Book Review: Sinner

A few years ago my brother gave me a book entitled Black by Ted Dekker. He told me that Ted Dekker was a "Christian Fiction" writer. He knew I was a pretty big Stephen King fan, and said that Ted Dekker was every bit as good as King. My thoughts went something like this: Yeah, sure he is. He's a Christian writer, there is no chance he is as good as Stephen King. When I was about 60 or 70 pages from finishing Black, and heading to the store to buy the sequel, Red, I had to call him an apologize.

I just finished my seventh book by Mr. Dekker. The more books I read by Mr. Dekker, the more I like him. His latest didn't disappoint me, and had a few themes I thought were directly related to this site. Sinner is set in the not too distant future (around 2033?). Sinner: The Books of History Chroniclesis the third in the "Paradise" series, and is possibly the 12^th in his "Circle Series" of books. In the United States of the future, tolerance is preached above all else. Those who are religious keep it to themselves. Any public expression of faith is viewed as "odd".

A string of lynchings sets new dominos in motion. Two of the central characters of the book (and from a previous book) begin to work to change the U.S. Constitution to make any expression of faith a hate crime, punishable with federal jail time. Add to this mix a group of 3,000 who wish to practice their faith as they please. They simply wish to tell the world about their faith in Jesus. They do so without attacking anyone else's faith. For this, they are instantly considered public enemy number one.

Sinner is a very fast read, and a very gripping story. I read the novel in about three days, and really couldn't put it down. There were a number of points along the way that I thought made for very interesting political discussion. At one point, a character justifies the new laws by noting that some areas of free speech are already limited. There are slander, libel, and treason laws. This character doesn't like any religion telling other religions they are wrong. Don't people have the right to live their lives without that sort or harassment? Surely people understand that some freedoms have to be limited in the name of tolerance.

On his website, Ted Dekker argues that the world he paints in his book is already here in some nations, and is starting to appear in the United States. He argues that it is only a matter of time before our Constitution is limited in order to avoid making people "feel wrong". This is one point I disagree with Mr. Dekker on. I believe there are enough people out there who still believe in our Constitution to protect our rights. I think a few of the recent court cases support me on this. However, if the wrong President gets the ability to appoint a few Supreme Court judges, I may owe Mr. Dekker an apology.

Sinner is a very good read. I highly recommend it for both its Christian message, and its political discussion. Remember, if you are a Stephen King fan, you will really love Ted Dekker.