What do you think?
Rate this book
Jesus Is Not a Republican: The Religious Right's War on America
The historical Jesus, by most accounts, was in favor of social justice, peace and compassion. Right wing radicals, including the social conservatives allied with the Republican Party, exploit the name of Jesus to support policies that lead to injustice, war and cruelty. Jesus Is Not a Republican includes several dozen essays and articles, including several original essays, by some of today's most thoughtful spiritual and political thinkers. Rob Boston of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State uncovers the hypocrisy of the Christian Right. Reporter Jeffrey Sharlet goes undercover as a true believer in "the Family", a shadowy, politically well-connected group of fundamentalists with dubious motives. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, explains the Bible's call to work for social justice. Together, they make the case that the religious right has strayed far from a truly Christian path, and reviews the achievements of progressive Christians who actually try to follow the teachings of Jesus. The upshot is that a true follower of Jesus is far more likely to vote for a liberal Democrat than for a conservative Republican.
348 pages, Paperback
First published October 5, 2005
3 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 16, 2008
Wow! In essence this book was enlightening and thought-provoking. I've long adhered to the argument that the religious right's co-opting of their own brand of Christianity was fundamentally "unchristian," but this horrified me even beyond what I'd thought possible.
A lot of the essays printed here are available for free online, but with the glut of information available on the web, I likely would've missed the vast majority of them. Further, the essays were packaged and supplemented with a timeline and trenchant Biblical quotes that underscored the argument of the book.
I'd recommend it to anyone planning to vote this November - as well as those abroad who currently think all Americans are like George W. Bush. We're not!
A lot of the essays printed here are available for free online, but with the glut of information available on the web, I likely would've missed the vast majority of them. Further, the essays were packaged and supplemented with a timeline and trenchant Biblical quotes that underscored the argument of the book.
I'd recommend it to anyone planning to vote this November - as well as those abroad who currently think all Americans are like George W. Bush. We're not!
November 20, 2009
How do Republicans balance their political beliefs with their Christian religion? According to this book, they can't. Excellent arguments and essays. Well thought-out discussions, examples and impeccable logic. I live in a very "Republican" county in Ohio so just reading this book was dangerous LOL!
Note: donated this book to my local library after reading.
Note: donated this book to my local library after reading.
September 2, 2025
A COLLECTION OF SHORT ESSAYS, REJECTING THE VIEWS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
Co-Editor Clint Willis wrote in the introduction to this 2005 book, “The Religious Right in recent years has aligned itself with the Republican Party. The party’s leadership in turn has allied itself with the most powerful institutions among us---in particular, the huge multinational corporations that increasingly shape and even dominate our culture and our lives. Together, certain Christian fundamentalists, Republican politicians and corporate leaders have worked hard to impose their versions of Jesus on the rest of us; they exploit the name of Jesus, making it a marketing tool for power and profit.
“This radical Republican version of Jesus also is composed of stories. These stories sometimes suggest that Jesus is an angry and self-important character. Such a Jesus would be worse than useless to me. An angry Jesus cannot teach me how to be happy. I don’t want to live in his kingdom, where revenge matters more than forgiveness and where judgement is stronger than compassion. It is a kingdom of fear and hatred; it sounds like hell to me. The Bible can’t settle this matter for us; we must find Jesus for ourselves. The Gospels offer us more than one version of Christ---including the angry and self-righteous versions. This reflects the fact that the men who wrote the Gospels lacked the spiritual maturity of their subject, as well as the fact that they had their own personal and political agendas. Fortunately, the Gospels also offer a Jesus who can teach us much of what we want to know… What do I mean when I say that Jesus is not a Republican? I mean that Jesus as I imagine him would not support policies that profit the strong at the expense of the weak.”
