The thesis of E. Michael Jones's "Libido Dominandi" is that, far from really liberating anyone, "sexual liberation" has served to deliver powerful means of social and political manipulation and control into the hands of our ruling élite. He marshals some impressive evidence. Here we read about Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud's nephew and the founding father of the public relations industry, who was among the first to realize how sexual imagery could be employed in advertising. Long before the infamous "Virginia Slims" ad campaign, Bernays used the suggestion that cigarette smoking was an act of feminist independence to sell Lucky Strikes to women. Here we see the origins of the Planned Parenthood organization in the hope that birth control and abortion would reduce the numbers of the poor (especially ethnic Catholics and blacks), and resolve the dilemma of the welfare state. Here we learn of the fraudulent methodology of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, the sordid character of much of his "research," and the way in which Kinsey manipulated his academic superiors and his chief sources of funding through an implicit threat of blackmail, because these people had been foolish enough to give him their "sexual histories." The rÃ'le of the Rockefeller Foundation in both the Planned Parenthood and Kinsey enterprises was motivated by the obsaession of John D. Rockefeller III with eugenics, the pseudo-science of "race improvement." We learn also of the profound antipathy of the eugenicists and sex researchers towards Roman Catholicism, which they viewed as their principal adversary. Jones exposes the origins of "Americans United for the Separation of Church and State" in the anti-Catholic bigotry of Paul Blanshard. The organizations described here present a façade of respectability to the public that would not be so easy for them to maintain if their backgrounds were better publicized.

Jones's case would be more persuasive had this book come under a firmer editorial hand. It is lengthy, but also repetitive. Some material is duplicated almost verbatim in several parts of the book; also, Jones repeats, again almost verbatim, material from his other books, "Dionysos Rising," "Decadent Moderns," and "Monsters from the Id." This book might have been cut to half its length with as good or better effect than it now has. The work also fails in its efforts to tie the all-too-genuine mischief wrought by the sexual revolution together as the result of some sort of "Illuminist" conspiracy. Jones is a Roman Catholic polemicist of the old-fashioned type, for whom no Roman prelate (at least before Vatican II) ever did wrong, and no Protestant ever did right. He writes with the vehemence of a pamphleteer in the time of the sixteenth-century French wars of religion, and would probably have been perfectly happy under the patronage of the third duke of Guise. While many conservative Catholics, his intended audience, will be undisturbed by this tone, it is likely to put off many others who might otherwise be interested in Jones's factual reportage and sympathetic to his conclusions. This is unfortunate, since both deserve to be more widely known.

Michael E. Jones, publisher of the right or left or centre or up and down and, oh, possibly even diagonal journal Culture Wars, publishes this Summa of the summum malum perennially confused these days with the summum bonum.

If saying that almost an entire order of nuns was destroyed, as they were, due to the activities of a psychologist utilising them as an experiment, as they were; a psychologist who may even have been outrightly anti-catholic, which he probably was; if all that is a conspiracy then it's one of true ones; live with it, they do crop up from time to time. Anyhow, it gives Jones' book some _eclat_, as otherwise it would be rather heavy going. This is due to the fact that, unlike, say, Willis in Structures of Deceit, it doesn't rely on the idiocy of the reader, on knowing that he or she would know nothing of the history of the Church and even then, if they did, only secondary sources in English - you can always trust the Americans and English to be only able to speak one language - Jones at least argues with some assumption that the reader might wish for more than a paranoid screed ( Willis again!), which has the added benefit, apart form its honesty, of giving the reader something to argue against and intelligently reject.

Meaning, of course, that Jones should not be thought 'right'. Or that his argument is faultness, and ought to be simply accepted or, even more simplistically, rejected. It isn't faultless. Possibly not as a whole and certainly as regards details; his consuming interest in secret societies for example. One would have many points to halt him on and ask him to justify himself. As one can say this of almost any book, this can hardly be called a criticism.

A truly 'worthwhile' book....

CGH

This book is simply brilliant.

Jones has a strong, clear style and is in complete control of his subject matter. He has thought through what so many others have only hinted at. He is a Catholic Nietzsche - he philosophizes with a hammer; and how much more sane and deliberate than Nietzsche himself.

This is a revolutionary book. It exposes the horror lurking beneath the make-up caked suface of the modern world. It deserves as wide a reading as possible.

What to do if you're trying to make something as stupid and boring as the bible into something that a poor gullible child will accept? This is the problem faced by the authors, and they do a half-way decent job of presenting bible idiocy as something partly entertaining as a comic book. Should be useful for gullible, brainwashed parents attempting to produce gullible, brainwashed children. Start them with Santa, and if they believe that, move on to the bible in comic book form.

Great idea with uneven results. Some superb art in places, but not always as an appropriate counterpoint to the accompanying Scriptures. The parts that do succeed are worth the cover price alone.

This book was well received by me and my teenagers. There needs to be more artistic interpretations like this that tackle scripture. Not every translation done in this book is accurate to the Word of God but every piece is brilliant in its own right. Bravo! Encore!

Possibly due to its being more concise than Jones' last effort ( in addition to having a more attentive copy editor!) this volume transfers its message more pointedly. The thesis is merely an extension of typical criticism of a 'moral' bent on Frankenstein or Dracula ( the former as reflecting certain agonies of Enlightenment man, the latter's connection of sex, blood and death) beyond its usual limits, to artforms of the twentieth century, cinema especially. Far from promoting an ideology ( unlike Papal Sins, which can be guaranteed a reader ignorant of papal history, latin and theology, like its author) Jones simply picks up these films and novels as they exist and are argued in popular culture, sets them in their wider context and history, and proposes to one the fireworks that result. Not that his argument is faultless, it isn't, not even than you'll walk away feeling converted in any way, though you might, but, compared to the illiterate ravings of Papal Sins; the neo-paganism of WomanChurch; the consumate fatuousness of Curran and so on and so forth, Jones' thesis may even take on some rather shocking semblance of sanity!

