Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right

by E.J. Dionne Jr.

The religious and political winds are changing. Tens of millions of religious Americans are reclaiming faith from those who would abuse it for narrow, partisan, and ideological purposes. And more and more secular Americans are discovering common ground with believers on the great issues of social justice, peace, and the environment. In Souled Out , award-winning journalist and commentator E. J. Dionne explains why the era of the Religious Right--and the crude exploitation of faith for political advantage--is over.
Based on years of research and writing, Souled Out shows that the end of the Religious Right doesn't signal the decline of evangelical Christianity but rather its disentanglement from a political machine that sold it out to a narrow electoral agenda of such causes as opposition to gay marriage and abortion. With insightful portraits of leading contemporary religious figures from Rick Warren and Richard Cizik to John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Dionne shows that our great religions have always preached a broad message of hope for more just human arrangements and refused to be mere props for the powers that be. Dionne also argues that the new atheist writers should be seen as a gift to believers, a demand that they live up to their proclaimed values and embrace scientific and philosophical inquiry in a spirit of "intellectual solidarity."
Written in the tradition of Reinhold and H. Richard Niebuhr, Souled Out will help change how we think and talk about religion and politics in the post-Bush era.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

251 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 2008

About the author

Eugene Joseph "E. J." Dionne, Jr. is an American journalist and political commentator, and a long-time op-ed columnist for The Washington Post. He is also a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, a University Professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at the McCourt School of Public Policy, a Senior Research Fellow at Saint Anselm College, and an NPR, MSNBC, and PBS commentator.

Reviews

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been trying to understand "what the hell" happened (is happening) in this country. And I can't reconcile the religious right with anything I believe as a devout Christian, so I really wanted to see what E.J. Dionne has to say. I couldn't read every word of his book--it's so detailed and rigorously researched (one underestimates the relationship of politics, religion, faith, culture and history). Let me just say, there's so much to learn and think about--here are a few salient points (doesn't begin to give Dionne's book justice).

• Political limiting of religious values to abortion and gay marriage has sold out religion and faith.
• The environment is a “sanctity of life” issue—children, our health and survival (and the planet).
• Social justice, the economic well-being of all, relates to values of freedom, compassion and the family. – it’s not simply “entitlement” and “socialism.” Most of the poor are hungry children without a leg-up to social mobility.
• Immigration and deportation is about compassion and family and the 2nd most important Christian commandment. --not just about who hasn't (in their desperation) obeyed the law.
• Seeking practical forms of moral seriousness—those who seek fewer abortions should be concerned with the circumstances of poor women and those who find themselves alone in responsibility. –fetal life might be better advanced through means other than criminalization of abortion.
• Why have we separated economics from “values” issues? –absurd to talk about family life without the economic underpinnings of the family, --absurd to talk about personal responsibility but not on the responsibility of the economic players.

Etc.

[Amy]

Heard this guy on The Commonwealth Club recently and the discussion was interesting... I have a feeling I won't agree with much of what he says but his arguments in the interview at the very least were provocative and reasoned, which is rare in religious and political discussions these days.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amen, E.J., amen!

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like E.J. Dionne, I am a liberal Catholic, so the heart of this book, his two chapters on Catholicism, moved me. But I liked all of what he had to say about the role of faith in American politics and public life. His assessment of the current situation and likely future of religion's role in the public square is informative and quite credible. Worth reading, especially if you remember and wondered at the "no Communion for John Kerry" controversy or are trying to understand American Catholics' participation in politics.

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the time to read it. He really looks fairly at both sides of the coin. And he gave a totally new to me concept of the idea of gay marriage. The book makes you think and like I said, he gives quotes from both sides and both sides have value. Also, he is correct when he says that the religious right-wingers need to tone it down or they are going to run people off. I think they have already run a lot of people off.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Page 184 sums it up:

"We do not need, and should not want, to end religion's public role. We do need a more capacious understanding of what that role is. ... And we need to understand that religion offers its greatest gift to public life not when it promotes certainty, but when it encourages reflection, self-criticism, and doubt".

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

**Not religious**

I knew it was going to be bad. I did not know, it would be this, bad.

I was looking for a the writer to give me an argument that there is a segment of the religious community that uses religion to a positive end. I didn't get what I wanted.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good overview on religion and politics -- how the religious right commandeered the discussion and how the right and the left need to come together to address pertinent social issues.

[Barbara Irish · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a bit scattered but it's still a remarkable read. I admire him in his intellectual and scholarly quest to bring his devotion and his politics into one stream.