How should we respond to violence against abortion clinics and some of the lunatic, even comical pronouncements of individuals on the religious right? Frederick Clarkson makes it clear that behind the lone nuts who sometimes grace the headline news is a powerful and growing political movement.

Completely missed by the mainstream media, in Clarkson's view, was perhaps the top story of 1996: the Christian Right take-over of the GOP. While coverage focused on how well-behaved Christian Right delegates were at the convention, few understood that politeness was, in this case, a victorious reflection of their control over one of the two main political parties.

Clarkson predicts the media will also miss the import of one of the upcoming big news stories: 1997 may well become the "Year of the Promise Keepers" with their planned 20 city tour and million man march. Clarkson shows that the religious right's leaders, from Jerry Falwell to Ralph Reed, are the guiding force behind the Promise Keepers.

Drawing on years of rigorous research, Clarkson casts light on the wild card of the theology of vigilantism which urges the enforcement of "God's law." It is this set of religious beliefs that motivates many terrorists, including Paul Hill, who murdered abortion provider Dr. John Britton.