The Religions Next Door: What we need to know about Hudaism,Hinduism,Buddhism and Islam and what reporters are missing

by Marvin Olasky

The Religions Next What we need to know about Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam - and what reporters are missing will educate readers as to the truth about world religions that the media often misrepresent. Our neighborhoods are full of religious diversity these days, but the media would have us believe they all hold different variations of the same tenets. But this isn’t so, and it is in those missed details that serious and grave misjustice is done to the American people by the misreporting of religion.The Religions Next Door provides insight into the beliefs of four growing religions in America, and challenges the media community to report religion as real news - not as community relations fodder, but as stories of human and theological interest.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Christian, Historical

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

Marvin Olasky is a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute and an affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute. He also chairs the Zenger House Foundation, serves as a Zenger Prize judge, and is the author of 29 books. From 1992 through 2021, he edited World.

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this one. Helpful and perceptive by a theologically literate journalism professor. He bucks the trend toward soft treatment and syncretism regarding non-Christian religions and the liberal versions of Christianity. He offers an alternative view with his sensitivity about biases in religion journalism. He also tells the side of the major faiths neglected in religion journalism. Very helpful for developing a Christian theology of religions.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written by an evangelical Christian, and is purportedly about non-Christian religions and how the media portrays them. He has some good points, but spends far too much time complaining about how negatively perceived Evangelicals are in modern American culture. He also wrote the book in 2004, which was probably the high water mark of American Evangelicalism, so there is a lot of false triumphalism. He has some good insight into minority religions, but his focus doesn't really stay on the media and popular culture, and how it portrays religion, which was supposed to be the thesis of the book.

[Ryan Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. Somewhat biased however. Still well written.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information on each religion in this book was great, but I disliked the author's style (pretty dry, really). When I bought the book, I thought that it would be one of those books that tries to increase knowledge/ acceptance of other religions, but at times the author seemed almost arogant about his own knowledge, which distracted me from what I was trying to learn. Hmm, puh. I might try to re-read this book later and see if my perception of the author changes. I have heard other people rave about both him and this book, so I will give it another chance later.

[Pablo Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro bastante fácil de leer. Ha de usarse el análisis crítico en la lectura continua de los capítulos sobre las religiones, porque no se anuncian las diferencias entre ellas y el cristianismo, pero se hacen evidentes.

La estructuración de los capítulos se hace sobre recuento histórico de cada religión y su quehacer en el presente.

Los últimos dos capítulos serán de más relevancia para periodistas, columnistas, blogueros que comenten sobre incidencias político-religiosas, etc.

[Angie]

Excellent book. Thoughtful, clear, interesting.

[Matt Connally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent perspective

Olasky gives us excellent perspective on the five major religions as well as on the role of the news media in covering them.