THE TEN OFFENSES: Reclaim the Blessings of the Ten Commandments

Incendiary and one-sided, this jeremiad by Robertson, founder of Regent University and The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), will further polarize the national debate on moral issues. Robertson claims that our society is rapidly deteriorating because of "the antireligious vendetta that the forces of militant secularism have urged for decades upon the Supreme Court," and he prescribes a national embrace of the Bible's 10 commandments as a cure. Students of history will find the book rife with errors. John Adams—who was in London when the Constitution was drafted and first read its provisions weeks after the framers had completed their task—is credited as that document's "chief architect." And in a section on the "Jewish backlash" to anti-Semitism, Robertson suggests that both the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Congress were created after the Holocaust, their founders having decided that "the future safety of American Jews would exist only if secularism replaced Christianity in the public arena." (The organizations date to 1913 and 1918, respectively.) The book's last chapters, which dissect each of the commandments individually, are stronger and more focused than the opening overview chapters. Robertson argues effectively that our nation's violations of the eighth commandment (stealing) should include Napster downloads, loan defaults, grade inflation at elite universities, journalistic chicanery and identity theft. But Robertson's solution to such ills lies not in emphasizing America as a nation with an enduring Christian heritage, but in claiming that the Founders desired America to be a Christian state. Thomas Jefferson would surely roll in his grave. (Jan. 27)

Forecast: Despite its many inaccuracies and poor research, this book will likely be a national bestseller, with a substantial print run of 300,000 copies and major media exposure—particularly since it will be released the day the 2004 presidential election kicks off in earnest with the New Hampshire primary.