God and Other Famous Liberals: Recapturing Bible, Flag, and Family from the Far Right [Paperback]

F. Forrester Church (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996

An intellectual study on today's political and social issues addresses the topics of religion, patriotism, and family values while emphasizing the strong connection between liberalism and democracy. NYT. AB. PW.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Cheerleading manual for politico-religious liberalism, by an N.Y.C. Unitarian minister. Church (Father and Son, 1985) loves the ``L word''; what's more, he believes that God loves it too: ``God, the most famous liberal of all, has a bleeding heart that never stops,'' he quips, and then tosses in some apple pie for good measure: ``every good mother and father is a liberal.'' Behind this jaunty sloganeering lies an instructive history exercise, an attempt to trace the roots of American liberalism back to the Bible and the Founding Fathers. Church finds a ``liberal social gospel,'' which he defines as ``love to God and love to neighbor,'' in the teachings of Jesus, in the free-worship statues of the colony of Rhode Island, in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and in the words of both Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King. He does concede some liberal errors--overprotection of criminals, government paternalism--but the battle cry is sounded: faith, flag, family, and federal government--all these belong by right to the liberals. Amazing in its single-mindedness, amusing in its silliness (Church takes the time to argue that Jesus would have opposed prayer in public schools), finally poignant in its quixotism. Liberals will love it, but unless the political climate swerves to the left, conservatives will laugh all the way to next Inauguration Day. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

With history and the Holy Scriptures as his guide, the Reverend Forrest Church takes on the religious right and political conservatives on three fronts: religion, patriotism, and family values. Emphasizing the strong connection between liberalism and democracy, he debunks the myth of the moral superiority of the conservative viewpoint. With an excellent forward by Anne Eleanor Roosevelt, God And Other Famous Liberals is divided into three sections: Reclaiming the Bible (The Most Famous Liberal of All; God's Son Jesus; The Holy Spirit); Reclaiming the Flag (With Liberty for All; We Hold These Truths; One Nation Under God); and Reclaiming the Family (Your Mother is a Liberal; E Pluribus Unum). The book concludes with an Epilogue, Appendix; and an Index. God And Other Famous Liberals is recommended reading for everyone, freethinker or religionist, who support the principles of church-state separation, and whose are saddened by the spectacle of the Religious Right claiming moral superiority over not only the "Godless Humanist" but the Religious Left as well. Insightful, very well written in an engaging style, and as Arthur Schlesinger Jr. wrote: "This thoughtful and and spirited book reminds us all that the Bible and the flag are not the private property of the radical right. " Forrest Church is pastor of All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City, and the author of numerous books including: Father and Son, Everyday Miracles, and The Seven Deadly Virtues. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 173 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company; First Paperback Edition edition (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802774830
• ISBN-13: 978-0802774835
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #612,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

FORREST CHURCH is currently serving his thirtieth year as minister of All Souls Church in Manhattan. He earned his doctorate in church history at Harvard and has written or edited twenty-two books, including The Separation of Church and State. He lives in New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written & pertinent!, January 14, 2002

By 

Dave Ewick "Library Man" (Rochester, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God and Other Famous Liberals: Recapturing Bible, Flag, and Family from the Far Right (Paperback)

Forrest Church has thoroughly researched our history and connected our founding father's thoughts & hearts to a much more liberal doctrine of spirit in our Constitution and Declaration of Independence than most conservatives will be ready to believe.
His hypothesis that we were founded on liberal values that have been under attack from the beginning makes perfect sense, and is very important to today's world, with all the fundamentalism and evangelic fervor pushing us further & further to the right.
Sadly, most will automatically dismiss this book by the title alone, afraid of what they will find. If they'd take the time they'd see good reasons why God must be a liberal, and why we must return as a nation to more liberal thinking and behavior if we are to remain a nation that values it's people.
I highly recommend this book!

58 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And the truth shall make you free, July 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: God and Other Famous Liberals: Recapturing Bible, Flag, and Family from the Far Right (Paperback)

I bought this book because the title intrigued me. I am a non-affiliated Jew, an unrepentant Liberal and a secular humanist to boot. Mr. Church's book is a beautifully written and elegantly reasoned answer to those who would co-opt faith, patriotism and "family values" as their own private property. Lest the title, or Mr. Church's status as an ordained Unitarian minister, frighten off those with a less classic idea of the deity, Mr. Church points out that "God is also not God's name; God is our name for the highest power we can imagine....When Moses asks who he is talking to up there on Mount Sinai, the answer is not "God", but "I am who I am" or "I do what I do", which is what Yahweh means. Liberals who have been bullied into being ashamed of what they believe this country is about by those who have turned "Liberalism" into a perjorative "L" word will find this book an excellent answer to those on the Far Right who claim to be 'conservative' but who are really radical.

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We've always known that God was a Liberal, December 20, 2002

By 

Duncan Mcginnis "Duncan" (Willis, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God and Other Famous Liberals: Reclaiming the Politics of America (Hardcover)

Thank God for Forrest Church!! He has so eloquently written what we Liberals have always known. This work will expose the Religious Right for what they are. Overblown zealots, who have wrongly hi-jacked the symbols of Family and Flag.