Live Not by Lies - Rod Dreher

Live Not by Lies

By Rod Dreher

  • Release Date: 2020-09-29
  • Genre: Christianity
4.5 Score: 4.5 (From 93 Ratings)

Description

The New York Times bestselling author of The Benedict Option draws on the wisdom of Christian survivors of Soviet persecution to warn American Christians of approaching dangers.

For years, émigrés from the former Soviet bloc have been telling Rod Dreher they see telltale signs of "soft" totalitarianism cropping up in America--something more Brave New World than Nineteen Eighty-Four. Identity politics are beginning to encroach on every aspect of life. Civil liberties are increasingly seen as a threat to "safety". Progressives marginalize conservative, traditional Christians, and other dissenters. Technology and consumerism hasten the possibility of a corporate surveillance state. And the pandemic, having put millions out of work, leaves our country especially vulnerable to demagogic manipulation.

In Live Not By Lies, Dreher amplifies the alarm sounded by the brave men and women who fought totalitarianism. He explains how the totalitarianism facing us today is based less on overt violence and more on psychological manipulation. He tells the stories of modern-day dissidents--clergy, laity, martyrs, and confessors from the Soviet Union and the captive nations of Europe--who offer practical advice for how to identify and resist totalitarianism in our time. Following the model offered by a prophetic World War II-era pastor who prepared believers in his Eastern European to endure the coming of communism, Live Not By Lies teaches American Christians a method for resistance:
    SEE: Acknowledge the reality of the situation.
    JUDGE: Assess reality in the light of what we as Christians know to be true.
    ACT: Take action to protect truth.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously said that one of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming totalitarianism can't happen in their country. Many American Christians are making that mistake today, sleepwalking through the erosion of our freedoms. Live Not By Lies will wake them and equip them for the long resistance.

Reviews

  • How Loud the Alarm?

    4
    By JesusGuy
    Dreher sounds the alarm of soft totalitarianism. He supports his thesis with witnesses of hard totalitarianism. Yet, Christians still have the right to speak, repeatedly upheld by The Supreme Court. I think the enemy is more within the church than in society. The Church must learn to CONFESS Christ!
  • Great book

    5
    By skdfgb
    It’s an interesting view. Thought provoking!
  • Live not by lies

    4
    By totally stoked about Jesus
    Not my favorite type of read but very interesting and informative about the fear of soft and hard totalitarianism. Are we headed there - I would say most likely plausible. Some of the stories of those who have suffered under this craziness was hard to hear. I ask why, why is Christianity so offensive
  • Essential Christian Reading

    5
    By cahuntington
    This book is essential reading for every Christian in the 21st Century Western World—and perhaps in the entire world. Without exaggeration or histrionics, without any sort of fearmongering or end-times hysteria, Dreher clearly, concisely, and cogently tells the stories of some who suffered under totalitarian regimes in the 20th Century, and he derives simple and reproducible guidelines for preparing ourselves and our loved ones for the suffering of the cross of Christ in the face of persecution.
  • My challenge from the work “Live not by Lies”

    5
    By Joe Igla
    This book helped me to see genuine Christian values not in some handwringing way but with a deep look, “ Am I a follower of Christ or only an admirer?” I am thankful for the freedoms written in our Bill of Rights, but I earnestly want to be a follower of Jesus Christ even as I am tempted to passivity with the freedoms I enjoy.

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