Here is my second book review in partnership with The Ooze as an “Ooze Select Blogger.”
This week’s selection is We the Purple by Marcia Ford. We the Purple is a book about non-partisan politics, something that seems like a fairy tale dream in America’s current political climate. This was an interesting read during an election year and the continuing, heated Democratic primaries.
As stated on my blog before, I tend to shy away from political posting, since that is not the purpose of my blog. However, We the Purple is a great read for anyone, both believer or non-believer in Christ, who is tired of today’s two party political system.
For the record, I’m am politically what most would consider a “conservative.” I’m actually becoming more libertarian in my views as I get older, as I see the grace and mercy of Christ that has been given to me so that I can share it with others. I still enjoy listening to conservative talk radio, though I am not a mind-numbed robot. You might say I am pretty much a Reagan conservative with libertarian leanings.
In a nutshell, We the Purple is all about the growing “independent” movement sweeping across the political landscape. I would venture a guess that this movement is much larger than most of us perceive, simply because it is not organized around a central authority or party office. The independent political movement is grassroots, and covers the gamut of political thought from “ultraconservative to ultraliberal. Some are antiabortion, others proabortion [sic]. Some support the war in Iraq; others oppose it. Some oppose gay marriage; some support it, and still others don’t care one way or another about what they consider to be a nonissue [sic].”
What Marcia Ford has discovered, and become a part of herself, is a movement that is more concerned about leading America forward together than about “might makes right” political clout.
For me, since I’ve tried to pull back on my interest in politics in the last five years or so, the book started out fairly slow. About halfway through the book though, she spoke about something near and dear to my heart: the power and influence of bloggers. Ford takes some time to notate how the political landscape has been forever changed by the involvement of the blogging community, even to the extent of successfully removing politicians from office, and getting policies changed.
Where the book REALLY struck a chord with me is in the section called “The Disintegration of Worship.” I love how Ford delves into the reality that the Evangelical Right’s support of the Republican party has not advanced the fight against abortion in any significant way. She also gives anecdotal evidence how that, even in liberal churches, support from the pulpit for particular political ideology has done little more than polarize the church. (Jeremiah Wright anyone?)
She taps into the basic idea that, when we bring politics into the church, the church is no longer functioning as it should. A house once dedicated to worship and prayer finds itself doing little of either when it allows politics to determine its destiny. Rather, teach your congregation the essentials of the faith, and watch them live out that faith.
All in all, We the Purple is a good book on the subject of becoming an independently minded voter while remaining true to one’s faith in Christ. If we face reality, we realize that neither political party follows the Scripture in developing its policies, and we would be foolish to tie ourselves to one party or another solely for the supposed advancement of the Kingdom of God. Advancement of the Kingdom is the responsibility of the Church—not the government—yet we’ve so often abdicated our responsibility and authority and placed them on the heads of heads of state. We the Purple is not only about non-partisan politics, it is a call for the Church to remember to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.
I would recommend We the Purple to just about anyone. Even if you are not interested in politics, you will learn a good bit about history and America’s political system. You might also find yourself to be more involved in the process, but not in obvious ways. My only criticism of the book would be the cover design. I see what they were trying to do in designing it, but based on cover design alone, I would never have picked the book up in the book store. So, don’t judge a book by its cover, literally.
This book will be a great read during the current political season.
