false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165949219m/9346.jpg 9346 10 Even at his most irate, Jimmy Carter projects cool, communicating with a poise that commands attention while gently signaling to opponents that they better do their homework before mounting any sort of debate. Perhaps that's why the former president, Nobel Peace Prize-winner, and bestselling author ranks as one of the planet's most respected voices in the areas of human rights, diplomacy, and good government. And when a clearly agitated Carter suggests America is on a slippery slope, globally speaking, as he does throughout <i>Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis</I>, it's wise to pay heed even if the book's overriding Christian perspective may trip cautionary bells in secular readers. <p> More a set of loosely connected essays than a single, precise argument, <i>Our Endangered Values</i> outlines Carter's worldview while pondering what he posits are key problems looming in the 21st century. Thematic touchstones such as the war, environmental negligence, civil liberties, the rich-poor divide, and the separation of church and state form the book's backbone, with Carter filtering each through the prism of his own vast experience. He doesn't much like what he sees. Though much of the data Carter presents to support his arguments is familiar, it's worth repeating that "the rate of firearm homicides in the United States is nineteen times higher than that of 35 other high-income countries combined." That "In addition to imprisonment, the United States of America stands almost alone in the world in our fascination with the death penalty, and our few remaining companions are regimes with a lack of respect for basic human rights." That when it comes to sharing the wealth with poor nations "Americans are the stingiest of all industrialized nations. We allow about one-thirtieth as much as is commonly believed [or] sixteen cents out of each $100 of the gross national income." America: land of the free, home of the brave? Try global bully with a bad attitude and reckless sense of entitlement. <p> Carter spends significant time contextualizing his own spirituality, as if to underscore the urgency of his message that fundamentalism in any form is bad, especially when it encroaches on government. Indeed, Carter persuasively links fundamentalism to harmful policy, the subjugation of women, general xenophobia, and a host of other ills occurring all around him. And while George W. Bush in particular and the current administration in general take fewer clips on the chin than might be expected, Carter's arguments for common-sense change are deeply resonant nonetheless. <i>--Kim Hughes</i> 158880 2005 Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis total:718|5:145|4:292|3:216|2:52|1:12| 718 2661 983 130 3 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 19:55:11 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 19:59:30 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Apr 22 18:41:29 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 11:28:46 -0700 2009
The book covers every moral topic from pre-emptive war to abortion and the death penalty, to the env...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Feb 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 18:46:08 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 18:10:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Oct 18 17:06:39 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 18 17:06:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Sep 02 11:54:03 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 12:08:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 29 09:25:47 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 24 17:59:26 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 20:10:33 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 08:38:41 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sun Jul 05 06:42:55 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 06:46:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 09:56:50 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 09:59:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 10 17:50:01 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 10 17:53:15 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Feb 21 16:06:08 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 21 16:06:31 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Wed May 20 12:50:56 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 13:49:56 -0700 2009 Pir Emdangered Values: Ame...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 09 00:27:20 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 09 00:27:46 -0700 2008 At highwayscribery we like to say Jimmy Carter is the best mistake America ever made.

His book is something of a radical tract done in a civil way. The treatise, a searing indictment of the Bush administration, provides left point of view with the "cover" of Carter’s bei...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 13 17:49:11 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 07:26:47 -0700 2008
I found myself agreeing with about 95% of Carter's statements on the problems we face as a country today. I ag...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 15 17:33:19 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 23:34:21 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 17:33:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 22 05:52:29 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 22 06:31:26 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Feb 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 14 02:00:45 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 20 09:19:57 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 04 08:30:48 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 04 09:24:30 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Nov 28 07:28:08 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 28 08:00:23 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 26 08:36:42 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 26 08:37:09 -0700 2007
Carter critically addresses the blurring of the lines between separation o...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=9346