Suggested Reading

What do YOU stand for?

Taking a look at backgrounds and expanded thinking

If you want additional information or to read a variety of reviews by readers, visit this website and do a web search on the left for the book title or author: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html/104-7495874-0527113

• Allen, Stewart Lee, In the Devil's Garden, Ballantine Books, New York, 2002. Examines foods that have been shunned throughout the centuries and banned by cultures around the world. The author includes some recipes and draws from a variety of disciplines including biology, religion, history, etc. as he discusses why foods such as tomatoes, chocolate, and potatoes have been feared, scorned, or restricted.

• Blaker, Kimberly, The Fundamentals of Extremism, 'The Christian Right in America', New Boston Books, Michigan, 2003

Bloom, Harold, Jesus and Yaweh

• Burstein, Andrew, The Inner Jefferson, 'Portrait of a Grieving Optimist,' University Press of Virginia, Charlottsesville, 1995

• Church, F. Forrest, The American Creed, 'A Spiritual and Patriotic Primer', St. Martin's Press. Church delves into the nation's historical, spiritual and philosophical beginnings and leads readers in thinking about what it means to live in a nation founded on principles that are sacred and secular. He draws on the thinking of great thinkers and leaders such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Waldo Emerson, Benjamin Franklin, and Franklin Roosevelt. Throughout the book, he relates the past to current issues. Church is the well-known, twenty-four year senior minister of All Souls Unitarian Church in Manhattan, NY and is the author of 20 books.

Cobb, Dr. Price, My American Life, From Rage to Entitlement

Ehrenrich, Barbara, Bait and Switch, about loss of jobs in the Middle Class

• Flynn, Stephen, America the Vulnerable: Why America Is Still An Easy Target, HarperCollins, July 20, 2004; ISBN: 0060571284;Exposes how the U.S. has failed to protect its infrastructure from terrorists;
  

• Franks, Thomas, What's the matter with Kansas? Metropolitan Books, June 1, 2004, ISBN: 0805073396; Since Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. has spent more than $500 million to make America's seaports more secure. That's about what the U.S. spends in Iraq in four days, notes Stephen Flynn, whose new book on homeland security, America the Vulnerable, concludes that the U.S. is scandalously unprepared for the next terrorist attack. Why? Because it still doesn't see protecting the homeland as a priority. Flynn, a retired U.S. Coast Guard commander and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says our leaders harbor the delusion that the real fight against..

• Greenfield, Meg, Washington, (with a foreword by Katharine Graham and an afterword by Michael Beschloss), Public Affairs BBS, New York, 2001. "For all the scandal and politics of Washington, the truth of how it works, who does what, and how, is often hidden behind bland smiles and a sea of handshakes....This is Washington through the peephole, written by a journalist who knew the right doors to crouch in front of." (Author unknown--taken from Book of the Month Club description.)

• Hamilton, Adam, Confronting the Controversies, 'A Christian Looks at the Tough Issues,' Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2001. The Reverend Hamilton is the young minister of Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, one of the largest and fastest growing Methodist churches in the nation. An easy read, the author has done an exceptionally good job of presenting several facets of very difficult issues (Separation of Church/State; Creation/Evolution in the Public Schools; Death Penalty; Euthanasia; Prayer in Public Schools; Abortion, and Homosexuality). In this reviewer's opinion, however, the author did use poor judgement in one chapter, relating a personal story for one side of the issue without including a similar personal story supporting the other side of the issue

• Ivens, Molly and Dubose, Lou, Bushwhacked 'Life in George W. Bush's America', Random House, 2004, 351 pp. (See also Who's Looking Out for You? O'Reilly, Bill.) More information:

• Kaminer, Wendy, Free for All: 'Defending Liberty in America Today'; Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: 'The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety'; A Fearful Freedom: 'Women's Flight from Equality'; Women Volunteering: 'The Pleasure, Pain & Politics of Unpaid Work'
  Prior to her career as a writer, the author practiced law as a member of the staff of the New York Legal Aid Society and in the New York City Mayor's Office. She is currently on the National Board of the American Civil Liberties Union. Ms. Kaminer was recently interviewed on NOW with Bill Moyers on KCPT-19. Read Kaminer's article, "The Real Danger Behind the Christian Right" as printed in the October/November 2003 issues of "Free Inquiry."

• Lapham, Lewis, The Theatre of War, New York : New Press ; Distributed by W.W. Norton, 2002, LC Call No.: E902.L37 2002. Lapham discusses subsidies to corporations vs. public welfare. Political platforms in the 2002 election.

• Lewis, Charles, The Buying of the President, Avon Books, New York, 2000. Discusses campaign finance -- identifies the special interests who provide the cash that buys influence. The author also wrote a previous book by the same title in 1996.

• Maguire, Daniel C., Sacred Choices—'The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions', Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 2001. Another easy read. "Opening a new conversation about a conflicted and polarized area, ethicist Daniel Maguire taps the wisdom of ten world religions and finds in them a true religious awe at the sacredness of life, a genuine openness to sexuality as a dimension of the sacred, and 'alongside the no-choice position...a prochoice position that is too little known, even by adherents to the religion...." Rosemany Radford Ruether, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, author of Sexism and God-Talk

• McCullough, David, John Adams, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2001

• Malveaux, Julianne and Perry, Deborah, Unfinished Business--'A Democrat and a Republican Take On The 10 Most Important Issues Women Face,' New York, Perigee, 2002, LC Call No.: HQ1421.M34 2002. Women, United States, Social conditions. United States, Social conditions, 1980.

• O'Reilly, Bill, Who's Looking Out for You?, Broadway Books, 2003, 213 pp (See also Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America, Molly Ivens and Lou Dubose More information:

Packer, George, The Assassin's Gate America in Iraq

• Patterson, Richard North, Protect and Defend, A.A. Knoph, distributed by Random House, New York, 2000. Fiction: "…This …account of the confirmation battle over our first female Chief Justice, played out against the background of a compelling late-term abortion drama, will change the way you think about the lives, the politics and the psyches of those who govern. The twists and turns of courtroom, committee room and oval office mirror today's headlines…." Allen M. Dershowitz

Perkins, John, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

• Reich, Robert, Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America, ; Alfred A. Knopf, 2004, 256 pg. Review:

• Seglin, Jeffrey, The Right Thing—'Conscience, Profit and Personal Responsibility in Today's Business'; A collection of Seglin's columns on business ethics which appear in The New York Times.

• Shulman, Beth, Betrayal of Work; The New Press, 2003, ISBN: 1565847334; Hardcover, 255pp (about $20.00) "If you work hard, you'll be able to earn a decent income and provide the basics for your family, so goes the American Dream. The reality is something quite different. An astonishing 30 million American men and women--one in four workers--work in jobs that pay poverty wages [less than $8.70], provide minimal or no benefits, and allow little flexibility and time for quality child care. How can we restore fairness to America's economic order?" WBUR (Boston's National Public Radio - http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2003/09/20030901_a_main.asp)

Wallis, Jim, God's Politics, Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It

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