cover image Middle Church: Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right

Middle Church: Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right

Bob Edgar, . . Simon & Schuster, $25 (258pp) ISBN 978-0-7432-8949-8

Part politics and part religion, this book is a red-hot challenge to "middle of the road" Christians, Jews and Muslims in America. Edgar wants them to wake up and wrest national attention away from a Christian Coalition agenda that focuses on hot-button issues like homosexuality and abortion in favor of wide-ranging issues of poverty, peace and saving the environment. Edgar, former congressman (D-PA) and now general secretary of the National Council of Churches, fears that the religious right, "a version of faith so at odds with mine, so contrary to the central teachings of Christianity, Judaism and Islam that it condones poverty, condemns peace and contributes to the despoiling of God's creation," is prevailing. He calls on the "middle church," people of faith who are centrists, somewhat deferential and largely silent, to return to the central message of Jesus' ministry—the imperative to love one's neighbor—and judge public policy by that measuring stick. Weaving homespun storytelling with a persuasive plea, Edgar makes a strong case both against the current political agenda of the religious right and for a national policy that truly reflects the best values of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. (Sept. 5)