Customer Reviews

The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America

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My pastor is one of the wisest, smartest, and best-read people that I know. But I was pretty sure he had a copy of THE HOLY VOTE---and he didn't, so I gave him mine.

I finished reading the entire volume in about two days!

I've been a fan of Ray Suarez for a long time (devout NEWSHOUR guy here), and I have found him to be balanced, fair, and thorough.

His book is the very same. He addresses most of the hot buttons in today's society, and in today's church. I was particularly impressed with the introduction he made to his work, and with the quoting of Romans 12 at the beginning.

I would only hope that every "thinking Christian" takes a good read of this important work.

Suarez reminds us that regardless of how "thin" the issue may be, it always has at least two sides.

Terrific book.

Four VERY IMPORTANT Stars!! Written by Ray Suarez, senior correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer", this fact-laden, opinion-driven book investigates the juxtaposition and intersections of religion and politics in America. Mr Suarez states he wants "to alternately infuriate and intrigue you". And so he does! In many ways, it's a series of topical essays which are energized by years of interviews and many quotes. In fact, it is as much a brief history lesson as a survey of religion and politics, revealing many finer details of our historical background and the personages that have populated our history. If you missed the importance of religion to politics or believe it doesn't exist, this book will drive home the point from Mr Suarez' point of view. Indeed, some religious blocks are claiming more and more that they are determining the outcomes of elections from the local level to the White House. This book is not a demographic-driven study of the voting habits of the religious in America with charts and graphs showing the past votes and future trends from sea to shining sea. Perhaps in this form it's ultimately more conversational and readable.

He states that some claim the origins of the moral decline in our country can be traced to the Supreme Court decisions dealing with limiting school prayer. He, however, sees the country as having grown into one that is more religious and religiously diverse. Even so, the author feels many of the bedrock ideals of our past that may have been taken for granted are now the subject of open conflict and negotiation.

While admitting "the Constitution is a political document, not a sacred one" and "Ours was not founded as a Christian country", he sees the USA as the country with "the largest numbers of religious believers, active congregants, and people who merely say they believe in God." He tackles a number of topics that revolve around the topic: religions that took root in America. The beliefs of our earliest leaders. Tracking secularism and religion amid the westward expansion, thru the "Frantic, brutal, bloody nineteenth-century America", thru the 20th century, and into the increasingly diverse 21st century.

Age-old questions abound and are examined as he attempts to answer them: "Is America a Christian nation" or just a nation with an abundance of Christians? Is our separation of state and religion unique in world history? What is a "just war"? Other topics impacting on the political realm: the marriage issue, the 10 Commandment controversy, the alleged religious intolerance at a military service academy, the battles over school curriculum and prayer, hispanics and Catholicism in politics, and so on. Since there are no ultimate answers, one may find themselves only a little less perplexed about these issues at the end as when they began the book, but Mr Suarez certainly gives us pause and much food for thought, fleshing out some facts and situations of which we may not have been aware.

This book should be read by all potential voters to get at the breadth of the important voting issues. One may not be voting for what was previously thought to be a valid issue. But this book is not a technical treatise on faith-based voting blocks. The words "Okay, Wise Guy...Now What?" hang in the air at the end. Indeed!! Let's all agree to vote the way we see it, based on our religion, party, or whatever instructs us on the issues, giving a lot of consideration to this book. See you at the voting booth!! Recommended! Four ENGROSSING Stars!

(This review is based on an unabridged Ebook digital download in Adobe reader. Save a tree, download your books in your favorite reader!)

When religion is explicitly used in crafting public policy, we become divided into those who hold such beliefs, and those who do not.

However, general moral principals can give us a framework for a debate. They should not be asked to give an exact answer. A common set of moral principals, faith based for some people, not so for others, can allow us to make laws that presume from the beginning to be for us all.

Mr. Suarez's book reaches this place to have the public policy conversations by wading through every area of the culture wars in the news - separation of church and state, abortion, gay marriage, and public school issues -reviewing instances, interviewing people of every imaginable point of view. His tone is conversational and sincere; his perspective is respectful and clear-eyed.

I found The Holy Vote to be very much a help in understanding the present political discussions in our country - or lack there of - and my own reactions to them, and to re-forming my own opinions

Excellent explanation of what drives people of extreme faith to do what they do in America to influence others. Ray Swuarez is a gifted writer who knows how to lay it all on the line. I learned so much from reading this book, and highly recommendd it to others who want to become knowledgeable on this subject.

Suarez is a well-known reporter and anchor on the PBS News Hour (for those who watch PBS anyway). He is a Catholic and sincerely religious, but also concerned about the current friction in our society and political system which has accompanied the ascendancy of Evangelicals in the GOP (the Republicans have become, as John Danforth says, "the political wing of a religious group" and the "party of the religious right").

In this balanced and reasonable consideration of the problem, Suarez criticizes those of us who rant about the threat of imminent theocracy, even as he points out that complaints about the war on Christmas and other perceived persecutions of Christians is more than a little overblown.

If the rancor and polarization of the past seven years have become too much for you, and if you are especially concerned about the role of religion in our divisive culture wars and disfunctional politics, then this book by Ray Suarez will provide some light. Intelligent, well-researched, insightful and always moderate and reasonable in tone - Suarez makes a powerful case for religious people to bring their values into the public square, but to refrain from making their beliefs the center of the debate. He calls on religious people, who comprise the majority in America, to express their values in actions that unite us, and that enable us all to have a conversation, rather than in words that divide us and make dialogue an impossibility.

