Failing America's Faithful: How Today's Churches Are Mixing God with Politics and Losing Their Way Book

For too long the subject of religion has been politicized by the Right and largely ignored by the Left, as American churches have become increasingly more concerned with what people do with their bodies than with their souls. Now Kathleen Kennedy Townsend issues a spiritual call to arms to all those who feel that churches in America today---Catholic and Protestant alike---are FAILING AMERICA'S FAITHFUL.

Publishers Weekly

Two-term Maryland lieutenant governor Townsend makes a valid point: in America, faith is no longer about community. She longs for the Catholic Church of her youth, that "dealt with issues at the core of the Gospel-suffering, injustice, sickness, and poverty" rather than a Christianity influenced by a crop of preachers who seem to believe that "Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry and cared for the poor just so we don't have to." Addressing a broad range of issues including women, the religious right (and left), the GOP and her own political party, the Democrats, Townsend hopes to appeal to a wide audience, not just a Christian one. Personal anecdotes, including the text of a note from her father, Robert Kennedy, written to her on the morning of her uncle John F. Kennedy's funeral, make this a very personal discussion of faith, religious history and politics. Unfortunately, this doesn't always translate into a cohesive discussion, and the workmanlike style coupled with an doe-eyed earnestness leave the reader wanting. Townsend's call for the disillusioned to stay in church, meet with the priest or minister and help the community comes off more as a catechism than a battle cry. (Mar.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.