Scan barcode
A review by annebogel
Revolution of Values: Reclaiming Public Faith for the Common Good by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
5.0
This book is exceptional, and exceptionally timely.
The title comes from Martin Luther King, Jr's Riverside Speech, in which he said, "We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered...."
In this book, Wilson-Hartgrove argues that right now in America we need another revolution of values. There was a time—not that long ago—when religious leaders viewed voting rights, equal protection under the law, economic justice, peace, and the environment as moral issues. But those once-esteemed values have been the victims, not the beneficiaries, of the religious right's culture war. In this book Wilson-Hartgrove seeks to shed light on the history of how we got to where we are as a culture right now, and how we might together make a better future.
I'm tempted to quote his entire introduction here, but I'll limit myself to this:
"The culture warriors who challenged me to practice my faith in public life were not wrong to suggest that the gospel of Jesus is political. Their error was in believing that the enemy of morality was progressive values and not the genocidal white supremacy and patriarchy that have compromised Christian witness throughout US history. This was not an innocent miscalculation. As this book shows, people of considerable means invested an incredible amount of resources in encouraging this particular lie.... If a multiethnic democracy is possible in twenty-first century America, it will depend on a moral movement that resists the false gods of Christian nationalism and rediscovers a biblical vision for justice and mercy in our common life."
Something I especially appreciated about this book was that while Wilson-Hartgrove writes from the perspective of a religious leader, he explicitly includes a broad range of voices in this work, both Christian and non-Christian, and draws on wisdom from black, native, Latinx, and Asian communities.
Highly, highly recommended.
The title comes from Martin Luther King, Jr's Riverside Speech, in which he said, "We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered...."
In this book, Wilson-Hartgrove argues that right now in America we need another revolution of values. There was a time—not that long ago—when religious leaders viewed voting rights, equal protection under the law, economic justice, peace, and the environment as moral issues. But those once-esteemed values have been the victims, not the beneficiaries, of the religious right's culture war. In this book Wilson-Hartgrove seeks to shed light on the history of how we got to where we are as a culture right now, and how we might together make a better future.
I'm tempted to quote his entire introduction here, but I'll limit myself to this:
"The culture warriors who challenged me to practice my faith in public life were not wrong to suggest that the gospel of Jesus is political. Their error was in believing that the enemy of morality was progressive values and not the genocidal white supremacy and patriarchy that have compromised Christian witness throughout US history. This was not an innocent miscalculation. As this book shows, people of considerable means invested an incredible amount of resources in encouraging this particular lie.... If a multiethnic democracy is possible in twenty-first century America, it will depend on a moral movement that resists the false gods of Christian nationalism and rediscovers a biblical vision for justice and mercy in our common life."
Something I especially appreciated about this book was that while Wilson-Hartgrove writes from the perspective of a religious leader, he explicitly includes a broad range of voices in this work, both Christian and non-Christian, and draws on wisdom from black, native, Latinx, and Asian communities.
Highly, highly recommended.