Hijacking of Jesus: How the Religious Right Distorts Christianity and Promotes Prejudice and Hate

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Overview

Christianity in America has become almost synonymous with right-wing fanaticism, conservative politics and — courtousy of Mel Gibson — a brutally sadistic version of the religious experience. Millions of devout Christians, like Dan Wakefield, are appalled by this distortion of their faith, which only three decades ago stood for peace, equality, healing, and compassion for society's outcasts — the issues that made up the Ministry of Jesus. How did it come to pass that the Jesus of the New Testament, the Jesus who ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Christianity in America has become almost synonymous with right-wing fanaticism, conservative politics and — courtousy of Mel Gibson — a brutally sadistic version of the religious experience. Millions of devout Christians, like Dan Wakefield, are appalled by this distortion of their faith, which only three decades ago stood for peace, equality, healing, and compassion for society's outcasts — the issues that made up the Ministry of Jesus. How did it come to pass that the Jesus of the New Testament, the Jesus who preached the Sermon on the Mount, has in effect been hijacked by right-wingers and the Republican Party? How is it that mainline Christian denominations and leadership, both Catholic and Prostestant, have remained remarkably silent on the issues of the war in Iraq, the civil rights erosion of the Patriot Act, the growth of poverty and the fact of over 40 million people without health insurance? The Hijacking of Jesus tells the whole sorry tale, from the Goldwater campaign of 1964 to George Bush's stunning re-election in 2004.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
By his own admission, Wakefield, a journalist, novelist, screenwriter and Protestant who comes from several generations of Baptist ministers, was "one of the great slumber party of mainline American Protestant `liberals'... whose response to the outrages of those who stole our identity as Christians was the cheap and comfortable scorn and smugger-than-thou ridicule of the disengaged." This patchwork of interviews on topics ranging from megachurches to the "wedge issues" of abortion and homosexuality, stitched together with rather snide commentary, does little to convince us that his thinking has evolved. Despite decrying the religious right's use of military terminology to establish its position, Wakefield posits that in crafting a meaningful response to the "Christian jihad," liberal Christians must similarly procure "ammunition, troops and a battle plan, a strategy." Disappointingly absent of journalistic distance, this diatribe fails to provide constructive suggestions for change. Any hopes for a refreshing ecumenical Christian defense of the true ideals of Jesus-the Jesus of the Gospel who "had no possessions, ministered to the poor and the sick, befriended societies outcasts, [and] blessed `the peacemakers'..."-have been bitterly suppressed by a derisive, condescending tone. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781560259565
  • Publisher: Nation Books
  • Publication date: 1/28/2007
  • Edition description: First Trade Paper Edition
  • Pages: 210
  • Sales rank: 1,384,099
  • Product dimensions: 5.32 (w) x 7.92 (h) x 0.60 (d)

Meet the Author

Dan Wakefield is a novelist, journalist and screenwriter whose best-selling novels "Going All The Way" and "Starting Over" were produced as feature films. He created the NBC prime time TV series "James at 15." A documentary film has been produced of his memoir "New York in the Fifties". His non-fiction books on spirituality include "Returning: A Spiritual Journey;" "Creating from The Spirit;" "The Story of Your Life: Writing a Spiritual Autobiography," "Expect a Miracle," and "How Do We Know When It's God ?: A Spiritual Memoir."

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Table of Contents


The Armies of the Right     1
Earthly Revelation: Evangelicals Discover Blacks, the Poor, and the Environment!     31
How They Hijacked Jesus     61
Invasion of the Leukocytes     85
The Wedges: Dividing to Conquer     101
Megachurch Meets Mainstream     125
Taking Back the Faith     153
Acknowledgments     197
Index     199
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