American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country

From one of the country&;s most respected religion reporters, a paradigm-shifting discussion of how the Religious Left is actually the moral compass that has long steered America&;s political debates, including today.Since the ascendancy of the Religious Right in the 1970s, common wisdom holds that it is a coalition of fundamentalist powerbrokers who are the &;moral majority,&; setting the standard for conservative Christian values and working to preserve the status quo.But, as national religion reporter Jack Jenkins contends, the country is also driven by a vibrant, long-standing moral force from the left. Constituting an amorphous group of interfaith activists that goes by many names and takes many forms, this coalition has operated since America&;s founding &; praying, protesting, and marching for common goals that have moved society forward. Throughout our history, the Religious Left has embodied and championed the progressive values at the heart of American democracy&;abolition, labor reform, civil rights, environmental preservation.Drawing on his years of reporting, Jenkins examines the re-emergence of progressive faith-based activism, detailing its origins and contrasting its goals with those of the Religious Right. Today&;s rapidly expanding interfaith coalition&;&;&;which includes Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and other faiths&;&;&;has become a force within the larger &;resistance&; movement. Jenkins profiles Washington political insiders&;including former White House staffers and faith outreach directors for the campaigns of Barack Obama, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton&;as well as a new generation of progressive faith leaders at the forefront today, including:Rev. William Barber II, leader of North Carolina&;s Moral Mondays and co-chair of the nationwide Poor People&;s campaignLinda Sarsour, co-chair of the Women&;s MarchRev. Traci Blackmon, a pastor near Ferguson, Missouri who works to lift up black liberation efforts across the countrySister Simone Campbell, head of the Catholic social justice lobby and the &;Nuns on the Bus&; tour organizerNative American &;water protectors&; who demonstrated against the Dakota Access Pipeline in Standing RockBishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishopAn exciting reevaluation of America&;s moral center and an inspiring portrait of progressive faith-in-action, American Prophets will change the way we think about the intersection of politics and religion.