Bad Religion

How We Became a Nation of Heretics

By: Ross Douthat

Narrated by: Lloyd James

As the youngest-ever op-ed columnist for the New York Times and the author of the critically acclaimed books Privilege and Grand New Party, Ross Douthat has emerged as one of the most provocative and influential voices of his generation. Now he offers a masterful and hard-hitting account of how American Christianity has gone off the rails - and why it threatens to take American society with it.

In a story that moves from the 1950s to the age of Obama, Douthat brilliantly charts traditional Christianity's decline from a vigorous, mainstream, and bipartisan faith - which acted as a "vital center" and the moral force behind the Civil Rights movement - through the culture wars of the 1960s and 1970s and down to the polarizing debates of the present day. He argues that Christianity's place in American life has increasingly been taken over, not by atheism, but by heresy: debased versions of Christian faith that breed hubris, greed, and self-absorption.

Ranging from Glenn Beck to Eat Pray Love, Joel Osteen to The Da Vinci Code, Oprah Winfrey to Sarah Palin, Douthat explores how the prosperity gospel's mantra of "pray and grow rich", a cult of self-esteem that reduces God to a life coach, and the warring political religions of left and right have crippled the country's ability to confront our most pressing challenges and accelerated American decline. His urgent call for a revival of traditional Christianity is sure to generate controversy, and it will be vital listening for all those concerned about the imperiled American future.

©2012 Ross Douthat (P)2012 Tantor

A Clear Indictment...

of the postmodern "church," more self-help group or vague, self-satisfied social mission than body of Christ embracing the doctrine of the Bible. PCism, selfishness and spiritual laziness are what have given us the easy, breezy Joel Olsteen and Oprah takes on Christianity (washed clean of anything unpleasant and nearly of scripture itself), and Douthat makes a great argument against such a mistaken approach in this book, encouraging us to get back to the faith that has truly been the backbone of Christianity from the beginning.

The best case forChristian orthodoxy since C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity”

The quality of the book, in both structure and historical verisimilitude, is unsurpassed. Ross Douthat is a splendid, morally principled writer (as evidenced by his columns for the New York Times), and this book is the most comprehensive , captivating apologetic for Christian faith to appear in decades. Lloyd James’ measured, gentle narration does it full justice.

Much better than expected

Would you listen to Bad Religion again? Why?

No, but I never listen to anything twice

What other book might you compare Bad Religion to and why?

I have never read a book on the topic of relegion like this book.

What does Lloyd James bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

Very good narrator. His voice and style fit the book.

If you could give Bad Religion a new subtitle, what would it be?

A history of the 20th century church in America and where it is going in the 21rst

A creditable critique of American Christianity?

I'm no expert on theology nor a student of all modern American sects, but this book strawman my faith so I take with a large grain to salt what is explain to me about others faiths.

I appreciate the final chapter and agree with many of it's conclusions.

Bad Religion Is Bad Ass

Fascinating narrative of the shift from (relatively) robust mid-century/post-war American religious institutions (morally authoritative and politically above the fray) to our current, institutionally-weakened religious climate (pervaded by heresies such as Osteen-ish prosperity preaching, Oprah-esque god within thought, or Beck-like nationalism) and enlightening connection of our religio-social climate with its different forms' various historical roots. The analysis is grim but insightful, and it concludes with thoughtful and thought-provoking reflections on possibilities of renewal.

Perhaps somewhat as an aside, one of the things I particularly enjoyed was the very incisive interaction with (and, I must say - as it seemed to me - pretty epic takedown of) the popular "real Jesus" search (those who partake in the essentially autobiographical project nearly always make him into a figure too impotent to have made much of an impact on history).

Overall the book makes Douthat look like a potential journalistic heir of Chesterton.

skeptical

I am a Christian, but I usually shrink from contemporary Christian reading. This book is so good, that, within its genre, I have to say it's great.

it moved me back a little closer to my faith, being a disillusioned catholic. I'm still not convinced in the necessity of disapproving of certain sexual and marital practices. i will continue to maintain some liberal views about gender issues. but I'll keep an open mind. so this is a good book for opening your mind.

seeker

Great book!

Superb account of Christianity in the US since WWII. It's a clear perspective, precisely articulated.

Most Christian book of our time

Ross does two things that most 21st Century Christians fail to do in our present era.

1. He goes beyond the common denominator of mere Christianity to objectively call out what is and is not Christianity.

2. He conveys his argument in a gentle and fatherly way that is respectful of the reader and their particular creed, yet assertive in delivering the radical challenge of Christ, which the orthodox Christian Faith's have preserved over the millennia.

This is an academic and scholarly read, so if you are like me, it may get dull at times. Nonetheless, I applaud Ross for the way he so delicately, yet strongly, challenges American culture to see the great value of authentic Christian culture, and the universal danger of watering it down to an unorthodox relative dogma to be used for one's own personal justification.

Thought Reverberating on 2 Levels

Profound on both the broadest levels: history, culture, politics, sociology, &, of course, religion & on the more personal ones: psychology, morality, the family, & human yearning.

Eye-opening

An even-handed treatment of how the Christian church in America has fallen to the sorry state it is in.
What impressed me is the author states there may be some bias in his work. And while there may be, I thought he dealt fairly with the issues he brought up.