Raised Right: How I Untangled My Faith from Politics [Paperback]

Alisa Harris (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 6, 2011

Meet the new breed of Christians shaping our culture.

Alisa Harris grew up in a family that actively fought injustice and moral decay in America. She spent much of her childhood picketing abortion clinics and being home-schooled in the ways of conservative-Republican Christianity. As a teen she firmly believed that putting the right people in power would save the nation.

But as she moved into adulthood, Alisa confronted unexpected complexities on issues that used to seem clear-cut. So, she set about evaluating the strident partisanship she had grown up with, considering other perspectives while staying true to the deep respect she held for her parents and for the Christian principles that had always motivated her.

Raised Right is not only an intriguing chronicle of Alisa’s personal journey; it also provides a fascinating glimpse into the worldview of a younger generation of faith––followers of Christ who believe that the term “Christian” is not synonymous with a single political party or cultural issue.

Whether you are moderate, conservative, or progressive, Raised Right will prompt you to consider more deeply what it means to affirm Christ-like justice, mercy, and righteousness in the current cultural landscape. And it will give you a deeper understanding of how the new generation of Christians approaches the intersection of faith and politics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Raised Right

“Journalist [Alisa] Harris gives a face and a voice to America’s younger generation, offering herself up as a case study of Christian youth caught in a partisan nation.… Young Americans will identify with her coming-of-age struggles and passion for weeding out injustice. Right-wing politicians and older generations of Christians should pay close attention in order to understand, and perhaps empathize with, her demographic.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Endorsements to co “A wonderful story for political misfits of all shapes and colors. Harris invites you to hop off the political bandwagon and to walk with her down the narrow way that leads to life. And she reminds you not to veer too far off the path to the left or to the right, lest you get confused and can’t find the way home again.”
—Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and recovering sinner, www.thesimpleway.org

“Raised Right demonstrates that the evangelical stampede to the far right in the 1980s has produced a generational backlash, as young evangelicals like Alisa Harris encounter the Hebrew prophets and the words of Jesus. This is the most encouraging book about evangelicals and politics I have read in a very long time.”
—Randall Balmer, Columbia University, author of Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America

“Raised Right is funny, insightful, and packed with truth. Harris speaks on behalf of a generation of culture warriors longing for a more peaceful way forward. Those who grew up in the trenches will relate to every page.”
—Rachel Held Evans, author of Evolving in Monkey Town

“In Raised Right, Alisa Harris paints a fascinating picture of how the same religious devotion can send succeeding generations to opposite sides of the political battlefield. And while her story may be more common than ever, it’s uncommonly told. Alisa’s voice is fresh, honest, gracious, and provocative in all the right places. An enthralling and illuminating read.”
—Jason Boyett, author of O Me of Little Faith: True Confessions of a Spiritual Weakling

“Alisa Harris is a smart, fearless, gracious writer who, in her memoir Raised Right, showcases a deft mature-beyond-her-years honesty and kindness when sharing her affecting story of growing up in a politics-and-faith-charged environment. But the brilliance of Raised Right shines brightest when Harris begins confessing—often with a self-deprecating spin—the personal and spiritual unraveling that happens when she begins to unmarry her faith from her politics. Ultimately, hope wins throughout as Harris discovers small bits of humble truth along the journey. And because narrative in Raised Right is rich yet familiar, readers will discover small bits of their own.”
—Matthew Paul Turner, author of Churched and Hear No Evil

“Raised Right chronicles Alisa Harris’s journey from an evangelical childhood community steeped in the politics of James Dobson to an evangelical young adulthood where the politics of Barack Obama are preferred. It is engaging and well written, and it will be very illuminating to anyone who wants to understand the changes afoot among youth raised evangelical and what those changes will mean for American politics.”
—Jonathan Dudley, author of Broken Words: The Abuse of Science and Faith in American Politics

About the Author

Alisa Harris is a journalist living in New York City who enjoys writing in quirky coffee shops. A 2007 graduate of Hillsdale College, she has worked as a college instructor in writing and journalism. Her writing has been published in WORLD, the Farmington Daily Times, Albuquerque Journal, and Detroit Free Press.

