Have you ever felt implicit pressure to ‘go along’ with something you believe not to be true?
Since Live Not by Lies was originally published in 2020 with a warning for America, many have seen in Europe and other Western nations an acceleration of ‘soft totalitarianism’ in our societies. Whether it is the effects of cancel culture online because of progressive voices marginalising conservative opinions, or the unprecedented restrictions of civil liberties in response to Covid-19, people feel coerced to go along with the approved narrative on whatever topic, even if, secretly, we may believe the truth is somewhat different.
Rod Dreher believe this represents a creeping ‘soft’ totalitarianism, where ‘safety’ is seen as paramount and technology is increasingly employed in its pursuit. As we
sleepwalk through the erosion of our freedoms, we hasten the possibility of a corporate surveillance state that restricts our ability to make decisions about our own lives.
In Live Not By Lies, Dreher amplifies the alarm sounded by the brave men and women who fought totalitarianism in the former Soviet bloc and who see similarities today in the West. He draws on the experience of brave dissidents – some, like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, known worldwide, but many others whose quiet heroism is revealed here for the first time – who offer practical advice for how to identify this trend and resist it.
Live Not By Lies aims to wake us and equip us for the long resistance.
Since Live Not by Lies was originally published in 2020 with a warning for America, many have seen in Europe and other Western nations an acceleration of ‘soft totalitarianism’ in our societies. Whether it is the effects of cancel culture online because of progressive voices marginalising conservative opinions, or the unprecedented restrictions of civil liberties in response to Covid-19, people feel coerced to go along with the approved narrative on whatever topic, even if, secretly, we may believe the truth is somewhat different.
Rod Dreher believe this represents a creeping ‘soft’ totalitarianism, where ‘safety’ is seen as paramount and technology is increasingly employed in its pursuit. As we
sleepwalk through the erosion of our freedoms, we hasten the possibility of a corporate surveillance state that restricts our ability to make decisions about our own lives.
In Live Not By Lies, Dreher amplifies the alarm sounded by the brave men and women who fought totalitarianism in the former Soviet bloc and who see similarities today in the West. He draws on the experience of brave dissidents – some, like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, known worldwide, but many others whose quiet heroism is revealed here for the first time – who offer practical advice for how to identify this trend and resist it.
Live Not By Lies aims to wake us and equip us for the long resistance.
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Reviews
As a new cultural revolution aims to institutionalize a tyranny of ideological clichés, Dreher renews Solzhenitsyn's great call to 'live not by lies.' I cannot imagine a more timely and urgent book, or one with a more enduring spiritual, political, and cultural message.
In this remarkably prescient book, Dreher sets Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's timeless appeal to 'live not by lies' as the cornerstone of his own bold warning. His suggestion of a dawning post-Christian, 'pre-totalitarian' society is impossible to dismiss in light of the patient case he builds for his passionate, if provocative, thesis.
Live Not By Lies will cement Rod Dreher's reputation as the most important Christian thinker of our age.