Sister Jean Prejean (of ‘Dead Man Walking’ fame) includes her letter to Pope John Paul II, thanking him for raising his voice opposing the execution of Joseph O’Dell, a Death Row inmate: “Interestingly, the lone dissent in the Supreme Court decision to hear the O’Dell case came from Catholic justice Antonin Scalia, who is relentless in his pursuit of legalizing executions, even of juveniles and the mentally retarded, and who expedites the death process in the courts in every way he can. He seems to have no trouble squaring executions with his Catholic faith, and in this he is no exception. For fourteen years I have been speaking to groups all across the United States about the death penalty, and, for the most part, find Catholics, including many priests, religious educators, and teachers supportive of government-sanctioned executions. Rarely is the death penalty questioned from pulpits at Mass, and ‘pro-life,’ as it turns out, most often means pro-innocent life, not guilty life.” (Pg. 5-6)
Patricia J. Williams argues, “If a large majority of Democrats are arguing with a significant percentage of red-staters who believe that evolution is only an opinion, then we are not on the same page as to much of anything else about the planet. We do not share the same constructs of proof, evidence or the scientific method. If every sentence in the Bible is literally true, then what I call fact and what you call truth are separate genres, galaxies apart… Therefore, the debate about moral values has less to do with abortion rights than it does, as I said, with whether the dinosaurs existed as one link in life’s eon’s-long chain of development. Because if they did not, then… the entire intellectual grounding of Western thought must be called into question…” (Pg.. 41)
Michelle Godlberg reports that Bill Buckingham, a new member of the school board in Dover, Pennsylvania, led the challenge to teaching evolution in Dover biology classes. “Although Buckingham first argued for teaching creationism in Dover biology classes, he soon started using the phrase ‘intelligent design’ instead. The change in language was significant because intelligent design was created in part to circumvent the Supreme Court ruling that made it illegal in public schools to teach creationism. Masquerading as a science, it aims to convince the public that evolution is a theory under fire within the scientific community and doesn’t deserve its preeminent place in the biology curriculum.” (Pg. 49)
George Monbiot reports, “In the 19th century, two immigrant preachers cobbled together a series of unrelated passages from the Bible to create what appears to be a consistent narrative: Jesus will return to earth when certain preconditions have been met. The first of these was the establishment of a state of Israel. The next involves Israel’s occupation of the rest of its ‘biblical lands’… and the rebuilding of the Third Temple on the site now occupied by the Dome of the Rock and al Aqsa mosques. The legions of the Antichrist will then be deployed against Israel, and their war will lead to a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon. The Jews will either burn or convert to Christianity, and the Messiah will return to earth. What makes this story so appealing to Christian fundamentalists is that before the big battle begins, all ‘true believers’… will be … wafted up to heaven during an event called the Rapture… The true believers are now seeking to bring all this about. This means staging confrontations at the old temple site… sponsoring Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, demanding ever more U.S. support for Israel, and seeking to provoke a final war with the Muslim world/United Nations/European Union or whoever the legions of the Antichrist turn out to be.” (Pg. 95)
Dvid Domke and Kevin Coe note, “In his address … at the inauguration of his second term, George W. Bush will invoke God... Bush referenced a higher power ten times in his first inaugural four years ago… No other president since Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933 has mentioned God so often in his inaugurations or State of the Unions. The closest to Bush’s average of 6 references per each of these addresses is Ronald Reagan, who averaged 4.75… Jimmy Carter … only had 2 God mentions in 4 addresses. Other also-rans were Franklin Roosevelt at 1.69 and Lyndon Johnson at 1.50 references…” (Pg. 119)
Jim Wallis points out, “A rock star [Bono of U2], a Chancellor [Gordon Brown], and young people across the world are all talking about globalization, HIV/AIDS, and reducing global poverty---and all in the prophetic voice of Micah. I am convinced that global poverty reduction will not be accomplished without a spiritual engine, and that history is changed by social movements with a spiritual foundation. That’s what’s always made the difference---abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, civil rights---they were social movements, but they had a spiritual foundation.” (Pg. 211)
Katha Pollitt argues, “the Ten [Commandments] have got to rank as one of the great missed opportunities of all time. How different would history have been had [God] clearly and unmistakably forbidden war, tyranny, taking over other people’s countries, slavery, exploitation of workers, cruelty to children, wife-beating, stoning, treating women … as chattel or inferior beings. It’s not as if God had nothing more to say. The minute he’s through with the Decalogue, he gives Moses a long list of legal minutiae that are even less edifying… God enjoins us to kill witches, Sabbath violators., disrespectful children and people who have sex with animals, but not masters who beat their slaves to death… No wonder the good white Christians of Alabama believed the Bible permitted slavery!” (Pg. 254-255)
This book will interest those of liberal/progressive viewpoints.
