Add this one to your late-year holiday want list

October 22, 2005

Guest Post by Morbo

Last week I mentioned Catherine Crier’s new book “Contempt,” a great slam on the kook right for its attacks on our judicial system.

I’d like to recommend another new book this week. Former CNN and MSNBC commentator Bill Press has just released “How the Republicans Stole Christmas: The Republican Party’s Declared Monopoly on Religion and What Democrats Can Do to Take it Back.” It’s a book you don’t want to miss.

Press begins by debunking Religious Right claptrap about America being founded as a Christian nation. He offers a strong defense of the separation of church and state from a faith perspective and then moves on to discuss issues like abortion, the death penalty, gay marriage and taxes. He wraps up with a plan Democrats can use to re-engage religious Americans without alienating the secularists in the party.

Press is a devout Catholic, and his passion for a faith that uplifts instead of divides Americans really comes through on these pages. Not only is he a great writer, he’s an engaging speaker as well. Press lives in Washington and has been making appearances on behalf of the book. I was lucky enough to hear him last week at a book store in my neighborhood.

I was impressed by his down-to-earth nature. Some people get on TV and become all snooty. That’s not Press. He didn’t just scrawl his name on the books and push them across the table. He took the time to talk one-on-one with everyone who attended and personalized every signature.

I should note that there’s a lot about Jesus in this book. As a young man, Press entered a seminary and almost became a Catholic priest — he knows his stuff. I see the emphasis on Jesus as a plus. In a country that is predominantly Christian in a cultural sense, Press is making an important argument: The Bible simply does not support right-wing positions.

Press has much of value to say, and I believe even non-Christians will enjoy the book. Regular readers probably know of my secular bent. If more Christians were like Press, I might be tempted to sign up again.

Pick up a copy of “How the Republicans Stole Christmas.” You won’t regret it.

Religious or secular, it really is about shared values above all.

  • Humanists need to be less fussy about working with the religious who share our commitment to social justice
    The Guardian

    Coincidentally, I saw an article in the Guardian yesterday and was hoping to find an appropriate post in which to call people’s attention to it. Thanks Morbo.

    If you are interested the link is:
    http://tinyurl.com/c6eu3
    This is a redirect. It was created by a FF extention which replaces long URL with short ones.

  • “He wraps up with a plan Democrats can use to re-engage religious Americans without alienating the secularists in the party.”

    Outstanding! Alienating the secularists in the party pretty much IS the plan for re-engaging religious Americans that I’ve seen.

  • Awesome – to borrow a phrase from religion. I’ve encountered a resurgence in organized activism from many progressive people of faith, and even from mainstream Christian denominations. This has not occured since the Civil Rights movement, a time when Jews, Muslims, and Atheists wept for sadness and joy over gospel music.

    Progressive people of faith bring a reverence and respect for humanity to political activism. This tempers the anger so many activists have assumed as an effective motivational tool. Once the anger quiets the fear that underpins it may be revealed, and often healed.

    Secular Political Activists bring energy and creative organizational skills – tools that may reenenergize denominations that are hemmoraghing membership.

    Once these two are reunited it may be possible for a coherent and clear vision to emerge, the full vision of a united left. Then we can begin to engage in dialogue with the ‘middle’ and the right. There is a chance that we can effectively replace the unholy trinity at the top – the extreme right of religion, politics, and money.

    This combination may bring us through the series of assaults on our existence that loom in clear sight. Assaults and disasters that a benevolent leadership can utilize to further bring us together, to utilize the sum of our knowledge and skills so we survive and flourish.

  • Most thinking Christians I know believe that their religion has been hijacked by the right wing. Most people with a brain do not believe that God is a Republican.

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