Description: A powerful, thought-provoking and always lively examination of how American Christianity has badly lost its way--with most of what goes by the name of Christianity today being one or another type of heresy--by the youngest writer ever appointed as editorial columnist for The New York Times.In a world populated by "pray and grow rich" gospels and Christian cults of self-esteem, Ross Douthat argues that America's problem isn't too much religion; nor is it intolerant secularism. Rather, it's bad religion. Conservative and liberal, political and pop cultural, traditionally religious and fashionably "spiritual"--Christianity's place in American life has increasingly been taken over, not by atheism, but by heresy: debased versions of Christian faith that stroke our egos, indulge our follies, and encourage our worst impulses. In a brilliant and provocative story that moves from the 1950s to the age of Obama, Douthat explores how bad religion has crippled the country's ability to confront our most pressing challenges and accelerated American decline.
Brief description: Ross Douthat is a columnist for The New York Times op-ed page. He is the author of To Change the Church, Bad Religion, and Privilege, and coauthor of Grand New Party. Before joining The New York Times, he was a senior editor for The Atlantic. He is the film critic for National Review, and he cohosts The New York Times's weekly op-ed podcast The Argument. He lives in New Haven with his wife and four children.
Review Quotes: "Bad Religion" is an important book. It brings a probing, perceptive analysis to bear on the tragic hollowing out of American Christianity. In Douthat, readers have a guide who explains how we ended up drinking at a narcissistic trough draped in spirituality that doesn't quench anybody's deepest thirst...."--G. Jeffrey MacDonald "Christian Science Monitor "