Although Suarez clearly is a believer himself, and clearly believes that religious belief is a positive force in society, his book will challenge the thinking of believers more than we secular types. In the end, in a country where nearly 90% admit to a belief in God - and the vast majority accept the divinity of the carpenter's son - the key to finding common ground lies in the restraint of the majority, in the respect of the rights of the minority - what used to be called "tolerance" but in fact looked a lot like a secular approach to public affairs and processes.

Ultimately, Suarez is asking us all to play down our separate identities - the things that prevent dialogue and progress - and to emphasize actions and decisions on the merits. He claims this is not so much about the exclusion of God as a more civil way of expressing our values, but I doubt that the followers of Pat Robertson and George Bush will see it that way.

I recommend this book. It may not change your mind, but if you're like me it may make you a little more sympathetic for the other side in the culture war.

Neil

Holy Vote The Politics of Faith in America by Ray Suarez.

Suarez is a regular reporter of the News Hour on PBS. He writes about how he sees the connection of religion and how it interacts with politics both historically as well as the present. Here are some interesting tidbits from his book.

Suarez goes back to the Founders to see what their intent was. He quotes Jefferson: "Question with boldness even the existence of god, because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason than the blindfolded fear". Jefferson used reason to question many of the items in the Bible. He felt the Bible should not be taken literally and felt that Jesus was a wise teacher, who did not consider himself God.

From the very beginning, many Christians came to this country, took over and denied the humanity of American Indians making them easier to kill. We do same thing even today to people we don't know such as Iraqis.

Today many Muslims in the Arab world think that when we say, "democratize" we really mean "Christianize". It doesn't help when we have a General saying we are going to win this war against Muslims, because our God is real and theirs isn't. We have God on our side and they have Satan. Instead of this General being reprimanded, he was promoted.

God loves Iraqis as much as He loves us. People don't seem to care that hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis have died in this current war.





Suarez talks about all the current church/state issues in today's society including the wording of "under God" in the Pledge, of teaching creationism in the schools, the issue of abortion, same sex marriage and faith based initiatives. Even whether we should continue to use the Christian Bible to assist in the courtroom swearing in witnesses.

The book reminded me of an incident that happened to me many years ago. I was asked if I was upset about the fact that we live in a Christian nation. My answer: If only we did.

If we were truly a Christian nation, would we have the highest rates of murder of violent crime than any other nation in the world? If we were a truly Christian nation, would we not figure out a way to use the nation's wealth to help the poor?

He talks about how some bishops will deny pro-choice candidates communion, but hides information regarding priests who molest boys. Many bishops will deny communion to a candidate, who feels the government should not be involved with what a woman does with her body regarding abortion. The candidate or elected official may not have had any direct involvement on this issue, but because s/he feels the government shouldn't be involved, then the person is denied communion. On the other hand, we have Catholic governors who allow someone to be executed (against church teachings) but nothing is said about them.

Overall an interesting book for those who are interested in church/state issues.

This book adopts a common modern perspective for its analysis: belief frameworks with a supernatural component are ultimately inappropriate in the public square. Only a belief framework without any supernatural component is acceptable (i.e., secularism).

Mr. Suarez does not seem to understand that many Americans are skeptical about secularism's ability to determine what is good, which societal goals are desirable, and what laws should be enacted to achieve those goals. As a result, he talks past those who have serious concerns about the weaknesses of the secular belief framework. To his credit, Mr. Suarez avoids the condescending tone of many similar books (e.g., "What's the Matter With Kansas?").

Two ironies continually emerge in this area:

1. The traditional Western Christian framework was the matrix for the current tolerant society that permits this kind of analysis to be printed (in stark contrast to the historically repressive nature of non-Christian societies; secular or not). For all the West's imperfections (e.g., a history of slavery), its view of all individuals being equal (and equally valuable and responsible) in the eyes of a personal God remains the foundation for its freedoms.

2. Many of the issues that Mr. Suarez and other analysts highlight were not put in the political arena by traditional Christians. While it is true that traditional Christians led the fight against slavery, they did not lead the fight for no-fault divorce, abortion, and gay rights; nor were they proponents of such secular frameworks as Freudian psychology, evolutionary biology, or Marxian economics.

Recent political analysis has often emphasized a kind of Hegelian synthesis as the way out of the current conflicts. This solution seems increasingly unlikely since the dominant belief frameworks in the world appear to be moving toward purer forms. For example:
1. Third world Christianity is increasingly traditional.
2. Traditional Christians in the United States are placing increasing emphasis on apologetics (e.g., the explosion of worldview books and training).
3. Islam is engaged in a fierce debate about whether *any* non-traditional beliefs are acceptable.
4. Secularism is moving away from moral perspectives that were grounded in Christianity (e.g., the proposals of bioethicist Peter Singer).
5. Mainline Christian groups that have abandoned traditional Christian perspectives are declining rapidly (i.e., the various attempts to synthesize secularism and Christianity seem to be failing).

Given these realities, Mr. Suarez should have included a serious summary of the key assumptions of the Christian and secular belief systems, discussed the similarities and differences, and addressed past attempts to synthesize them. The thoughtful reader will have to look elsewhere (e.g., Russell's "Why I Am Not A Christian", Geisler & Turk's "I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist"), and reach their own conclusions about (1) what common ground (if any) exists between these two ways of viewing the world and (2) whether a workable synthesis is likely to emerge in the near future.

In its current form, Mr. Suarez's analysis will appeal to thoughtful secularists (and some non-traditional religionists), but is unlikely to be seen as relevant by traditional Christians.