Co-Editor Clint Willis wrote in the introduction to this 2005 book, “The Religious Right in recent years has aligned itself with the Republican Party. The party’s leadership in turn has allied itself with the most powerful institutions among us---in particular, the huge multinational corporations that increasingly shape and even dominate our culture and our lives. Together, certain Christian fundamentalists, Republican politicians and corporate leaders have worked hard to impose their versions of Jesus on the rest of us; they exploit the name of Jesus, making it a marketing tool for power and profit.
“This radical Republican version of Jesus also is composed of stories. These stories sometimes suggest that Jesus is an angry and self-important character. Such a Jesus would be worse than useless to me. An angry Jesus cannot teach me how to be happy. I don’t want to live in his kingdom, where revenge matters more than forgiveness and where judgement is stronger than compassion. It is a kingdom of fear and hatred; it sounds like hell to me. The Bible can’t settle this matter for us; we must find Jesus for ourselves. The Gospels offer us more than one version of Christ---including the angry and self-righteous versions. This reflects the fact that the men who wrote the Gospels lacked the spiritual maturity of their subject, as well as the fact that they had their own personal and political agendas. Fortunately, the Gospels also offer a Jesus who can teach us much of what we want to know… What do I mean when I say that Jesus is not a Republican? I mean that Jesus as I imagine him would not support policies that profit the strong at the expense of the weak.”
Sister Jean Prejean (of ‘Dead Man Walking’ fame) includes her letter to Pope John Paul II, thanking him for raising his voice opposing the execution of Joseph O’Dell, a Death Row inmate: “Interestingly, the lone dissent in the Supreme Court decision to hear the O’Dell case came from Catholic justice Antonin Scalia, who is relentless in his pursuit of legalizing executions, even of juveniles and the mentally retarded, and who expedites the death process in the courts in every way he can. He seems to have no trouble squaring executions with his Catholic faith, and in this he is no exception. For fourteen years I have been speaking to groups all across the United States about the death penalty, and, for the most part, find Catholics, including many priests, religious educators, and teachers supportive of government-sanctioned executions. Rarely is the death penalty questioned from pulpits at Mass, and ‘pro-life,’ as it turns out, most often means pro-innocent life, not guilty life.” (Pg. 5-6)
Patricia J. Williams argues, “If a large majority of Democrats are arguing with a significant percentage of red-staters who believe that evolution is only an opinion, then we are not on the same page as to much of anything else about the planet. We do not share the same constructs of proof, evidence or the scientific method. If every sentence in the Bible is literally true, then what I call fact and what you call truth are separate genres, galaxies apart… Therefore, the debate about moral values has less to do with abortion rights than it does, as I said, with whether the dinosaurs existed as one link in life’s eon’s-long chain of development. Because if they did not, then… the entire intellectual grounding of Western thought must be called into question…” (Pg.. 41)
Michelle Godlberg reports that Bill Buckingham, a new member of the school board in Dover, Pennsylvania, led the challenge to teaching evolution in Dover biology classes. “Although Buckingham first argued for teaching creationism in Dover biology classes, he soon started using the phrase ‘intelligent design’ instead. The change in language was significant because intelligent design was created in part to circumvent the Supreme Court ruling that made it illegal in public schools to teach creationism. Masquerading as a science, it aims to convince the public that evolution is a theory under fire within the scientific community and doesn’t deserve its preeminent place in the biology curriculum.” (Pg. 49)
