cover image Why We Whisper: Restoring Our Right to Say It's Wrong

Why We Whisper: Restoring Our Right to Say It's Wrong

Jim Demint, J. David Woodard. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, $24.95 (244pp) ISBN 978-0-7425-5252-4

The polarization of America continues unabated, according to South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint and Clemson University political science professor J. David Woodard, not (necessarily) between Democrats and Republicans, but between secularists and traditionalists. The authors' categories are broad and their terms stigmatizing, but the distinction is immediately apparent, and their intent is specific: to expose left-leaning bias in the ""value-free"" rulings supported by morally relativistic secularists in legislation, court cases and the mainstream media. Referencing numerous hot-button issues-gay marriage, divorce, cohabitation, abortion, pornography and gambling among them-the authors review in fine detail a number of arguments (many familiar) about the societal and economical damage suffered by an America rapidly replacing foundational virtues with unstable secularist values. This call to action is full of information, and makes some strong points-particularly in explaining how government, and particularly the legal sector, is inherently engaged with morals-but the defensive tone can grow wearying.