Church and State

By Tom Karel -- Library Journal, 9/1/2006

The publishing response to the political clout of the Religious Right has been slow to build up, but it is now arriving with a vengeance. After the success of Jim Wallis's God's Politics: Why the Religious Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, publishers' catalogs quickly featured many similar works, written from a variety of perspectives. The four books reviewed below are in the vanguard of this deluge. The authors may not share a common political or religious point of view, but their arguments are indispensable to the debate at hand.

In the spirit of Ann Coulter, Hynes is in attack mode here. A Republican campaign consultant and TV pundit, he generally supports the positions of the Religious Right, which he calls “the most powerful political force in America today.” Despite having such power, conservative Christians are portrayed by Hynes as “maligned by cultural and political elites” as he rises to their defense. He takes on the Religious Left, with its “absurd declarations of piety and...flagrant distortions of Scripture.” As he chronicles the history of faith in U.S. politics and examines the issues that motivate the Religious Right (traditional marriage, intelligent design, the Ten Commandments, etc.), he dissects the writings and comments of “the fakers, the secularites, and the leftwing theocrats,” meaning such men as Jim Wallis, Barry Lynn, Howard Dean, All Gore, and the World Council of Churches (“the flagship organization of religious leftism”). His book will not win any converts; he is, after all, pretty much preaching to the choir. A marginal purchase for most libraries, though it's a good example of the basic arguments from the Right.

Despite its alarmist subtitle, Linker's book is a well-researched examination of an ideological movement that, he claims, forms the foundation of the current conservative religious political ascendancy. Former editor at First Things: The Journal of Religion, Culture and Public Life, Linker focuses chiefly on its founder, Richard John Neuhaus, and his cohorts Michael Novak and George Wiegel. These men were radical activists in the 1960s but gradually shifted to conservative Catholicism. Linker charts the rise of “public religiosity” through their writings, such as Neuhaus's The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America, and through assessing the influence of First Things on public policy, especially in the 1990s, when Neuhaus et al. joined forces with evangelical leaders and began advising conservative senators Rick Santorum and Sam Brownback. Linker's analysis of the impact of 9/11 on the theocon agenda is one of the highlights of the book. He writes that his intent is to expose and explain theoconservatism before the country is “thoroughly permeated by orthodox Christian piety and secular politics are driven out.” A chapter titled “Theocon Nation” provides examples of the consequences for such issues as abortion, bioethics, euthanasia, and gay marriage. An important contribution to the ongoing debate, this book is appropriate for academic and large public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/06.]

This is a book that dares to ask, “How would Jesus vote?” Seger, a scholar of theology and a script consultant (Advanced Screenwriting) answers the question by calling a section of her first chapter “The Liberal Values of Jesus” and urging readers to “vote the Golden Rule.” Her portrayal of Jesus as one who challenged authority and cared for society's outcasts is certainly not unique. She presents her argument that Democrats are “more Christian” than Republicans in a simple, straightforward manner, touching on all the hot-button social issues, from abortion to gay marriage and evolution vs. intelligent design, and alluding to the Iraq war. She quotes scripture and other theologians and cites examples from recent history to bolster her case. Her approach can come close to Bush-bashing, although her stated purpose is to promote mutual respect and minimize the passing of judgment. A study guide is linked to each chapter, and an appendix assesses “Christian values.” Seger's book is best suited for high school and public libraries and optional for academic collections.

Of the books reviewed here, this work by Suarez (senior correspondent, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer) offers the most balanced account of the issues in question. This is a journalist's journey worthy of comparison with Dan Wakefield's classic Supernation at Peace and War, written almost 40 years ago, which portrayed the mood of the country during the Vietnam era. Suarez examines an equally divisive era that pits conservative suburban votes of faith against urban secular liberals, with everyone trying to determine the proper place of religion in public life. In addition to interviewing politicians, religious leaders, and ordinary citizens, Suarez shares his personal religious experiences as an urban liberal Catholic and laments the demise of religious tolerance in current political discourse. He writes eloquently about the “Christian art of warfare,” the “nasty battle” over marriage, the separation of church and state, and such issues as the Ten Commandments controversy and teaching evolution. What sets his book apart is his attention to changes in the Catholic Church and the impact of a rising Latino Catholic population. The book reads easily and is sure to provoke lively discussion, serving well as a companion to Garry Wills's more scholarly Under God: Religion and American Politics. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.

