A House Divided: Engaging the Issues Through the Politics of Compassion

Feldmeir (You Need to Get Out More), senior pastor of Saint Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Colo., examines political issues that commonly divide American Christians in this unconvincing take. Feldmeir organizes his work into chapters that each address a topic, among them immigration, euthanasia, LGBTQ rights, climate change, and racism. Though he advocates “leaving behind all the talking points and soundbytes that dominate our newsfeeds,” he often uses scripture out of context to buttress his (usually liberal) position. For instance, he excises an inconvenient part of Matthew 23:23, which asks believers to follow commandments both large and small in his discussion of Christian acceptance of the LGBTQ community, and in his chapter on climate change claims that, in creating the earth, “God decided to materialize” so “what we do to the earth, we do to God and to ourselves” in order to make environmental degradation a sinful act. Feldmeir uses entertaining anecdotes and helpful statistics, such as on systemic racism and worrying rates of loneliness in America, to explain his perspective, but these don’t go very far in bolstering his case. While progressive Christians will be convinced by Feldmeir’s arguments, those who don’t agree will remain unswayed by these cherry-picked scriptural lessons. (Sept.)