Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics after the Religious Right [Hardcover]

E. J. Dionne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2008

The religious and political winds are changing. Tens of millions of religious Americans are reclaiming faith from those who would abuse it for narrow, partisan, and ideological purposes. And more and more secular Americans are discovering common ground with believers on the great issues of social justice, peace, and the environment. In Souled Out, award-winning journalist and commentator E. J. Dionne explains why the era of the Religious Right--and the crude exploitation of faith for political advantage--is over.

Based on years of research and writing, Souled Out shows that the end of the Religious Right doesn't signal the decline of evangelical Christianity but rather its disentanglement from a political machine that sold it out to a narrow electoral agenda of such causes as opposition to gay marriage and abortion. With insightful portraits of leading contemporary religious figures from Rick Warren and Richard Cizik to John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Dionne shows that our great religions have always preached a broad message of hope for more just human arrangements and refused to be mere props for the powers that be. Dionne also argues that the new atheist writers should be seen as a gift to believers, a demand that they live up to their proclaimed values and embrace scientific and philosophical inquiry in a spirit of "intellectual solidarity."

Written in the tradition of Reinhold and H. Richard Niebuhr, Souled Out will help change how we think and talk about religion and politics in the post-Bush era.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The latest from reporter and author Dionne (Why Americans Hate Politics) is a highly worthy alternative to polarizing arguments regarding religion, whether pro or con (neo-atheist tracts like Christopher Hitchens's God Is Not Great). It's also a smart rebuke of those who would divert the faithful with a narrow set of values rather than viewing religion in a broader political context. Declaring that the era of the religious Right is over, Dionne looks to history, tradition, teachers and texts (including recent religious scholarship) to reassert both progressive and conservative views on how religion can play a legitimate role in matters of economics, social justice and morality. Dionne explodes the myth that George W. Bush was elected by evangelicals (he says gains among moderates were far more important); demonstrates the absurdity and unfortunate consequences of restricting religious political concerns to abortion and gay marriage (though he fully explores both); and examines the fate of governmental faith-based initiatives past and present. Along the way, Dionne considers the current crop of presidential candidates and provides a stinging analysis of the president and Congress's intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. Rousing and wry, Dionne's sensible voice makes a powerful case for broadening religious vision and visibility in the public square. (Feb. 27)
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From Booklist

Liberal commentator Dionne foresees different relations between faith and politics now that the religious Right is declining. He doesn’t, however, think that a religious Left will arise, although he does point out that the connection between progressive politics, on the one hand, and mainstream Protestantism and modern Catholic social thought, on the other, is longstanding and deep in American history. From a close parsing of the entire Christian vote in recent federal elections, he argues that Christianity in politics is properly thought of not as either conservative or progressive but as both, that the conceptions of “culture war” and “values” promulgated by the religious Right are too restrictive and partisan, and that the religious Right has short-changed Christianity by focusing exclusively on abortion, gay marriage, and end-of-life issues (e.g., the Terry Schiavo brouhaha). He turns to recent developments in Catholicism since Vatican II and among liberal Catholics as a springboard to his concluding injunction that Christians continue to participate in politics, out of Christian hope rather than self-righteousness. (But is the religious Right really shrinking?) --Ray Olson

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (January 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691134588
• ISBN-13: 978-0691134581
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #833,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential read, May 1, 2008

By 

A. J. Barnett "ajbarnett" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics after the Religious Right (Hardcover)

Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics after the Religious Right by E. J., Jr. Dionne.

I have read a number of political and religious titles in the past year and this is among the best in both categories. Dionne is a political analyst of the first rank, not at all like the many talking/shouting heads that populate cable news. He is also both knowledgeable and even pastoral when he discusses religion.

He definitely has opinions, but he never moves into attack mode. He can understand why many religious people are social conservatives, since religions are innately conservative. Again and again throughout the book, he not only gives the other side of an argument its due, but even declares how necessary his opponents are to a balanced viewpoint. Rather than try to use religion to support his views, he argues against any who do so without the humility to recognize the right on the other side. Religion deserves to be more than a tool for either political party.

Dionne provides a nuanced narrative of the use/misuse of religion by politicians. That doesn't mean he sees no role for faith based politics, both progressive and conservative. Indeed he says they both have a part to play. He deplores the restriction of religious fervor to gay marriage and abortion, without pretending that those issues are unimportant or irrelevant.

In case you think this all seems namby-pamby and wishy-washy, be prepared for his section on Terry Schiavo, which is scathing. He is not above a jeremiad, but the center of his book is pastoral, more pastoral than some pastors I've endured.

This is a book to rile you up and calm you down. To move you to action, but humility too. Simply the best book on religion and politics I have come across.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Optimism, March 17, 2008

By 

Helen D. Boyle - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics after the Religious Right (Hardcover)

Souled Out by E. J. Dionne, Jr. is a terrific book by a rational, intelligent voice for a progressive Catholicism which I found so inspiring in articles and books when I was young. It gives hope to so many who feel silenced now by the current orthodoxy - and that those voices will rise up and bring moderation and love to the public debate.

5 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, March 31, 2009

By 

F. Stecker (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics after the Religious Right (Hardcover)

The author seems to walk a politically correct tightrope rather than label the religious right for what it is...further his focus betrays a connectedness to the Roman Catholic Church which makes many of his remarks irrelevant to those who do not profess the same allegiances.