Tom Karel, Collection Development Librarian at Shadek-Fackenthal Library, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, is a longtime reviewer in politics and social sciences for LJ

By Tom Karel

Four new books on religion and politics in the United States

The publishing response to the political clout of the Religious Right has been slow to build up, but it is now arriving with a vengeance. After the success of Jim Wallis's God's Politics: Why the Religious Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, publishers' catalogs quickly featured many similar works, written from a variety of perspectives. The four books reviewed below are in the vanguard of this deluge. The authors may not share a common political or religious point of view, but their arguments are indispensable to the debate at hand.

In the spirit of Ann Coulter, Hynes is in attack mode here. A Republican campaign consultant and TV pundit, he generally supports the positions of the Religious Right, which he calls “the most powerful political force in America today.” Despite having such power, conservative Christians are portrayed by Hynes as “maligned by cultural and political elites” as he rises to their defense. He takes on the Religious Left, with its “absurd declarations of piety and...flagrant distortions of Scripture.” As he chronicles the history of faith in U.S. politics and examines the issues that motivate the Religious Right (traditional marriage, intelligent design, the Ten Commandments, etc.), he dissects the writings and comments of “the fakers, the secularites, and the leftwing theocrats,” meaning such men as Jim Wallis, Barry Lynn, Howard Dean, All Gore, and the World Council of Churches (“the flagship organization of religious leftism”). His book will not win any converts; he is, after all, pretty much preaching to the choir. A marginal purchase for most libraries, though it's a good example of the basic arguments from the Right.

Despite its alarmist subtitle, Linker's book is a well-researched examination of an ideological movement that, he claims, forms the foundation of the current conservative religious political ascendancy. Former editor at First Things: The Journal of Religion, Culture and Public Life, Linker focuses chiefly on its founder, Richard John Neuhaus, and his cohorts Michael Novak and George Wiegel. These men were radical activists in the 1960s but gradually shifted to conservative Catholicism. Linker charts the rise of “public religiosity” through their writings, such as Neuhaus's The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America, and through assessing the influence of First Things on public policy, especially in the 1990s, when Neuhaus et al. joined forces with evangelical leaders and began advising conservative senators Rick Santorum and Sam Brownback. Linker's analysis of the impact of 9/11 on the theocon agenda is one of the highlights of the book. He writes that his intent is to expose and explain theoconservatism before the country is “thoroughly permeated by orthodox Christian piety and secular politics are driven out.” A chapter titled “Theocon Nation” provides examples of the consequences for such issues as abortion, bioethics, euthanasia, and gay marriage. An important contribution to the ongoing debate, this book is appropriate for academic and large public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/06.]

This is a book that dares to ask, “How would Jesus vote?” Seger, a scholar of theology and a script consultant (Advanced Screenwriting) answers the question by calling a section of her first chapter “The Liberal Values of Jesus” and urging readers to “vote the Golden Rule.” Her portrayal of Jesus as one who challenged authority and cared for society's outcasts is certainly not unique. She presents her argument that Democrats are “more Christian” than Republicans in a simple, straightforward manner, touching on all the hot-button social issues, from abortion to gay marriage and evolution vs. intelligent design, and alluding to the Iraq war. She quotes scripture and other theologians and cites examples from recent history to bolster her case. Her approach can come close to Bush-bashing, although her stated purpose is to promote mutual respect and minimize the passing of judgment. A study guide is linked to each chapter, and an appendix assesses “Christian values.” Seger's book is best suited for high school and public libraries and optional for academic collections.

Of the books reviewed here, this work by Suarez (senior correspondent, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer) offers the most balanced account of the issues in question. This is a journalist's journey worthy of comparison with Dan Wakefield's classic Supernation at Peace and War, written almost 40 years ago, which portrayed the mood of the country during the Vietnam era. Suarez examines an equally divisive era that pits conservative suburban votes of faith against urban secular liberals, with everyone trying to determine the proper place of religion in public life. In addition to interviewing politicians, religious leaders, and ordinary citizens, Suarez shares his personal religious experiences as an urban liberal Catholic and laments the demise of religious tolerance in current political discourse. He writes eloquently about the “Christian art of warfare,” the “nasty battle” over marriage, the separation of church and state, and such issues as the Ten Commandments controversy and teaching evolution. What sets his book apart is his attention to changes in the Catholic Church and the impact of a rising Latino Catholic population. The book reads easily and is sure to provoke lively discussion, serving well as a companion to Garry Wills's more scholarly Under God: Religion and American Politics. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.

Tom Karel, Collection Development Librarian at Shadek-Fackenthal Library, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, is a longtime reviewer in politics and social sciences for LJ