American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington, by H.W. Brands (Doubleday, 640 pp., $40.00) No founder has loomed larger, or stranger, over American culture than George Washington. โThe Father of the Nationโ has turned up everywhere from the 1995 debut of George magazine, which posed Cindy Crawford as a sexed-up first president, to the German American Bundโs 1939…
Every few years, another book arrives making the same pitch: Christians should be aligned with the left. Or at least, they should be more open to voting for Democrats. Scotty McLennanโs Jesus Was a Liberal, Brian McLarenโs Everything Must Change, Tony Campoloโs Red Letter Christians, and Robin Meyersโs Saving Jesus from the Church all tread the same ground, each offering…
In Mark 9:38โ41, the disciples are troubled to see someone casting out demons in Jesusโs name who is not part of their circle. Expecting rebuke, they are surprised when Jesus affirms the outsiderโs work: โDo not stop him… for the one who is not against us is for usโ (Mark 9:40). Jonathan Rauch, a…