Beyond a House Divided: The Moral Consensus Ignored by Washington, Wall Street, and the Media

by Carl A. Anderson

If you follow politics or the news, America is a country of culture wars and great divides, a partisan place of red states and blue states, of us against them. From pundits to politicians it seems that anyone with an audience sees a polarized country - a country at war with itself.
In a radical departure from this "conventional wisdom," Carl Anderson explores what the talking heads have an overwhelming American consensus on many of the country's seemingly most divisive issues. If the debates are shrill in public, he says, there is a quiet consensus in private - one that America's institutions ignore at their peril. From health care, to the role of religion in America, to abortion, to the importance of traditional ethics in business and society, Anderson uses fresh polling data and keen insight in BEYOND A HOUSE DIVIDED to show that a surprising consensus has emerged despite these debates. He sheds light on what's been missing in the public and political debates of the last several the consensus that isn't hard to find if you know where to look.
For Anderson, allowing polar opposites to drive the discussion has made the resolution of contentious issues impossible. Instead, he says, we should look to the consensus among Americans as the best prospect for a beneficial conclusion.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

The 13th supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, Carl A. Anderson has led the Knights and their families since 2000 to unprecedented levels of charitable giving and support for their communities and Church. Under Mr. Anderson’s leadership, membership has grown to more than 1.9 million Knights, who together in 2014 alone donated over $173.5 million to charity and provided more than 71.5 million volunteer hours of charitable service worldwide. Over the past decade, under the supreme knight's guidance, the Knights of Columbus has donated more than 691 million hours of service to charity and $1.4 billion to charity.

Reviews

[Dave Kern]

Great book every Catholic Adult should read it!

[Peter]

If you are looking for a well researched factiual approach this book is a huge disapointment. Written by a high level Knight of Columbus is is basically filled with opinion and dogma which contrasts with the present state of research in the scientific and social science community on these important social issues. Not surprisingly a Catholic Bishop recently used this book to support his condemnation of homosexuals having equal rights such as marriage or raising children.