From Booklist
Evangelical Christian Sine contrasts his understanding of Christian activism not only with that of the left, but especially with that of the religious right. The problem for Christians with the left, he says, is that it construes all issues as matters of political power; moreover, its severe materialist bias leads it to deny the role of spirituality in public affairs. But Christians should have even greater reservations about the religious right on account of its nationalism and fearfulness, which stem, Sine says, from a fascination with prophecies of the "end time," such as Lindsey's Late, Great Planet Earth, and a consequent fatalism that induces spiritual smugness and, paradoxically, materialism. Recalling that Jesus came to uplift the oppressed and feed the hungry, Sine, citing several current examples of Christian community and social ministry, posits a third, biblically based way for Christians to help build the peaceable kingdom of God. Although he overlooks traditional conservatives' moral criticism of big government, Sine, writing with crystal clarity, contributes a book anyone concerned about the culture wars could profit from reading. Ray Olson
Cease Fire: Searching for Sanity in America's Culture Wars FROM THE PUBLISHER
In Cease Fire Tom Sine takes up the concerns of millions of Christians - evangelical and mainline Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox - who feel uneasy with some of the excesses of the politically correct left but who recoil at the stance taken by Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Ralph Reed and the Christian Coalition that the extreme religious right, with its quest for political power, is the only place to turn. Sine looks at the tactics and agendas of extremists on both sides and asks what society would look like if their particular visions were to win out. He then argues that the positions of the religious right and of the left are not the only available choices. The Bible offers a third choice, God's "better way" - a biblical center represented by neither right nor left in the current debate. Cease Fire is written to enable readers to understand why America's culture wars are so adversarial, polarizing, and increasingly violent; to anticipate which side is likely to gain the upper hand in these contentious conflicts and how it is likely to shape our common future; and to offer a third way - a radical biblical alternative to the political ideologies of the religious right and the left - for those searching for a new place to stand as we enter a new millennium.
Art & Photography
Book Info
