God-botherers and Other True-believers: Gandhi, Hitler, and the Religious Right

Description

When reason fails to guide us in our everyday lives, we turn to faith, to religion; we close our minds; we reject austere reasoning. This rejection, which is a faith-based social and intellectual malignancy, has two unfortunate consequences: it blocks the way to knowledge that might enhance the quality of life and it opens the way to charlatans who exploit the faith of others. Examining two unquestionable malignancies of “the Christian Right” in present-day politics in the United States and the “secular religion” of Hitler’s National Socialism, as well as the third, more complex case of Gandhi, the author asserts that we need religion, but we also need to make sure it does no harm. Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Faith and Politics 1 Faith, Reason, and Consequences 2 Religion and Persuasion in Politics Part II: Antagonistic Religions 3 Desert, Marketplace, and Forum 4 The Need for Enemies Part III: A Religion of Love 5 Gandhi: The Freedom Fight 6 Gandhi’s Charisma 7 Gandhi’s Religion and Political Reality 8 The First Cause and the Last Word References Index