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Christians in the Crossfire: Guarding Your Mind Against
Manipulation and Self-Deception
Mark McCann & James Foster
Barclay Press,
Newberg, OR, 1990, 175 pages.
Reviewed by
Christina M. Lemieux, Ph.D.
This book, as
its title reveals, was written by Christians for Christians. By Christians is
meant fundamentalist Christians, but not uncritical Christians. The book regards
Christians as standing in a “crossfire” between “a world of secular extremists”
and “the strange world of Christian extremists.” The world of secular extremists
includes the anti-Christian secular humanists, the New Age movement, and
occultism. The world of Christian extremists consists mostly of “paranoid”
Christians espousing “conspiracy theories and apocalyptic themes.” The goal of
the book is to serve as a guide to lead readers “to become Christian critical
thinkers.” Terms used are carefully defined, both in the text and in a glossary
at the end of the book.
The book states
that “both humanists and Christians have strayed from the truth” by “creating
extreme arguments” that are “built on faulty logic.” Extremists in both camps
“go to unreasonable lengths to support or protect their beliefs.” Accurate and
well-chosen examples are provided to illustrate this point. Readers are exhorted
to evaluate all teaching critically, whether from within or outside
Christianity. Both accurate and inaccurate incoming information may be enhanced
by the use of “vivid anecdotes and experiences” in communication. Excellent
illustrative examples of this are included. A person can work to avoid these
various “mental ambushes” by “looking for other explanations” and “taking a
historical perspective.” This pattern of clearly describing the pitfalls that
can be built into the creation and communication of false and/or misleading
information, and then the offering of ways of critically detecting and avoiding
their influence is consistent throughout the book. There is widespread,
purposeful use of these pitfalls by cults in their systems of imposing mind
control.
I highly
recommend this book for two reasons. Though this was not its intention, the book
teaches us how to identify pitfalls in communication that cults utilize often.
As each pitfall is described, ways of combating and/or avoiding it are provided.
So, the book is a good teaching guide for the cult awareness network. Second, I
would encourage non-Christians (as well as Christians) to read this book. I
believe that unbiased non-Christians would gain a new respect for that large
group of Christian thinkers represented by the authors.
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