Customer Reviews

Middle Church: Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right

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Bob Edgar's book addresses Middle Church, Middle Mosque and Middle Synagogue and challenges the faithful majority of us to speak out, vote and truly follow the leaders of our faiths. With our collective lack of understanding and complacency, we've allowed the conservative religious right to steal from us. And then, once stolen, the values have been remolded, reframed and reissued as 'authentic' and the 'true' meaning of the Bible, the Talmud and the Koran. That's all hogwash! Those wonderful books talk about our responsibility for stewardship and preservation of Planet Earth; our responsibility to protect and defend widows and children from the ravages of poverty; and God's requirement that all his children live in peace with one another and treat each other like we want to be treated. The religious right created hot buttons, like homosexuality and abortion, and try to place their origins in the Bible, Talmud and Koran. Sorry. Those books just don't talk about the religious right's claims. Those books DO talk about peace (as in loving one's neighbor), poverty and preservation of our planet. Everyone in Middle America needs to read this book, and understand we must face-off with the religious right. They can't steal from us if we refuse to allow it!

Sharon Shaw Elrod

Bob Edgar makes a compelling argument that people of faith in the middle of the road churches, synagogues, and mosques have the power to make important changes to our body politic. By sitting back and not acting, the members of these bodies have not prevented war, poverty, or pollution. Edgar's treatise is a call to action for this important group. He draws well on his experiences as a local pastor, campus chaplain, Member of Congress, Seminary President, and head of the National Council of Churches. Unlike many books by Members of Congress or seminary presidents, it is readable and inspiring, not just a "look at what I did or look at how much I know" book. I am giving my pastor and many of my church friends copies as Christmas gifts. Edgar is prompting us all to do a better job of being "church". If only he had not titled it: Middle Church.

The author observes that many people do not see their spiritual values as being connected to political issues. Thus they do not vocalize their values during political discussions. This allows the Religious Right to receive most of the attention. Thus, the views of the Religious Right are overrepresented as the views of the religious communities.

Edgar observes the Bible mentions peace or poverty over 2,000 times, homosexuality twice, and makes no mention of abortion. He wonders how the Religious Right then places emphasis when speaking on behalf of the religious community that homosexuality and abortion are their main concerns.

Edgar, a minister who admits that church can be boring, believes God speaks to everyone in a manner that can be heard. He believes that "if we listen, we can hear the divine in the words of people like Martin Luther King, Gandhi, or William Sloane Coffin." He states that America is divided into "two churches", one that brings faith through love, and the other from the Religious Right that brings faith through fear. While Jesus taught people to love their neighbors, he fears that some politicians have co-opted the Religious Right movement for their own political goals which are not the goals of love that Jesus taught.

Edgar sees global warming as fulfillment of Revelation in how the world can be destroyed. He is proud that he wrote the Community Right to Know Law regarding informing people of toxic chemicals stored in the neighborhoods when Edgar was a member of Congress.

Edgar objects to those who used the name of Jesus to support the war in Iraq. He states Jesus would reject a preemptive, and not defensive, war where many innocent civilians are killed. He also sadly notes no Western country ever admitted that genocide was happening while it was happening. Edgar argues that Jesus, as well as other religions, all teach that "there is nothing more realistic than hope."

This book review was written on the anniversary of the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. April 4, 1968

Rarely, I suppose, does one have the opportunity to sit down with the author of a book and to discuss it at length before writing a review. However, that was my distinct pleasure late last year when, with the Reverend Bob Edgar, I discussed his newly released book Middle Church: Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right. As General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ and a former six-term member of Congress, Edgar provides keen insight to many of the issues dividing our society. Edgar is also, perhaps, one of the few people who had the opportunity to listen to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who influenced his life and a decade later, as a member of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, meet James Earl Ray, the man who ended King's life.

After signing my copy with the message "Always remember: `We are the leaders we have been waiting for'..." our conversation began. Edgar, quoting President John F. Kennedy, on being liberal writes, "If by a liberal they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people--their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties... If that is what they mean by a `liberal', then I'm proud to say I'm a liberal.' I own that definition!"

Edgar passionately addresses issues such as the environment and global warming, war and peace, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, "Reconciling Abraham's Children: Toward Peace in the Middle-East", as well as global and domestic poverty. On Global warming Edgar writes, "This issue will rise or fall--and the earth with it--based on the action or apathy of the mainstream". In a thought-provoking chapter, whimsically entitled What Part of "Blessed are the Peacemakers" Don't they Understand, Edgar writes "...when the lies about the Iraq invasion were exposed as fiction, the White House claimed to have fought to free the people of Iraq from the horrific suffering they endured. Does a black child in Sudan or Rwanda deserve any less? There is no avoiding the uncomfortable truth that our brothers and sisters in Africa seem to have been abandoned because their skin is black and they do not have any resources we want. If Rwanda or Sudan sat atop an oil field, it is difficult for me to imagine we would not have found a pretense to save them". Similarly, Edgar is brilliant in shining a bright light on the hypocrisy of the religious right just as he does in exposing the double standards that are too often part of US foreign policy.

Edgar is dead-on-center in the need to challenge what he calls "Middle Church, Middle Synagogue, Middle Mosque"--the many millions of faithful people who do not always connect their spiritual values with political issues and whose voices are, as a result, often drowned out by the far religious right. Yet, the influence of the far religious right does not explain, for example, why the majority of Americans including most democrats in Congress supported the war in Iraq. One wonders, however, if the same world that rejected the messages of individuals such as Dr. King, Ghandi, Robert and John Kennedy, and, yes, Jesus, is any more ready today to hear the prophetic words of Middle Church. Pray and lead the way!

We are using this book for a study group and it provides for great discussions of todays current issues. It is a very balanced approach to religion in today's society.

I have personally known Bob Edgar as a candidate, congressman, speaker, and religious leader. He has come to each facet with dedication and abundant energy--a 'can do' spirit. Today we of the middle church are quite akin to the new testament Church of Laodicea. (Rev. 3:14-22) God's assessment of this church: "You are neither hot nor cold....and I will spit you out of my mouth." Although Bob and I don't always agree, (when two people always agree, one of them is unnecessary) I appreciate him holding up a mirror for us to see ourselves, and hopefully do something about it.

As a moderate Christian I have many concerns about the hubris of the Religious right, but also have many concerns about the religious left. That said: I found that Bob Edgar raises many issues that point to the apathy of the Christian middle. I was hoping for more concrete ways of "reclaiming" the Church. I found this lacking, but suppose that the onus for reclaiming lies with the reader. While the author identifies himself as liberal I believe that he fails to realize that the middle Church is "middle"...that is liberal on some issues and conservative on others. I think that perhaps The Rev. Edgar is more liberal than he knows, therefore the book is not objective enough for my liking.

This should be required reading for all persons of faith whether they belong to Middle Church, Middle Synagogue or Middle Mosque. The author states that his purpose is "to awaken the conscience of average, ordinary, common folds within in the United States to do above-average, extraordinary, and uncommon things." Bob Edgar recognizes that we may differ on questions of personal piety but affirms we need to come together to reclaim our faith and restore it to a "force for justice, peace, the poor, and the health of our fragile planet." I urge you to read this book and then to join with others to put our faith into action.