Monsters to Destroy

Ira Chernus is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he also served as Codirector of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program. He is the author of several books on American culture and national security policy during the Cold War era.

“This book gets at the deeper stories about how we view the world and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of it. It’s all the more important when we’re being told to embrace a future of perpetual war.” -—Paul Loeb, author of Soul of a Citizen "There is a great deal to praise here. The writing is clear, lively, engaging, and accessible. The analysis is smart, well informed, perceptive, and revealing. The topic is of great interest and importance. I'm very impressed by what Prof. Chernus has done." —-Bruce Lincoln, Caroline E. Haskell Professor of History of Religions, History of Culture, and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago “Monsters to Destroy takes an incisive look at the stories we are told—-and tell ourselves-—about evil forces and American responses. Ira Chernus pushes beyond standard political rhetoric and media cliches to examine psychological mechanisms that freeze our concepts of the world. Monsters to Destroy offers a very helpful antidote to the venom that top U.S. officials have propagated since September 11, 2001." —-Norman Solomon, author, War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death “Monsters to Destroy is a must-read for all those concerned about the reckless and dangerous role the United States now plays in the world and its interrelationship with religious conservative moralism on the home front. Ira Chernus puts forward a convincing and rather disturbing analysis of the lens through which President Bush sees the world and how he communicates what amounts to a simplistic morality tale to the American people. In doing so, Professor Chernus provides important answers to the questions as to why the Bush administration does what it does and how they get away with it.” —-Stephen Zunes, University of San Francisco “Ira Chernus brings the discerning eye of an historian of religions to the dense and jarring tangle of national stories we tell about ourselves. Whether reflecting on ‘conservative moralism,’ or ‘liberal internationalism,’ Chernus asks his readers to step back, to think outside of what he considers the apocalyptic allure of stories that lead only to more violence. His is a clear, critical, important voice, and this a book worth engaging no matter what individual stories readers bring to it." —-Edward T. Linenthal, editor of Journal of American History and author of The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory

• Introduction; Part I Conservative Moralist Stories; Chapter 1 Neoconservative Stories; Chapter 2 Neoconservative Stories; Chapter 3 George W. Bush; Chapter 4 George W. Bush; Chapter 5 George W. Bush; Chapter 6 Conservative Moralism; Part II The War on Terrorism Stories; Chapter 7 The Neoconservative Response to 9/11; Chapter 8 George W. Bush’s War on Terrorism Story; Chapter 9 The Neoconservative War on Terrorism Story; Chapter 10 The “Axis of Evil” and the Will of God; Chapter 11 The Freedom Story and the National Security Strategy of the United States; Part III The Public Response; Chapter 12 Evangelical Christians and the Election of 2004; Chapter 13 The Liberal Internationalists; Chapter 14 The Public and the War on Terrorism; conclusion Conclusion: A Different Story;