Abortion. Homosexuality. Environmentalism. Evolution. Conservative
positions on these topics are the current boundaries of mainstream
Evangelical Christianity. But what if the theological arguments given by
popular leaders on these "big four" were not quite as clear cut as they
claim?
Growing up as an evangelical Christian, Jonathan Dudley was taught that
faith was defined by the total rejection of abortion, homosexuality,
evolution, and environmentalism. But once he had begun studying biology
and ethics, his views began to change and he soon realized that what he
had been told about the Bible - and those four big issues - may have
been misconstrued. "Broken Words: The Abuse of Science and Faith in
American Politics "assesses the scientific and cultural factors leading
evangelicals to certain stances on each issue, shows where they went
wrong, and critically challenges the scriptural, ethical, and biological
arguments issued by those leaders today.
In "Broken Words," Dudley applies the Bible and biology to challenge the
fixed political dogmas of the religious right. Evangelicals are
confronted for the first time from within their ranks on the extent to
which faith has been corrupted by conservative politics, cultural
prejudice and naive anti-intellectualism. A re-ordering of American
Christianity is underway - and this book is an essential part of the
conversation.
"From the Hardcover edition."