and Teddy White, then few with evennthe faintest pretensions of objectivitynor open-mindedness can turn their hearingnaids down low enough not to hearnsomething.nThe two objects of the indignation expressednin this book are “the liberal,nhumanistic elements of American societynwho do not play by the rules theynespouse” and the docile professingnChristians who have passively acceptednrelegation to “a cultural backwater,nwhere we are meant to paddle aroundncontent in the knowledge that we arenmerely allowed to exist.” In indictingnthe prevailing liberalism for inducingn”the bankruptcy of the human spirit”nwhich vitiates so much of contemporarynlife, Schaefifer occasionally overstates hisncase (as when he claims that “worldwidenabortion takes more lives annually thannsome of the ‘worst case’ scenarios ofnnuclear war”), lapses into a histrionicnoveruse of italics, rhetorical questions,nand exclamatory punctuation (includingn”?!?”), and in a few places employs questionablenorganization or logic (as whennhe argues that a thoroughgoing belief inna blindly mechanistic universe would notnpermit scientists to “trust the results ofntheir much touted experiments”).nHowever, one can forgive such faultsnseventy times seven in a book which sondauntlessly assails the “self-righteous inhumanity”nof the elite dictators whongovern the media and popular culmre.nEspecially telling is Schaeffer’s expose ofnthe “antireligious bigotry of total secularism”nwhich poses as the value-neutralnpromotion of pluralistic debate. Evennwhen spokesmen for Judeo-Christiannviews are well-educated, articulate, andndeferential, they are denied the sympatheticnattention routinely granted to thenmost boorish representatives of black, Indian,nwomen’s, or even homosexualn”rights.” Among the numerous documentedninstances Schaeffer offers to substantiatenhis point is the account of anhighly professional New York seminarnon the growing evils of abortion, infanticide,nand euthanasia; it was attendednby 1,000 people from diverse religiousnand educational communities but totallynignored by the media—except as a backdropnfor the 12 “prochoice” demonstratorsnwho showed up and left at preciselynthe same time as the television camerasnand newspaper photographers. Also revealingnis Schaeffer’s analysis of thenfraudulent policies which exclude fromnnational best-seller lists all booksnpublished by Christian presses and of thenliberal double standard which deprecatesnChristian parents concerned about salaciousnand irreligious school books asn”book-burners” but which fulsomelynlauds the militant feminists who systematicallynremove and rewrite all texts not innharmony with their dogma. Even assassinsnand dmg-pushers receive more empatheticnattention as writers and thinkersnthan do Christians.nNot only does Schaeffer uncover thenduplicitous strategies liberal secularistsnuse to defame Christians, but he alsontears through their attractive professionsnof compassionate tolerance to unmaskntheir true moral ugliness. Evincing a lobotomizednsocial concern. Playboynunderwrites a haUway house for teenagenprostitutes while continuing to promotenthe unbridled libido responsible for suchntrashing of youth. Zealously crusadingnfor the individual’s “right to choose,”nabortionists often permit viable, wideeyed,nand crying “fetuses” to make theirnfew hours of individual choices in thencold hospital laundry rooms where theyndie. Even though modern liberals arenmore adept than the nazis at producingnalluring propaganda images, Schaefferndiscovers the horror of their Auschwitz asnclose as the nearest abortion mill.nWhen Schaeffer turns from castigat­nnning the pagans to admonishing his fellownChristians, his anger is mixed with deepndisappointment. How is it possible, henasks, that the tens of millions of Americansnwho profess to be Christians have satnidly by while skeptical vandals havenwrought so much havoc? In partiallynessaying an answer, Schaeffer suggestsnthat because of late 19th-century pietismnChristians have largely “looked awaynfrom their responsibilities in the worldnand cultivated ‘spititual feelings.’ ” Butnwhatever the historical causes of Christianntimidity, Schaeffer demands that itnend. “As we leave the shores of Christiannwestern man behind,” he warns, “only andark and turbulent sea of despairnstretches endlessly ahead . . . unless wenfight!” In calling for Christian championsnwho will engage the liberal giantsnof modernity, Schaefifer envisions battlesnnot on any plain in Ephes-dammim, butnrather in legislative chambers, newspapernand magazine offices, and radionand television studios; the weaponry henurges is that of passion in polemics, notnthat of stones and slingshots. Schaeffer’snexemplar of modern Christian heroismnis, surprisingly, not an evangelical Protestantnbut rather the gentle Catholicnfrom India, Mother Teresa. Whennawarded the Nobel Peace Prize, thisndiminutive woman stunned the worldnwith “a ringing statement against abortionnand the evils of an age that treats lifenso cheaply” which the media weren”forced to report . . . word for wordnwithout the usual sniveling wisecracksnand aspersions.” Writes Schaefifer:nShe used her moment in the sun tonstrike a blow for tmth, love, compassion,nbeauty, the dignity of eachnhuman being, the laws of Scriptures,nand the love of God. Her defiantnstand condemns our silences.nJfortunately, Mother Teresa is not thenonly one speaking out in favor of humanndignity in The Wealth of Families,nthough her prayer “for this beautifulncountry where family life has been sonstrong” but where now “destmction isncoming from within” is cleatly the mostn•M^33nApril 1983n