Review of Christian Men Speak Up

[Dustin Stopher]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Christian Men Speak Up" by Dr. Denise Strothers.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Denise Strothers, a doctor and reverend, combines her fields of knowledge with her seminal work Christian Men Speak Up. The book is a call-to-action broken up into two loose parts. The first delves into the unfortunate truths regarding sex trafficking in America, complete with the history of the practice and current research on the topic. The second contextualizes this information into the Christian tradition and asserts that Christian men are instrumental to bettering conditions for women. The book concludes with a list of ways in which Christian men can help the cause. Many resources are also included.

Strothers’s approach to the problem is an effective one. By giving an extensive and empirical background of sex trafficking, readers are able to fully realize the extent to which it is a problem. A wealth of research helps to lend credence to the ideas expressed concerning the severity of the issue. Additionally, emotional examples of real-life girls who were groomed and brought into the fold of sex work are provided, and these examples let readers know firsthand how devastating sex trafficking can be to the lives of those involved. For Christians, the connections between academic research and Biblical teachings are most definitely potent and useful. The supply of resources is another great inclusion. At a glance, the book does everything right.

However, upon further inspection, there are some flaws with the text. Appealing solely to Christians in the book seems like an odd choice, for this targeting seems to alienate those unaffiliated with the Church from what seems to be a universal issue, thereby limiting the book’s impact. Editorially, the book is not perfect, and it could benefit from a professional editor. Some parts of the book are less empirically grounded than others, such as when the author largely blames pornography for the horrors of sex trafficking without bookending these claims in relevant research; in this example, the writing felt more like fearmongering about the effects of pornography rather than informing about the tangible dangers it might pose. The book is furthermore sporadic in its thoroughness, as some topics, like sex trafficking’s ties to slavery, seem well addressed, while others, like the supposed connection between sex trafficking and sexually explicit rap music, are glossed over completely. While the book is still helpful in many respects, I found its execution to be lacking.

Nevertheless, the messages of the book are applicable to everyone, even if they are predominantly marketed to Christians. Therefore, I would recommend the book to anyone unfamiliar with the reaches of sex trafficking for educational purposes. Those looking for ways to help this issue would also glean a lot from the resources attached. Of course, Christians stand to gain the most through the author’s connection of the problem to the Church, but church membership is not necessary to learn a lesson or two.

I would give Christian Men Speak Up 3 out of 4 stars. Despite some shortcomings in its presentation of material and a misguided focus in choosing an audience, most of the details of the work eloquently explain sex trafficking on a conceptual and practical basis. I feel more enlightened on the topic because of the text, and I feel more confident in speaking to others about this matter.

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Christian Men Speak Up
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[Luchris_michael]

I rarely read books that speaks of issues like this. I would love to read. Thanks for your review.

[Gabriella1997]

Sex trafficking, this sounds like an interesting topic, would love to read more about this book, nice review.