Okay, that title isn't exactly true.
I follow the blog and Twitter feed of Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson publishing. A week or two ago, I see Michael's post about free copies of this new book by Stephen Mansfield. I watched a small snippet of Mansfield talking about the book and I was very interested.
Imagine my surprise when I saw that Thomas Nelson would sending out a limited number of copies of the book for review out in blog-world. Well that just sounded too cool to pass up, so I emailed in.
This book is fantastic. I can say going into this I was not Obama supporter. And after reading, I'm still not an Obama supporter. But I'm so glad I read it. Here's why:
The true strength of this book isn't character study. The book's power comes through Mansfield's massive research and insight into the overall political climate of the country as we approach this election. The author's thoughts on the collapse of the "religious Right" and the massive cultural change among people of faith was simultaneously mind-blowing and totally obvious.
Mansfield in right in stating that if faith is going to be more prominent in the future political landscape, then we need to know the beliefs and values and "faith histories" of those who would lead us. After establishing the fact that things are much different than in previous elections, he then digs into Obama's spiritual history, which is fascinating. At times seeming devoutly conservative, other times revealing a passionate statist approach to the idea of "civil religion," Obama is a hodgepodge of religious beliefs and representations. And if he's gonna' be the president...I think we wanna' know that.
My favorite part of the book would have to be the "Four Faces" idea. In this chapter, the author takes Obama, George W. Bush, John McCain and Hillary Clinton and skillfully analyzes their spiritual histories and track record to reveal four warring ideological forces within a religiously-charged nation. I loved it.
I don't plan to vote for Obama. And, in all honesty, this book only served to reinforce that decision. I am grateful for an excellent bibliography whereby readers can verify Mansfield's stories and records.
But, the book didn't make me hate this man. If fact, this book is more about us than about the senator-who-would-be-king. Stephen Mansfield has written a fair, honest and I'd say God-honoring analysis of both Obama and the country he intends to serve.
I know lots of folks with lots of different ideas about the country, but I think every single one of them would love this book.
My thanks to Michael Hyatt, Lindsey Nobles and Joel Miller for getting this book in my hands. I'm extremely grateful.
4 comments:
I read "Faith of the American Soldier" by the same author a few years back and I loved it too. Goes through a little analysis about how in years past religion/God/faith was exactly what soldiers went to war for. There was then the analysis of how even military chaplins can't really "minister" to soldiers. The soldiers are not fighting for anything larger than the war/battle what ever that is.
And soldiers will find ways to worship via internet, books, small groups, live webcam interface with folks back home.
It was a while back so this is a pretty basic touch on what I read but it was a very good book.
I plan to read it. The single most important thing to know about a candidate is his religion. People need to understand that, especially conservatives.
BTW, Joel is a really cool guy.
How is it that Johnny knows everybody?
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