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (September 6, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307729656
• ISBN-13: 978-0307729651
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #524,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not very aptly titled December 15, 2011

By Jessica A. Dewaay VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I was first interested in this book because I, too, have come to a point where I do not like the politicization of conservative Christianity. It seems to me that I should be able to be a conservative Bible-believing Christian without having to be a political activist for the Republican party. So, I really hoped this book would help me along in my own journey.

To start with, I must say that I enjoy the authors writing style. It was very easy to read and she is a gifted storyteller. Her stories are all very revelant and serve to bring out the points she is trying to make as she explains the things she wrestled with as a young adult.

However, I didn't end up feeling like she really "untangled" her faith from her politics. Its seems, rather, that she has embraced both theological and political liberalism. I really feel that her faith is just as much entwined with her politics as it ever was.

If you want to understand the thought process of the young, postmodern, Emergent church types, this book will be very revealing for you. But, if you really just are looking at escaping politicized Christianity while holding fast to conservative, biblical Christiantiy you will likely be frustrated by and disappointed in this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars New Christian Way-Pavers October 31, 2011

By Ruth Arnell

Format:Paperback

Something I've noticed about myself is that while I'm willing to consider new and different angles on a given issue, when it comes to using what I've learned in order to take a side on that issue my firstborn brain often hesitates if I don't have a feeling of permission to make the choice I'm about to make.

Alissa Harris's new book "Raised Right" gave me the feeling of permission I needed.

***We interrupt this review to bring you the reviewer's Life Story for the sake of journalistic transparency in background comparison between her and the book's author.
- Management***

The oldest of three kids, I was raised in a warm, nurturing, politically conservative Christian home by parents who loved their kids, their families, and the world around them. To the point, even, that they sold their home in the Chicago suburbs to live in South America for three years where my mom taught grade school and my dad built schools, churches, a drug rehab facility, and whatever else came up. They loved God. They loved people. They loved each other. Luckily that love rubbed off on their kids.

While our family rejected the absurd stereotype of many culture-Christians who live to call This, That, or The Other politician either a Saint or an Anti-Christ, we were a Republican-voting family. My parents never specifically instructed me as such, preferring to keep politics out of their children's lives, but I still knew which box I should check when I reached 18. In fact, I was in my early 20s before it occurred to me to even think about listening to- not just hearing- the whys and wherefores behind the reasoning of the American Left. Not even to agree with it, mind you, but just to listen to it.

I didn't really need for there to be alternatives growing up.... What I knew was working just fine. My folks weren't crazy religious or political extremists. They didn't demand all Christians be Republicans, yell at people who disagreed with them, crack mean jokes about people they weren't voting for, or make me wear culottes. They simply stood behind a set of political ideals I could identify with. A set of ideals most of my friends' families seemed to identify with, too. It was just part of our community. A community which included going to church, reading the Bible, watching "The Simpsons," and having epic sleep-over birthday parties where mom would make crafts with us with no regard to our messes while dad told us scary adventure stories with strong female protagonists. (The parallels between mine and Harris's upbringing are many, but clearly not universal.)

As I grew older it still made sense to me to support those ideals because I was raised seeing the heart behind those ideals, not the loud-mouthed pundits spewing them on TV. I was raised on the "best case scenario" of those ideals being put into play, not on the distorted logic behind "worst case outcomes" like blowing up abortion clinics. I was raised seeing that some people really do live out a commitment to justice from a standpoint of loving God, wanting to do right by the world, and who are willing to make real and significant sacrifices to bring peace to others. And I strongly believed that if we all did our part we could see those "best case scenarios" coming true.

(Another firstborn thing, I suppose. You know- work hard, work smart, and things will fall into place. If they don't you probably just didn't work hard and smart enough. There's a lot of pressure to this whole "firstborn" thing. Thank God we're all so awesome.)

But then I began my own life and met people and lived through situations that forced apart my faith life and my political life, all the while speckling my black-and-white understanding of the world with flecks of moderate gray. Again and again I faced people I loved in situations that caused them pain, and there I was with a political map that didn't feature the roads they were walking, let alone viable exits or much needed rest points to serve their needs along the way. I didn't feel like I needed to toss my map just because it lacked way points, but I did recognize that it was incomplete, and that if I didn't start adding those missing roads to it myself no one else was going to do it for me. The world is too complicated and life too short to allow ourselves to rely on invisible routes to paper towns.

Every time I thought about those new roads, I worried. Was it okay to look at the same facts and draw different conclusions? Would I still be welcome in that warm community I grew up in? I really needed to know. I still need to know, actually, if I'm gonna put that "Hillary 4 Prez" sticker on my car. And while intellectually I know it's okay, it still hurts a little to wonder, to differ, to change without permission.

"I see both sides telling us that to be uncertain, to dialogue instead of rail, is to betray the cause." (p. 174)

***We now return you to the Book Review you're actually here to read and apologize for the reviewer's interruptions, though we cannot guarantee she will not make another such attempt.
- Management***

"Raised Right" is about growing up in a home where Christianity and the Republican Party are considered to be two sides of the same shiny, home schooling coin. Where Ronald Reagan is practically neck and neck with the prophets. Where a gal could find herself believing "...Jesus was not Someone who gave victory over the sin in [one]self but a shadowy figure who had left us to work for the salvation of the world through politics." (p. 39) Where the gospels of preachers and politicians often get crossed. (p.72) It's about changing without permission. Boldly. And in spite of the "shell-shocked" exhaustion that can follow such changes. (p. 144)

In it, Alisa Harris shares an intimately detailed look into her younger years, spent picketing abortion clinics, stuffing ballot boxes for the Republican candidate du jour, and arguing for Reagan's supremacy as an American president in exchange for a calendar bearing the great man's likeness. Her narrative goes on to cover her careful, tenuous shift toward becoming Alisa Harris, "Teetotaling Theologically Ambivalent Christian Feminist Honors Program Enrollee" (p. 127) and "liberal feminist." (p. 145) It's a bumpy ride- it's a bumpy road- but it is delivered in such an approachable and well-penned way that readers should be hard pressed to find her conclusions unexpected or unreasonable.

One of the things I appreciated in particular about her book is that in spite of the quirky conservatism- and sometimes outright extremism- of the people who shaped her life and values, she never speaks with anything resembling mockery or disdain toward those individuals. Quite the opposite. In writing about their strengths as well as their struggles, she traces her journey's history back to how their love of and commitment to God, justice, and humanity taught her to value those things as well. This applies to her parents in particular. "What did my parents teach me that I will pass on to my children? To care... To love... To take heart." (p.218) We the readers are given the gift of seeing the sacrifices they made for her and her sister, the time and love and effort they put into building their relationships with each other. It's a peek behind the Christian Curtain, and I liked what I saw.

"Raised Right" gives an insider's look into a religious group many in this country look at with fear, and many others with folly. It's broad, it's deep, it's touching, and somehow it still doesn't pull any punches. For these reasons I would strongly recommend this book not only to fellow Christians raised in conservative homes who have found themselves wandering left of Square 1, but also to people for whom this subculture and lifestyle are totally foreign. People who've ever asked themselves why so many Christians believe they "must" be Republicans, and why they then do what they do, support what they support, and picket what they picket. It's an eye opener without being a raging political alarm clock. It's more of an unexpectedly early sunbeam through your bedroom window on a trip back home for Christmas.

Harris has produced a real gem in "Raised Right." It's part memoir, part apology, part explanation, and part field guide to modern Christianity in the American Right. Regardless of where you stand in regard to religion or politics, there is something to take away from this book. Be it permission to admit to yourself as a Christian that you, too, have explored these ideological territories and that "people can hold blends of belief that seem incongruous to someone else," (p. 144), or permission to view conservative Christians in a more accepting light and not to "[define them] only by [their] political characteristics and which special-interest group claims to represent [them]." (p. 126)

I struggled to find an appropriate excerpt from the book with which to conclude this review. The struggle was not for a lack of quotable material, but for an almost overwhelming abundance of poignant thoughts begging to be shared. So I will end with the following in the hope that it will prompt your spirit as it did mine:

"We seek in one another the assurance that there is just one correct interpretation of the world, that everything is so simple anybody can see it unless they're malicious or stupid or willfully ignorant; and we punish one another for proving with our differing conclusions that truth is not that easy. We think we must suppress dissension to present the unified front we need to gain power over our enemies. But there are pro-life Democrats, pro-choice Christians, feminists who love their families, and conservatives who care about poor people. Not all of them are right, but neither are they heretics."
(p. 146-7)

*I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I don't owe it to them to like, or not like, this book. The opinions in this review are mine and mine alone. All it really means that I was given this book for free is that I'll have paid less for my copy than you'll pay for yours. And you should really consider paying for a copy. Read more ›

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An older person's perspective November 1, 2011

By L. L Teuling VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I have calculated Alisa Harris' age to be from the mid-to upper 20's. (I may be mistaken here, and if so, let me know). Whether I'n accurate or not, I know that she is still a young person. In my opinion, that made her book even more effective. "Young person" and "ignorant person" are not always one and the same. In fact, her book resonated very well with me at my age -- considerably over 21 years old.

I was born in the Truman era -- and when I went to Bible College, Lyndon Johnson was president. When he was elected, the president of the school was sad over that. I figured that our school president was very Republican. At the time I was, too, but I began to wonder -- where does the Bible say that Christians must be Republican? Times were different then, but I was noticing a shift in thinking in many Christian circles that I wasn't articulate enough to put into words. Those were the days of the "Cold War," and people interested in Medicare (which was passed while I was in Bible College) were seen as being leftists if not borderline "Communistic." Communism was a live issue in those days, and Democrats were seen to be at best slightly "pink" if not "red" altogether.

Fast forward to Ms. Harris' experience. Some of the things she mentions, I realize that I thought about in retrospect. In 1964 and 1965 I had wondered about what seemed to be a fixation of many Evangelical Christians on the Republican party. Even though I was probably "conservative" then (and maybe still am) I had a hard time proving Biblically that private enterprise is morally superior to government control. Eve though I preferred private enterprise (and still do) it didn't mean that I was a better Christian than someone who wanted a more government-oriented approach to politics....

Granted, the culture that Alisa Harris inherited was and is quite different from the way I grew up (although the '50's and early '60's were not the innocent, laid back times people often think they were)she has a lot of insights and observations that I'd had at her age. I think that she accurately has pointed them out.

Chances are, her children will have a culture with challenges of its own -- but through this whole thing, we can know this: being a Christian is having a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus' disciples themselves had varying political views, both pro-Rome and anti-Rome. But they still functioned together for the Kingdom of God.

I trust that Alisa Harris continues to write books. If this one is any indication of what future ones will be like, I'm sure they will be very much worth reading. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A genuine journey March 22, 2012

By Isabelle VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Frankly I went into this story with prejudices of my own--with a strong belief that the religious right wing uses their faith to excuse their close-minded judgement of anyone who is not just like them.

But the author tells of her sincere efforts to see things from others point of view, to not judge others but treat them as her Christian faith would: "Treat those as you yourself would like to be treated". That even includes those you don't agree with.

I was particularly touched by Miss Harris' description of sending what she thought would be an anonymous letter in defense of a group that had been attacked by a religious group--and in turn endangering her own career and reputation. That mistake was a real eye opener for her. She says that she was never vitrolic in her political activism, but the intensity of her protests became tempered and matured with compassion and tolerance.

I like the style this is presented in. I could feel the author's confusion. It wasn't as if she had an epiphany or let go of her staid upbringing. Evolution doesn't happen over night. She just allowed compassion to ease it's way in, and with it came understanding.