Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

UNCHRISTIAN : WHAT A NEW GENERATION REALLY THINKS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY    ...AND  WHY IT MATTERS By   David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton “Christianity has an image problem.” (p. 11). The book, UNChristian , summarizes Kinnaman and Lyon's research into the views of Christians and non-Christians about many social issues. And they find that young Christians hold some negative attitudes toward Christianity—Christians are anti-gay and judgmental, to name two. This is one of the books I read as I was writing about beliefs and values in  A House Divided . A telling statistic is the finding that only 20% of “outsiders” strongly agree with an important characteristic of Christians: “Christian churches accept and love people unconditionally, regardless of how people look or what they do.” (p. 185) Although this book was written a few years ago, the contemporary situation in the United States suggests t...

Can a look back help predict the future of religious influence? SACRED CAUSES The Clash of Religion and Politics  from the Great War to the War on Terror By Michael Burleigh Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton CHURCH and STATE News of the recent church-state skirmishes rippling across the Southern Christian U.S. States reminded me of Burleigh’s work, which I reviewed a few years ago. Additionally, the brutality of the identified Islamic state ripping heads from bodies, destroying women and children, exploding ancient sites, and pushing vulnerable noncombatants into the Mediterranean makes the author’s analysis even more worthy of a second look. What I find useful to the present church and state issues is Burleigh’s consideration of the role of the church in the various conflicts beginning with World War I and extending into the 21st Century. During the past hundred years, the primary European church was of course the Church of Rome—still clai...