American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile (edit title)

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Liked It Rated 4 stars “Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009) is one of my favorite authors--a gifted writer who makes you think on every page. This was his last book, published posthumously. It's an incredibly deep philosophical and religious book, but also discusses contemporary political issues. Neuhaus is making the case...” see full review » see other reviews »

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  • Rated 4 stars

  “Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009) is one of my favorite authors--a gifted writer who makes you think on every page. This was his last book, published posthumously. It's an incredibly deep philosophical and religious book, but also discusses contemporary political issues. Neuhaus is making the case that America is something very close to the New Jerusalem. Neuhaus is responsible for the phrase "the naked public square," by which he meant the enforced privatization of religion and religiously informed morality, resulting in the exclusion of both from the government of "We the People." To illustrate how profound his writing is, consider this paragraph:
  
  "This world, for all its well-earned dissatisfaction, is worthy of our love and allegiance. It is a self-flattering conceit to think we deserve a better world. What's wrong with this one begins with us. And yet we are dissatisfied. Our restless discontent takes the form not of complaint but of hope. There is a promise not yet fulfilled."
  
  Certainly a controversial chapter is "Can an Atheist Be a Good Citizen?" John Locke thought no, and so does Neuhaus. He points out that during the period of the American founding, state constitutions could and did exclude atheists from public office. But the real reason the answer is no I found to be quite compelling:
  
  "In such a nation, an atheist can be a citizen, but he cannot be a good citizen. A good citizen does more than abide by the laws. A good citizen is able to give an account, a morally compelling account, of the regime of which he is a part--and to do so in continuity with the constituting moment and subsequent history of that regime. ...The American experiment in constitutional democracy was not conceived and dedicated by those who today call themselves "atheists," and it cannot be conceived and dedicated anew by such citizens..."
  
  Of course, Neuhaus takes on abortion. He cites Aristotle's question from "Nicomachean Ethics": How ought we to order our life together? and then sets out that the legal question is not when life begins. Rather, the crucial question is: "At what point in its existence ought we, and for what reasons ought we, to recognize that a human life should be protected in law?" This is not just a moral question, but also a political question. There's hardly a more fundamental question than who belongs to "we" in Aristotle's question. Neuhaus was one of the authors who changed my mind on the issue of abortion, along with Pope John Paul, Ronald Reagan, and William F. Buckley.
  
  He also cites Blaise Pascal's wager: "The person who seeks God and finds him, is both rational and happy. The person who seeks God and does not find him is rational but not happy. The person who does not seek God and does not find him is neither rational or happy."
  
  If you appreciate a good philosophical read with a religious foundation, you will enjoy this book immensely.”

  Ron B wrote this review Wednesday, June 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No