The Regime

I've already written a post on the dumbfounding "Left Behind" series a few months back, but I am going to take the opportunity to briefly return to the topic now, since it is something I have devoted a considerable amount of time to reading and trying to understand.

I have finished the 12 book series proper, but the authors have seen fit to write three prequels as well as one additional sequel. As any number of commentators on Amazon will tell you, this is a fairly transparent scheme to keep milking the cash cow they've created. Nonetheless, I've read the first of the two prequels, having recently finished The Regime. I think it's a curious title, considering that the first thing that comes to mind when I consider the phrase "the regime" is the current administration. I don't think I'm alone on that. Anyway, the regime in question is evidently not the Bush presidency, but the regime of Nicolae Carpathia, the anti-Christ of the later books. However, Nicolae has not yet risen to power, so I'm not sure where they get off with the title.

The book came out in 2006, a time when political conventional wisdom was quite different than when the bulk of the books were published (1996-2004). Part of Nicolae's schick is that he claims to stand for peace and hate violence and he calls for global cooperation and internationalism. Making this person the anti-Christ makes political sense (for right-wingers, I mean) in the 2001-2004 timeframe, because Bush was at that time saying pretty much the exact same thing: "those calling for global cooperation are working against the interests of the United States. Only I, the one who dares confront evil head on, can be trusted to protect you, not those weak ones who want non-violent solutions." Now of course, the field is reversed. Bush has been shown to be a power-mad, war mongering imperialist, while those of us who timidly suggested that unilateral invasion of other countries is not morally right look quite a lot better than a few years back. The point of this whole exercise is to say that the book immediately feels dated because of its allegiance to a Bush-like foreign policy, which only a troglodyte could now support.

The prequels seem to be a showcase mainly for the "true believer" sort of characters to try to convert those that are not strident enough or orthodox enough in their faith. There are some marvelous scenes, such as when true believer Irene goes to the nursing home to try to make her husband's senile parents give up their life-long faith in order to accept the born again creed that she promulgates. Or take the scene where Irene (before she becomes a born again Christian) has a series of religious conversations with some other mother at a park. This other mother gives Irene a gospel tract, which though Irene pretends she doesn't care, she is secretly thrilled and rushing to get home and read this awesome piece of life-changing literature. I gather it is supposed to be inspirational, encouraging believers to preach the word to all nations, as it were. However, I think you would have to be delusional in order to see it as anything other than comic.

I still hold out hope that one day I might be able to write a thesis on the politics of the books, which are truly unpleasant, but I won't delve further into the topic now. Suffice it to say that The Regime is just as odious, and in some ways more so, than any other novel in the series. The popularity of these books is a black mark on those who try to defend Christianity as an intellectually serious set of beliefs.