There is a way out of ideological warfare—a way to turn hearts poisoned by cynicism into instruments of love.
This provocative book brings the wisdom of Scripture into conversation with such diverse minds as Emily Dickinson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ayn Rand, and Mister Rogers. Johnston’s prose is by turns erudite and poignant, yet always insightful.
Public discourse has become a whirlpool of self-righteous vitriol. Core civic virtues that used to define the American character—virtues like humility and truth-telling—are increasingly hard to find. Most tragically, our collective fury shows little sign of moving the needle.
Are we making substantive progress addressing racism, immigration, gun violence, poverty, or climate change? Not really. Instead, people have started wondering aloud if we are on the brink of a civil war. All of this has me, as a pastor, worrying about what this unremitting culture war is doing to our collective soul.
From the Foreword
Scott's skill at listening to all parties brings the elusive grace of his title into focus. He listens to his congregation as well as the city in which they live. He listens to Scripture, to popular culture, to great literature, to wisdom from the street. In what other recent book have you found Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Franklin in the same sentence? By connecting voices from different centuries and diverse perspectives, Scott enlarges our sense of what it means
to be human.
—Barbara Brown Taylor