I just finished reading the book
Toxic Faith: Liberal Cure by Dr. Daniel Bruch (a retired pastor and professor) and Dr Thomas Strieter (a retired Lutheran Minister and professor).
I highly recommend it to all!
The subtitle is "A reasoned and Judeo-Christian response to the alarming assertions of the Religious Right." It was something I have been looking for, yet didn't think I would find until this book showed up in my mail one day...a way to refute those on the right who believe that because I am a Liberal I have no love of God or moral values.
These two pastors cover all the controversial topics of our day and show how the Religious Right has misused the Bible and politics to mislead many in our nation. I found it hard to put the book down. I constantly wanted to read the next chapter to see what else I could use to counter those on the Right. They write in a very non-confrontational tone that sounds like they are speaking to you outside the church, in most cases, instead of preaching to you from a high pulpit.
They use reason and logic; and they site scripture to prove their points. They also show the scriptures that the Right uses as proof of its points but then show how they are misreading the scripture.
The Foreward lays it out there for you...
This book has two purposes. The first purpose is to answer those who claim that liberalism is immoral and is somehow destroying the values of this country. ... The second purpose is to carefully and rationally deal with many of the most vocalized and divisive current issues in a specifically Judeo-Christian liberal context. ... It will become evident that one of the current and pervasive cultural myths is, indeed, mythological. The myth perpetuated in much of the media, especially on the right, is that God is on the side of conservatives ... and liberals ... are the handmaidens of Satan.
The book is then laid out in a very user-friendly manner. At the end of each chapter are two sections. The first is "Making a Difference" and gives bullet points about what the reader can do to help effect changes in this area. The second is "Talking Points" and gives bullet points on the main points of the chapter. They did this, I believe, so readers could quickly review when in a discussion with a conservative and contest their arguments.
The first chapter puts their views in context. It discusses the roles that liberals and conservatives play in our society and government and that they both need each other: liberals to move new ideas forward and conservatives to measure the pace of progression. It also talks about how the Religious Right came to where it is today and many of the propaganda devices they use today. For instance, `repeating a lie' until it is accepted as truth and `Card Stacking' where only those facts, real or not, are mentioned that support their view.
The third chapter is about war in general and the Iraq war specifically. It goes through the history of how humankind came to the definition of a `just war'. Then it attempts to apply those widely accepted mores to the Iraq war. Suffice it to say, the Iraq war fails miserably.
The next chapter is on abortion. The authors caution that "...combing the Bible for `proof passages' ... can be a risky enterprise. If one has a predisposition on any subject, usually one can find some passage or another to support almost any position, as for example, slavery and the subordination of women..."
Exodus 12:22f states that if men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she has a miscarriage, that is, the fetus is killed, the perpetrator is not to be charged with murder, but is to be fined. If, however, there is a serious injury to the woman or she dies, the perpetrator will be put to death, following the principle of `a life for a life.'
It seemed to me that the authors don't necessarily approve of abortion but they do seem to lean pro-choice. Near the end of the chapter, they give many, unanswered, scenarios that they as pastors probably faced often about women in various situations who were contemplating having abortions. They did this to show that not every situation is easy to answer.
In the next chapter, I felt they pretty much disproved any Biblical background for the discrimination of gays and lesbians. There are only a few places where scripture seems to speak out against homosexuality, but they show that in those cases, it was really speaking out against homosexual rape (one man raping another). Jesus never mentions homosexuality. I loved this paragraph:
St Augustine said that if Scripture seems to conflict with clear and certain reasoning, then we must reinterpret Scripture. We have done such reinterpretation regarding the heliocentric theory (which established that the earth is not the center of the universe, but rotates around the sun); that we aren't living in a three storied universe with hell below and heaven above; that the world is infinitely older than we previously thought; and that we must face the realities of evolution and relativity. We have reinterpreted Scripture by embracing the emancipation of slaves, and hopefully we are learning to accept the emancipation of women, those divorced, and many other issues of changed understanding. If the sciences establish something that seems contrary to a clear text of scripture, then, insofar as these scientific insights do not deny the gospel, we must see the text of Scripture in light of the new scientific data.
The point being that science is now showing us that homosexuality is not a choice, or mental condition, but is part of a person's being - made by God.
I believe the best chapter though was the sixth: Haves and Have-Nots: THAT'S A Family Values Issue! This chapter talks about these so-called religious people that do nothing of what Jesus spoke most about: take care of the poor.
They relate this story...
A number of years ago we heard a sermon in which the preacher said, "My first point is that 34 million people live in poverty in the United States. My second point is that far too many people don't give a damn about it. And my third point is that you who are listening to me are probably more upset about the fact that I said `damn' in my sermon than you are about those who are suffering from poverty."
They state that "there are over 300 verses in the Christian Scriptures that speak about poverty and injustice, as compared with hardly a handful that even conceivably address abortion and homosexuality. ... Jesus didn't just talk about poverty; he was one of the poor himself."
They do a wonderful job of explaining the poverty trap and how it is difficult to get out of. They note that poverty is a very big family values issue, yet it is ignored by the Religious Right and the wealthy of this country.
There are other chapters on environmentalism and patriotism, but the book finishes with a chapter on Civics and Civility. They write that ... "In fact, from the writings of Roger Williams in 1644 through Thomas Jefferson in 1802 to President Ulysses Grant in 1875 to the present, the concept of separating church and state has been part and parcel of our history as a country."
The fundamentalistic conservative Christians about whom we speak are working diligently to establish their `ideal' Christian Culture. They seem to define such a culture as one where everyone believes in creationism, in eliminating the role of government in our lives as much as possible, in practicing laissez-faire capitalism, in biblical inerrancy, and essentially in only supporting the role of government in our lives to control homosexuality, abortion, and school prayer. ... They seek to eliminate liberals and humanists from the media, the schools, and the government. ... Finally, they want defense spending to be increased.
Jesus ... was a revolutionary in the sense that he lived as one among the poor and put himself in their place. Some of his followers today act in accordance to how they apparently think Jesus should have acted - as a powerful and prestigious and rich leader, with huge and extravagant buildings and an audience of millions and glitter and noise and material success.
The authors then finish up and basically tell us that it is on us to make change happen. We must engage those who are on the Right. We must help the poor. We must elect leaders who are liberal and will push that agenda. We must also work with those of other religions to effect this change.
As I mentioned, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but more so, I learned a lot from it. It is about 150 pages and is a very easy read.
It can be ordered from Amazon.com, but I recommend you go to www.LiveLiberal.org (I think it is cheaper on this site too; $14.99 paperback). This website is run by Dr Bruch. I recommend you check it out. They have a lot of nice liberal products such as T-shirts and bumper stickers that say "Liberal is a Good Word".
Full Disclosure: I am good friends with the daughter of Dr Bruch. I have never met him or spoken to him, but was excited when his daughter asked me to read his book and review it if I liked it. I loved it and, thus, highly recommend it!