A Disturbing Portrait: Reflections of our society in Ted Dekker’s ‘Sinner’
The year is 2033 and America as we know it is a keg of gunpowder, waiting to explode under the fiery pressure of civil unrest. Intent on chaos, a maniacal daemon provides the neces¬sary spark by igniting a vicious cycle of brutal murders and race riots. The bewildered United States government feebly walks on glass as it tries to hold the nation together. In a last ditch ef-fort for peace, the unthinkable is done: The First Amendment is amended, allowing for the passing of the “Na¬tional Tolerance Act”, which deems any public mention of race or religion as hate speech.
Sinner, by Christian novelist Ted Dekker, follows the story of a sinister evil hell-bent on destruction, a na¬tion on the brink of collapse, and the few that can stop it. Sinner questions the limits of free speech, government intervention, and how far one town will go to proclaim that Jesus Christ is “the Way”.
For those unfamiliar with Ted Dekker, he brings to the literary world the emerging genre of the “supernatu¬ral thriller”. Like his famous counter¬part Frank Peretti, Dekker seamlessly and beautifully intertwines faith and suspense as well as questioning the very nature of good and evil, leaving the reader to ponder the deep spiritual undertones that only become apparent as the book’s last pages are turned.
Let me warn you: This book is hard to put down. One or two sittings is ideal. You might easily find yourself caught up in the whirlwind of the vari-ous sub-plots, and suddenly question¬ing how a government can prosecute an entire town of three thousand.
Another warning—with Dekker, not even the main character is safe from death. In some of his books he has killed the main character—more than once. But in this one the main characters live; it’s just the very fabric of the United States that dies.
The reasoning behind the Na¬tional Tolerance Act’s ban on religious speech is very straightforward. Since violence and hate cannot be controlled by mere physical or political force, one must simply restrict the ability (or rather, legality) for certain types of speech—namely re¬ligious. Think about it: shouting always prefaces punches. If there is no shout¬ing, then there is no punching. Peace is maintained and all is well—at least for those who thrive on political correct¬ness.
Under the guise of tolerance, dissent is eliminated while our nation, from a religious standpoint, becomes the very thing it sought to fight against. Under the “National Tolerance Act”, if I told you about Christianity or that I am a Christian, I implicitly single you out by proclaiming that Jesus is the only way to heaven. It would be considered “a personal attack of heinous nature upon that person’s intrinsic value as a citizen as well as upon the moral character of that person” (238), simply because it questions equality. In this book, ‘tolerance’ as our American so¬ciety knows it, is played out to its full intrinsic nature: silencing debate for the sake of equality.
But to stray for just a moment, we need not look to fiction for possible re-straint of the First Amendment. Look at the antiquated Fairness Doctrine. A modern day version would function under the absurd view that radio is the main news outlet. Claiming that public airwaves need more diversity, a modern day doctrine would attempt to provide that diversity by requiring a liberal view be heard along with a conservative view. But look under the mask: this is unreasonable. If a station cannot afford to provide this diversity, they would be effectively silenced. Think of it in terms of television. We all know that entertainment is decided by the people, so imagine the back¬lash if the show ‘Joey’ was forced to stay on the air because ‘E.R.’ was more successful. The Doctrine would force people to tolerate unentertaining shows that on their own they would not watch. There would be no changing the channel: Homog¬enous entertainment would reign supreme! Such is tolerance in the non-fiction world. But now back to Sinner.
Oh, there’s one last thing to warn you about: It’s the third in a series. Sort of. Sinner is a mere three hundred and seventy-four page pit stop in a grand circular storyline that spans over six books thus far. Having read all of them except for one or two, I can attest that somehow circular storylines are possible. And entertainingly mind-blowing! If you don’t believe me, then pick up a book for yourself!
If you’ve never read Christian fiction before, seriously consider giving Sin¬ner a chance. Before reading Dekker, I too thought that the genre was nothing but hyper creepy peppy evangelical blibber blabber on a paper canvas. But oh, how wrong I was! If you’re willing to get beyond the veil of ignorance that surrounds anything ‘Christian’, what you will find is an emerging genre that is anything but. So trust me: you will not be disappointed!
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