Jones, in addition, hardly proposes a conspiracy theory of some Illumanist takeover, though prejudiced readers may well be desperate to misread in this manner, as his 'major' thesis, in Libido Dominandi for example, was that one's disordered sexual predelictions find themselves exploited for the benefit of the certain few, for political and financial gain. If this is a hairbrain conspiracy theory then plainly the media and advertising industries that we have at the moment are languishing in utter poverty...

Mr. Jones' theories are interesting, even fascinating. His comments about movies like "Psycho" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" seem right on the mark, especially when compared to most critical theory which describes those films, and others like them, as artistic responses to "cold war fears". If "Psycho" was a reaction to the paranoia of the cold war, why does it continue to resonate today? Jones' theories will not win him a lot of fans(his discussions of Darwinism, Newtownian science, vampirism and abortion fly in the face of today's politically correct thought), but they are too well researched and developed to be easily dismissed. His historical and cultural takes on the Shelleys, the Marquis de Sade, Bram Stoker, and filmmakers from James Whale to the makers of "Friday the 13th" are fascinating--a kind of fun ride through the world of the guilty conscience. Great horror flicks don't stray far from fear or guilt or God. This is a great book about some of those great films.

Slowly and by degrees the world is inching towards an understanding that the "Enlightenment" was at best cleverly orchestrated agit-prop, at worst a self-indulgent, wanton grab for power.

This is a wonderful book. Jones confidently, wittily and effortlessly dissects the manners and morals of the likes of Shelly and Godwin. My only wish is that Jones in the future would broaden his canvas to convey the horror that has been the legacy of the Enlightenment not just in the realm of sex but in the entire culture.

That said, this is cultural criticism at its best. A treat! It reminded me of Dostoyevsky's "The Devils." It demands a place on your shelf along side the likes of Eric Voegelin, Marion Montgomery, Jean Brun and Thomas Molnar.

The book seems bent on giving information that is not factual and twists the messages around to make them seem inconsistent with church teaching. When doing research on the actual messages in Medjugorje, they are consistent with Church teaching. The official ruling of the church states that Medjugorje is a Holy place and a Shrine. That should be good enough for anyone. Since the church has been studying Medjugorje and the messages, if there were anything wrong with the messages, it would have been condemned a long time ago as was bayside.

Sure Medjugorje has attracted some quite unsavoury adherents; particularly the American 'Medjugorje Mafia'. However, to condemn the whole phenomenon through this 'guilt by association' tactic is pretty wearisome and, when sustained through the entire book, proves to be a massive turn off. There is a large amount of factual error in this investigation.There are some downright malicious allegations made against many of those whose have been positively inspirational - in particular Father Jozo Zofko.
The dignity and integrity of the visionaries themselves acts as a counterbalance to some of the appalling claims in this sad and at times pathetic attempt to demolish Medjugorje.
James Mulligan

After reading the negative reviews posted on Amazon, I approached this book with some misgivings, expecting it to be an unbalanced and vicious denouncement of the Medjugorje phenomenon. I was surprised by the objectivity shown by E. Michael Jones in this very thorough examination of events. Although the author does not repeat the well-known details surrounding the origin of the apparitions, he does attempt to respond to the many unanswered questions that continue to plague those troubled by the myriad of contradictions involved with this false apparition, such as why it has never been unambiguously condemned by the Catholic Church, in spite of messages that are an outright contradiction of Holy Scripture. Why does no one know about or heed the ruling and warning given by the Yugoslavian Bishops' Conference of 1991? E. Michael Jones gives an explanation for one of the most complicated situations in the history of humanity.

As someone who is acquainted with many people who have suffered deeply from the cult-like nature of Medjugorje (broken families, suicides, and lost faith), I found it refreshing to find confirmation for what I already know: Medjugorje is a creation of evil, designed to divide and conquer the pious. As Fr. Philip Pavich says on p. 351, "If I were Satan, this is how I would get at the pious. Take something that is not only not on the level of divine revelation, but a lie as well, and then get all these pious people to promote it to the status of a divine oracle, and then get them to clobber the fellow who disagrees, even the bishop, get these seemingly pious people to offend against charity by attacking anyone who wants to preserve the integrity of divine revelation. The devil gets the pious to tell anyone who disagrees with them, 'You're doing Satan's work by opposing me.' This is the essence of schism." How true! This is the heart of the Medjugorje phenomenon, with all the characteristics of a true cult. There is very simply no other explanation for how people who fast and pray can accept the lies being propagated by the so-called visionaries. Medjugorje people are an entity unto themselves, and their very insistence that one must believe in these messages to be saved is a contradiction of Jesus' good news of salvation.

E. Michael Jones, far from being an "irresponsible journalist," is the most responsible kind there is. He is someone who has the courage to oppose the status quo by presenting a true, although unpopular, exposition of the corruption behind one of the most far-reaching and destructive religious events in history. It is not surprising that he has suffered as a consequence, and that there are so few on his side. It is not possible to oppose the forces of evil without suffering the consequences, evidenced by the continued loyalty of the visionaries to an apparition that they by now know is evil. I applaud E. Michael Jones for his incredible courage. Those who care about eternal life rather than the fleeting pleasures of this world would do well to listen to the truth.