Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America (The Documents of 20th-century art) [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Gustav Niebuhr (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Documents of 20th-century art | Publication Date: July 31, 2008

A bracing rejoinder both to religious fanaticism and to recent books decrying religion

The United States is the most religiously diverse nation in the world and the most religiously diverse collection of people in history. And even in this age of increasing religious violence, there is a growing movement of cooperation: thousands of devout worshippers who are willing to take a gamble on people of radically different faiths.

In this insightful, deeply felt examination of the nature of community and religion, former New York Times religion reporter Gustav Niebuhr traces the roots of religious freedom in America and the setbacks and triumphs it has encountered along the way. From Hindus and Quakers in Queens to Catholics and Jews in Baltimore, to black Baptists and Catholics in Louisville, to Catholics and Buddhists in Los Angeles, Niebuhr focuses on the ways people build ties between groups. He looks at why this movement is a particularly American endeavor and how it can save us all. Beyond Tolerance is a handbook for religious cooperation in our fractured times.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Niebuhr, the former religion reporter for the New York Times, is now a professor at Syracuse University. This makes his book immensely valuable: he has the careful scholarship of an academic, but the communication expertise of a journalist skilled at getting to the personal heart of a story. Not long after 9/11, Niebuhr set out to find and tell the largely untold stories of those who are involved in interreligious dialogue: why do they do it? what do they gain from it? what do they risk? True dialogue, as the title claims, means moving beyond tolerance, approaching other religious traditions with a desire to learn and, perhaps more important, to make friends. Niebuhr tells memorable stories of people reaching across religious lines, from a group of Cape Cod Congregationalists who gave a Jewish community a historic building, some land and some money to create a synagogue to the energetic individuals who founded Louisville's famous Festival of Faiths. Niebuhr beautifully honors the commitment and care shown by those working on the front lines of interreligious understanding. (Aug. 4)
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Review

"Gustav Niebuhr's remarkable and absorbing Beyond Tolerance comes at a time when religious fanaticism, with its perversion and violence, has emerged as a threat to civilization. Anyone involved or at least interested in dialogue among individuals, communities, and nations, will benefit from its wisdom and humanity."
—Elie Wiesel

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (July 31, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0670019569
• ASIN: B001QFZLSE
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,188,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Visionary Call, August 19, 2008

By 

Dan R. Dick "doroteos" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America (The Documents of 20th-century art) (Hardcover)

Every once in awhile a book transcends paper, ink, and binding to paint a picture. Niebuhr's book does just that -- casting a vision for interfaith understanding and issuing a challenge to engage in a transformative dialogue -- to move beyond the boundaries that limit and constrain us. Our future health, vitality, and sustainability as a global culture lies in collaboration and connection that is greater than any one religious faith or belief system. Too often modern religion is framed in divisive, destructive, and dysfunctional terms, with little regard to the essence of the good, the beautiful, and the true that undergird every major faith. When differences can be set aside in deference to the common good and the shared values of diverse faiths, amazing things can happen. Niebuhr offers an invitation into a new way of being 'religious' in a complex, chaotic, and often contentious world. This is a recommended read for every person of faith who desires to see our world become a place of peace, justice, mercy, and love.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Study Guide, November 2, 2008

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K. Konkle (MA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America (The Documents of 20th-century art) (Hardcover)

"Beyond Tolerance" is an excellent book for a church adult study group. We are thoroughly enjoying it at our Congregational church and would recommend that you consider it for your group. It is very pertinent for our times.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A call for humanity, brotherhood and unity, October 3, 2009

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Tax Accountant "Tax Accountant" (Nevada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America (The Documents of 20th-century art) (Hardcover)

This is a slim volume, less than 250 pages, but the author has a point to make: "Yes, we can all get along and care for one another, even though we are all of different faiths". This book is a call to our humanity (and humility).

This book is very readable, and has numerous stories of people of different faiths coming together to help each other in times of great need. I didn't feel that this book was overtly political at all. In fact, I felt the author was using these stories as a means to say that we all have a responsibility, as human beings, to lift each other up, help one another, and just reach across all of our differences and unite to make the world a better place for all of us.

It's a great message, and the stories are really uplifting. I really enjoyed this book.