism and my time as an adherent of the Religious Right.Most importantly, at the end of the book, I give practical and effective ways to fight back against this form of religious tyranny.
Excerpt
It had been an incredibly savage beating. If the police on the scene didn’t already know the identity of the man, they never could have identified him by his face. However when they had found him by the driver’s side of his car just outside of the church offices, he still had his wallet in his back pocket. He had been struck repeatedly on the face and head; also, judging by the awkward angle of his right leg, it was broken. Later examination in the hospital emergency room revealed that John Stephens had a severe concussion, multiple lacerations, a broken arm, broken leg and 6 broken ribs. The emergency room physician said it looked like the victim had been kicked and beaten with a blunt object, probably something like a bat. Stephens was alive but just barely.
The most chilling part of the beating was the message scrawled on the piece of paper stuffed halfway down Stephen’s collar. There were just three words: YOURE NEXT BURROWS. It was one hell of a way to make a point.
Stephen’s wife called Bayou City 911 when he was late coming home from his office at New Harvest Church and when he failed to respond to her third call on his cell phone. John Stephens was the Associate Minister at New Harvest and didn’t appear to have an enemy in town; in fact, he was one of the most well-liked members of the community. His beating was clearly meant to send a message loud and clear to Mike Burrows, the controversial pastor of Bayou City’s largest and most powerful church. Burrows had been given round-the-clock protection ever since he started receiving death threats; no one ever envisioned that his enemies would use this method to strike at him.
As Detective Nathan Murco looked over the pictures of the crime scene and read the officer’s statements he tried to decide where he should start looking for suspects. As he thought back over Mike Burrow’s tenure in Bayou City it soon became clear that the number of people in and around the town that had grievances against the minister numbered in the hundreds. My God, he thought, John Stephens didn’t deserve this kind of treatment but maybe Mike Burrows did.
Finally! Understand and learn from the New Testament Books of Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians.
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In Galatians: The Easy Study Bible Commentary, I hav
