Be the People: A Call to Reclaim America's Faith and Promise

Admittedly, I was quite skeptical of this book from the get-go, but being interested in politics and religion, it seemed like a logical choice. The very first thing I noticed as I opened the book was a review from a Fox News host, Sean Hannity, and immediately I knew who the intended reader was – the über right wing. As I read on, I was not surprised to find traits straight from the GOP’s platform. Heavily drenched in chest thumping regarding taxes and governmental spending programs led me to believe that this could be confused with some form of Tea Party Manifesto. Within the first few pages of this book, I stumbled across a passage that was remarkably troubling. The author is so fixated on abortion and homosexuality that she seems to miss the section of the Bible that includes helping the poor and looking after our planet – topics that are not even discussed in the bindings of this book. You cannot argue something is Christian if you leave out some of the most basic teachings of the most principal character. The quote in question discusses the population of Christians who are “disillusioned with the ethical and moral shifts in our political and social institutions” (3); it is interesting that she believes it is all right to restrict social programs to the poor and protect the wealthiest Americans, as long as “moral shifts” are battled. I think she is right in saying that morals are shifting in the wrong direction, but to fix that, she must also assess her own judgment. In the same way, she claims to be ashamed of the “unbiblical direction” (8) of the country, yet doesn’t seem to say anything about the suffering of the poor, or the increasing rhetoric of hate around the nation. She claims that the United States has one of the least restrictive abortion laws in the [civilized] world, but I question if she did any research on this fact. In Canada, for instance, the laws on Abortion are extremely loose, and are never even discussed during elections. This book, specifically the section on President Obama, fails to produce substantial evidence for many claims, and finds itself dignifying rumors as a shameful act of propaganda (“Birther Issue” – 198). Understanding that I have far exceeded my word count frame of 200 words, I conclude by saying that although this type of book might be agreeable to many on the far right wing, many of the thoughts would be in opposition to what moderates and anyone on the left believe. This is an obvious partisan level book in support of the GOP’s platform, and doesn’t focus so much on biblical morals as much as it does specific ideologies of the author.