George Monbiot reports, “In the 19th century, two immigrant preachers cobbled together a series of unrelated passages from the Bible to create what appears to be a consistent narrative: Jesus will return to earth when certain preconditions have been met. The first of these was the establishment of a state of Israel. The next involves Israel’s occupation of the rest of its ‘biblical lands’… and the rebuilding of the Third Temple on the site now occupied by the Dome of the Rock and al Aqsa mosques. The legions of the Antichrist will then be deployed against Israel, and their war will lead to a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon. The Jews will either burn or convert to Christianity, and the Messiah will return to earth. What makes this story so appealing to Christian fundamentalists is that before the big battle begins, all ‘true believers’… will be … wafted up to heaven during an event called the Rapture… The true believers are now seeking to bring all this about. This means staging confrontations at the old temple site… sponsoring Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, demanding ever more U.S. support for Israel, and seeking to provoke a final war with the Muslim world/United Nations/European Union or whoever the legions of the Antichrist turn out to be.” (Pg. 95)
Dvid Domke and Kevin Coe note, “In his address … at the inauguration of his second term, George W. Bush will invoke God... Bush referenced a higher power ten times in his first inaugural four years ago… No other president since Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933 has mentioned God so often in his inaugurations or State of the Unions. The closest to Bush’s average of 6 references per each of these addresses is Ronald Reagan, who averaged 4.75… Jimmy Carter … only had 2 God mentions in 4 addresses. Other also-rans were Franklin Roosevelt at 1.69 and Lyndon Johnson at 1.50 references…” (Pg. 119)
Jim Wallis points out, “A rock star [Bono of U2], a Chancellor [Gordon Brown], and young people across the world are all talking about globalization, HIV/AIDS, and reducing global poverty---and all in the prophetic voice of Micah. I am convinced that global poverty reduction will not be accomplished without a spiritual engine, and that history is changed by social movements with a spiritual foundation. That’s what’s always made the difference---abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, civil rights---they were social movements, but they had a spiritual foundation.” (Pg. 211)
Katha Pollitt argues, “the Ten [Commandments] have got to rank as one of the great missed opportunities of all time. How different would history have been had [God] clearly and unmistakably forbidden war, tyranny, taking over other people’s countries, slavery, exploitation of workers, cruelty to children, wife-beating, stoning, treating women … as chattel or inferior beings. It’s not as if God had nothing more to say. The minute he’s through with the Decalogue, he gives Moses a long list of legal minutiae that are even less edifying… God enjoins us to kill witches, Sabbath violators., disrespectful children and people who have sex with animals, but not masters who beat their slaves to death… No wonder the good white Christians of Alabama believed the Bible permitted slavery!” (Pg. 254-255)
This book will interest those of liberal/progressive viewpoints.
Read
January 22, 2020First, I should point out that I don't believe Jesus is a Democrat, either. Pretty sure he's above our fray.
This book wasn't quite what I expected. I was hoping for more of a scriptural basis to go with such a bold claim. Instead this is a collection of essays, sermons, and blog posts. The book was published sometime in the middle of W's administration so sometimes I'd read something and thing of where we are today and shake my head while saying, "Oh, you poor sweet summer child. If only you'd known what was to come you would've saved a little of that outrage."
At any rate, I can return this book now. Yay!
This book wasn't quite what I expected. I was hoping for more of a scriptural basis to go with such a bold claim. Instead this is a collection of essays, sermons, and blog posts. The book was published sometime in the middle of W's administration so sometimes I'd read something and thing of where we are today and shake my head while saying, "Oh, you poor sweet summer child. If only you'd known what was to come you would've saved a little of that outrage."
At any rate, I can return this book now. Yay!
November 7, 2015
He isn't, of that I have little doubt. And I agree with the thesis of just about every essay that appears in this volume.
But I didn't enjoy this book as a whole as much as I thought I would, because the essays don't always, in fact don't usually tie in with the premise of the title.
Arch-conservatives say and do terrible things, yes. These essays tells us about them. But some of them do not even mention "Jesus," so how can they be a true refutation of the religious right's assumption that Jesus would think like one of them?
