Every book about religion is biased in some fashion — this can't really be avoided because religion is such a difficult topic, fraught with emotional issues. The following passage about racist Christian groups illustrates how James Renard's own views can come through in subtle ways:
- "Members of a number of white-supremacist groups, such as the Aryan Nations and the Ku Klux Klan, frequently display ostensibly Christian imagery and quote the Bible as part of their inflammatory racist rhetoric. Some of the leaders of these groups present themselves as ministers or leaders of small dissenting churches, providing haven for people disillusioned with American society and looking for religious justification for their views. Preachers and leaders of these groups often present their messages as if it were biblically sanctioned, citing passages from both the Old and New Testament that might be interpreted as indicators of divine preference for one race over another."
Clearly, Renard doesn't agree with the racists who portray themselves as Christians, but he avoids coming right out and saying it. Instead, he relies on phrases like "they present themselves" to create distance between himself and the views he is explaining. This is the method he uses throughout the book, but it is much more obvious here.
In contrast, he does not try to create similar distance between himself and the views he describes in the section on Catholicism, even though many Protestant groups do not regard Roman Catholics as Christians. Thus, even though Renard tries to offer fair and simple descriptions of what various groups teach and even though he generally succeeds, the above example does show that his own opinions and biases show through.
The general format of the book is that of questions and short answers, rather than long and complicated chapters. Thus, he asks things like "What is the significance of the Star of David," and "Do Hindus really believe in and worship many gods," then provides easy to understand responses. Topics are divided into larger sections like signs and symbols, membership, community, and customs and rituals, making it relatively easy to hunt for specifically desired information. This can actually make it a bit difficult to just sit and read because the text does not flow as nicely, but such narrative continuity is often sacrificed in a format designed more for reference than for simply reading.
The answers do not have quite so much depth that you will likely find this book assigned in college classes, but I could see college students in introductory religious studies classes benefiting from using it as a basic reference. The largest audience, however, will be the average reader who wants to learn more about different religions in the world, and that is an audience which should benefit greatly from this resource.
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