Struggling for the Soul of Our Country

Struggling for the Soul of Our Country is a book in search of answers: what does it mean to struggle for the soul of a country and how does the life of citizenship influence our common future? While discussing major cultural and political issues, Browning addresses the deeper questions haunting many of our citizens and reflects upon the spiritual dimension of the crises America faces today. With titles such as ''American Global Hegemony vs. the Quest for a New Humanity,'' ''Why I Am a Christian Socialist,'' and ''American Dystopia'' these essays examine aspects of American political and cultural life in an effort to shed light on the pathologies that Browning claims undermine the health of the country’s soul. This book invites the reader to examine the development of America as a militaristic empire, initiating multiple wars abroad, including a disastrous war in Iraq, and fostering at home a culture of violence that led to the assassination of an American president, John F. Kennedy, by agents of the US government.''These essays are elegant and interesting accounts of what it might mean to view America, Christianity, and other fundamental topics from a slightly different angle, one that offers new insights.''--Bill McKibben, Author; Activist; Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College''Browning’s lovely essay collection on America--all that it is, all that it could be--manages to be a poetics of outrage and an exaltation of the possible at the same time. It offers a fierce indictment of the tyranny of capitalism, the pathology of war, and our ruptured relation to nature. Yet this is a book of hope: that yes, America’s soul is worth the struggle and transformation is within our grasp.''--Kate Doyle, Senior Analyst of U.S. Policy in Latin America, National Security Archive''Browning’s book constitutes a profound and prophetic wake-up call to our nation. He urges the citizens of America toward a level of social consciousness and interdependence that flies in the face of our current focus on individualism. Is his analysis accurate? One can only answer that question with integrity once the book has been read.''--John Shelby Spong, retired Bishop Diocese of Newark, Author of Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy''These essays burst as blossoms of radical wisdom, growing right out of the deep place of our shared history--that past-present where possibility betrayed lives and festers. In his voice it remains possible and calls to us still. In beautifully accessible prose, standing at the cutting edge of this historic moment, Browning voices the call to a socially real democracy, beyond imperial aggression and ecological self-destruction. He has offered us all a work of revolutionary soulfulness.'' --Catherine Keller, Author; George T. Cobb Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew Theological School''In this timely, wise, and passionately argued study, Browning has given new credibility and relevance to the position of a Christian socialist. Placing itself in a long and distinguished tradition of moral criticism in the United States, this book sets forth a challenge to America that it dare not dismiss without risk to its very nature.''--Giles Gunn, Author; Professor of Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara''Timid readers may be offended by Preston Browning’s expose of the brutal efforts by our country to ’make the world safe for democracy.’ But if they share his concern for the soul of our country, they will see the urgent need for this well-informed book.''--Maynard Kaufman, Author; former Professor of Religion and Environmental Studies, Western Michigan University''A refreshing commentary on US domestic and foreign policy, past and present, from a left Christian perspective. Browning’s prose is sharp, clear, often witty, and especially welcome in a turbulent political year. We need more discussions like this.''--Nancy R. Cirillo, Associate Professor Emerita of English, Universit