It's like saying Shakespeare did not write Hamlet, and as proof, providing the entire text of Hamlet and nothing more. If you're predisposed to think Shakespeare wrote it or not, the actual work attributed to Shakespeare is not on its own, without some kind of commentary, sufficient to bolster your claim.
The editors of the book provide a very brief summary of what Jesus is to them at the start of the book and each chapter, but such words are way more broad and personal than any of the (sometimes turgid) academic essays are. There is a serious dichotomy in tone between the title/opening words, and most of the essays that follow.
I thought I'd be reading a series of essays that specifically indicated why Jesus would not have supported a specific action or position of the Republican Party. That's not what this is.
The anthology would have been more aptly titled as only "The Religious Right's War on America."
But I didn't enjoy this book as a whole as much as I thought I would, because the essays don't always, in fact don't usually tie in with the premise of the title.
Arch-conservatives say and do terrible things, yes. These essays tells us about them. But some of them do not even mention "Jesus," so how can they be a true refutation of the religious right's assumption that Jesus would think like one of them?
It's like saying Shakespeare did not write Hamlet, and as proof, providing the entire text of Hamlet and nothing more. If you're predisposed to think Shakespeare wrote it or not, the actual work attributed to Shakespeare is not on its own, without some kind of commentary, sufficient to bolster your claim.
The editors of the book provide a very brief summary of what Jesus is to them at the start of the book and each chapter, but such words are way more broad and personal than any of the (sometimes turgid) academic essays are. There is a serious dichotomy in tone between the title/opening words, and most of the essays that follow.
I thought I'd be reading a series of essays that specifically indicated why Jesus would not have supported a specific action or position of the Republican Party. That's not what this is.
The anthology would have been more aptly titled as only "The Religious Right's War on America."
November 13, 2012
While I agree with the premise and much of the sentiment this books reflects, I felt the overall experience of this book was rather unremarkable. The diversity of authors and their various essays on a variety of topics was interesting in a touch-and-go manner....but I feel that the editing and placement of these essays was a little sloppy. While I feel that the editor made his point arguing from a secular humanist perspective, there was very little Biblical support for his overall argument (an argument I believe in, but perhaps for different reasons).
Worth the read, but nothing extraordinary.
Worth the read, but nothing extraordinary.
November 18, 2016
A great collection of essays that show our country is NOT a GOP creation. I especially liked the essay on Madison Rebukes the Religious Rt. One paragraph goes into Madison's "Memorial and Remonstrance". Madison's third point states," The same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion to all other religions, may establish with the same ease, any particular sect of Christians in exclusion of all other sects". At this point having the counter argument to the Religious Rt at ones fingertips may be an extremely useful tool.
February 27, 2007
This book is a compilation of essays, by different people (writers and journalists mostly). It talks about what Jesus really stood for and preached about, and how the religious right doesn't practice any of it! I love this subject, but even if it isn't your norm, the format and way it is written make it very easy and interesting. One of my favorite books.
May 10, 2016
Entertaining, yet informative at the same time. The book in no way mocks Christianity or downplays the true, liberal hearted teachings of Christ as portrayed in the Gospels, but instead sheds light on the corrupt political machine that looks to exploit Christianity and the Bible to further its own agenda.
May 23, 2007
Essays by writers who are all over the spectrum when it comes to liberal, conservative, etc. All take the basic tenats of Jesus' teaching and compare them to what is being practiced by the so-called religious right. Very instructive.
Want to read
March 9, 2009..with a provocative title like this, I figure I'll give it a read and see what I think.
January 21, 2010
Rather interesting. Provided stepping stones for additional reading.
September 27, 2011
interesting but takes a long time to read
March 26, 2013
Lots of entertaining essays and articles. Finishing the collection leaves me with only two thoughts. Thank goodness that Jerry Falwell is dead and thank goodness the Bush Jr. years are over!
October 19, 2016
This compilation wasn't for me. High light was the information on Madison at the end.
December 28, 2024
An AHA moment. The cognitive dissonance that I thought I’d observed was validated upon reading.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews