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Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking About Social Issues with People Who Don't Think Like You
 
 
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Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking About Social Issues with People Who Don't Think Like You [Paperback]

Barbara Curtis (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Book Description

July 1, 2006
Feminism. Abortion. Homosexuality. Euthanasia. Is there a way to bridge the gap between the polarized platforms on either side of the most volatile issues of our times? In Reaching the Left from the Right, author Barbara Curtis, a former hippie, anti-war activist, and pro-choice advocate, shares her amazing story of transformation from a life without Christ to a freedom in Him that she never knew existed. With wisdom and insight, she encourages Christians to look beyond the politics that divide us to find the common ground that unites us. She offers practical suggestions for learning to talk with people who think differently about today’s social issues and shows us that regardless of where a person stands politically, God loves and cares about all people and He is the only One who can help us bridge the gap in our divided world.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Autobiography, commentary on our multifaceted American society . . .Reaching the Left needs to be read. – Donna Eggett, Christian Book Previews.com -- Christian Book Previews.com

From the Back Cover

Author Barbara Curtis, a former hippie and political activist, shares her amazing story of transformation from a life without Christ to a freedom she never knew existed. Curtis shares practical suggestions for connecting with people who think differently than you do about today's most divisive issues. She reminds us of God's love for all mankind - regardless of our politics.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City (July 1, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0834122022
  • ISBN-13: 978-0834122024
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,616,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Back in the 70's, when I took my training as a Montessori teacher, I never dreamed someday I would be mother to 12. But here I am - and alive to tell about it too!

My life took many a tangent before it settled where it is now. From Washington DC antiwar activist/radical feminist to San Francisco drug addict/ welfare mother. In 1980 I began to see the light, cleaned up my act and tried to become the mother my two daughters - Samantha Sunshine and Jasmine Moondance - needed. In 1983, I married a fellow seeker. We meditated daily and searched relentlessly for the truth. We began building an award-winning tree care business in California. In addition we began having babies every 18 months. By the time we found Christ in 1987, we had five - the two girls, plus Joshua, Matthew, and Benjamin.

Some things changed - our politics, for instance - while some remained the same, like new babies on a regular basis. I homeschooled our children for 10 years, putting into practice all I knew of Montessori. In 1995 I began writing - in the beginning to share with other moms how to incorporate Montessori principles into their daily lives and to find more joy in raising their children.

I have since published over 1200 articles and 9 books. And for the past five years I have written extensively at my blog www.MommyLife.net where my goal is to unburden, enlighten, encourage, and empower moms to find joy in their role as mothers while staying informed about the world we live in..

Today, Samantha and Jasmine are married - each with six children of their own. Two sons are married - one a contractor and one an aspiring opera singer. Two are single - an actor and a soon-to-be marine OCS candidate. One daughter is in college. This leaves my husband Tripp and me at home with 5 - our famous daughter Maddy (seen on American Idol) and 4 sons with Down syndrome - three of whom were adopted.

I am in the unique position of having raised two full generations of kids - so I write from a position not just of "been there, done that" but also "still here, still doing this."

Eight years ago, I returned to northern Virginia with 23 native Californians. Who says you can never go home again?

 

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Average Customer Review
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Review from the left she is trying to reach, August 31, 2006
This review is from: Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking About Social Issues with People Who Don't Think Like You (Paperback)
I am a big fan of Barbara Curtis's writing. As a non-Christian liberal, I often have a lot of trouble even understanding what Christians are trying to say, much less finding areas of common ground. So when I discovered Barbara's blog, Mommylife.net, I was thrilled to find a person espousing different beliefs than mine who I could not only communicate with, but also connect with.

Barbara has lived on both sides of the equation, living in the San Francisco Bay Area for years, and changing from being a liberal activist to a strong conservative with her conversion to Christianity, so she understands a lot of the ways in which liberals think about things. This knowledge makes it easier for her to know how to communicate her Christian and conservative beliefs to liberals.

Christians would like to think that for a liberal like me, reaching out and conversing with Christians about their religious and political beliefs would be easy if the desire was there to do so, but it is not. In the section on communication, Barbara says that, "Most Christians are probably not aware that sometimes the "language" they speak is almost as alien to nonbelievers as Spanish is to English-speakers."

As a non-Christian, I can assure Christians that this is absolutely true. I reached out and tried to speak with a couple of Christians that I know in person, and didn't have much success in finding common ground. Words and phrases like "the good news", covenant, "feel convicted", testimony, "sin nature", and the frequency with which Christians say the names Jesus, God, and Christ, are disconcerting to non-Christians, and Barbara has a whole section listing some of the words that non-Christians may find off-putting or not understand. She also shares some communication strategies that Christians can use to be true to their God without stunting conversation with non-Christians.

Barbara also talks about a lot of politically charged social issues such as abortion and homosexuality. She talks about the liberal belief system that leads us to many of our beliefs and shows some of the most compelling conservative and Christian arguments against those beliefs. She also has a section at the end of each chapter with questions to ask yourself and discuss with others, issues to research or think about more deeply, and things that real people can do to get involved in their community and make a difference on the issues that Christians and conservatives often care about the most.

What I loved most about this book is the way Barbara is able to be clear-eyed and honest about the ways conservatives and Christians need to improve in order to make a convincing stand against these issues. She doesn't just bash the evil liberals like many have made a living doing, she endeavors to provide understanding of both sides, and constantly encourages humility and warns against self-righteousness, so that Christians can make good use of their opportunities for friendship and discussion with those who don't think like them.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An Important read!, September 18, 2006
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This review is from: Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking About Social Issues with People Who Don't Think Like You (Paperback)
In Reaching the Left from the Right, author Barbara Curtis gives new meaning to the phrase, "been there, done that." As a previous I-hate-America hippie activist to a reformed Christian woman who loves the Lord, Curtis opens our eyes to what it means to look at all of God's children with love and acceptance--even when they have different moral or political values than yours.

You know what I enjoyed about this book? Truth. The kind of no-holds-barred truth that hit me right between the eyes and convicted me of my own prejudices towards others, who thought and believed differently than I did. I didn't avoid them because they didn't act or look the way I did. I avoided them because I didn't understand their position, their thoughts, or their beliefs. And because I didn't understand, I never took the steps to get to know them better. My great loss.

But as Christians we're called to action. Curtis lends sage advice stemming from years of experience of living on both sides of a movement on how to bridge the gap between the left and rightmovements. As she describes these groups in her book, the similarities between the two sides is uncanny, "It's justthat members of each group--thinking inside their own established paradigms--have a hard time seeing this about the other side, because the ways of going about it are radically different."

Curtis coaches us to compare what the Lord says in the Bible and the beliefs of others, while sharing ideas on how as Christians we can step outside of our comfort zones and reach out to others who we might normally avoid.

If you want a book that will teach you to compassionately connect with those around you, then I highly recommend Reaching the Left from the Right. Jesus did not come to minister to those who were saved, but to the unsaved. If we are going to do what Christ calls us to do, then we must first learn what others believe so that we have the compassion to meet them where they live.

Armchair Interviews says: An appropriate book for this world today.




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3.0 out of 5 stars OK, December 21, 2011
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Ms. Frizzle (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking About Social Issues with People Who Don't Think Like You (Paperback)
The book was a quick read. It made me think about some things differently. But it seemed like it linked "left" with "non-Christian". I know quite a number of people on the "left" who are Christians. I was hoping to see more about how to talk to them and the book was lacking here. Since that was my main objective, I was disappointed.
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