God and Ronald Reagan : A Spiritual Life

Rating:
Summary: Please disregard the Publishers Weekly review above!
Review: This book is anything but a hagiography - it is an unbelievably fair look at the faith of our 40th president. Kengor deals with issues Reagan was highly criticized for by the much maligned "religious right," namely Reagan's lack of church attendance while President and Nancy Reagan's use of astrology. A truly biased biographer interested only in deifying Reagan would have avoided these issues that on the surface reflect poorly on Reagan's faith. Also, identifying Reagan's faith as a driving force in his presidency is not, as the Publishers Weekly review suggests, "seemingly obvious" - it's been largely ignored in the plethora of Reagan scholarship available. It's been 23 years since he first took the oath of office as president, and only now in Kengor's work do we get a book that fully explores the deep faith of Reagan. The most surprising aspect of Reagan's faith is its depth, a fact lost on the Reagan bashers who believe he was nothing but an amiable dunce and mere actor. Carefully tracing Reagan's faith from his childhood, Kengor shows he taught Sunday school, was baptized earlier than most children because of his advanced knowledge of the Bible, and used C.S. Lewis' famed "Liar, Lunatic, or Lord" argument to convince a liberal minister of the deity of Christ. Much of what Kengor draws upon are Reagan's own writings and words, giving the reader an unfiltered view of Reagan's faith. Appallingly, Publishers Weekly said Reagan "harped" on the Soviet Union's religious persecution, as if he was an annoying mother pestering her children to clean their room. Rather, Reagan was animated by his faith to denounce and declare as evil a political-economic system - communism - that killed 100 million people in the twentieth century. Please read this book - it is not only fascinating, but a wonderful work of scholarship. Copious amounts of footnotes (58 pages worth!) back up every claim made in this book, and if weren't for the readable style of Kengor's writing, this could just as easily been an academic book published by a non-trade book publisher. To fully grasp Reagan and his impact on not just America but the world, "God and Ronald Reagan" is necessary reading. I give it my highest possible recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read.
Review: This book is well-researched, and Dr. Kengor gives us great insight into the faith of Ronald Wilson Reagan and the role that his faith had in his public life. Kengor uses many of Reagan's speeches and writings as well as the memories of those who knew the Gipper well to reveal a man whose faith in Jesus Christ remained deep and consistent through more than 60 years of public life, both in Hollywood and in the political arena. Obviously, Reagan's faith had its greatest influence on his lifelong battle against Communism, beginning in Hollywood and continuuing throughout his entire political life. During his "Evil Empire" speech, Reagan said "The source of our strength in the quest for human freedom is not material, but spiritual...And because it knows no limitation, it must terrify and ultimately triumph over those who would enslave their fellow man." The President once spoke before a group of evangelical Christians and stated that the Cold War would be won not with bullets, bombs or missiles, but through our nation's great faith in God. By the end of the 1980's, that faith had prevailed and the great Soviet threat had been all but defeated. Following Reagan from his early childhood to his triumphant mission to Moscow, Kengor illustrates how Ronald Reagan, as both a spiritual leader and as a political leader changed the world, and changed the course of America, for the better.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous book that works on two levels
Review: This tome explores Ronald Reagan's religious faith, and the influence this faith had on his public life. It works on two levels.

First, the book should appeal to religious and spiritually minded people alike, as it chronicles the evolution of a spiritually evolved soul who voluntarily chose his own path (in Reagan's church, baptism is done when you're old enough to decide to do it on your own). It even looks back to Reagan's early years, when he found God in a simple little butterfly collection in his home's attic. There were many points in this book where I simply paused-as I felt inspired by Reagan's steady progression on a spiritual path.

Secondly, the book is an important historical work which complements the other biographies on Ronald Reagan. This book should be a "must read" for any historian who wants to know what truly motivated Reagan. We learn that Reagan's long battle against Communism was motivated not so much by it is economic system as the fact that it banned the worship of God. No, Reagan did not believe religion should be mandated, but he believed that any society which prohibited the worship of God was an evil one. This is a very important point to understand, as it was the driving force behind his entire public life.

There are many other instances where Reagan's religious beliefs intersected with his public life, and it is documented in the book.

While the author obviously admires Ronald Reagan, he does not depart from the role of a scholar, as the book is exhaustively documented with hundreds of detailed footnotes. Since much of the more detailed information is kept to footnotes, the books remains easy to read, without losing its value as a serious historical work.

Rating:
Summary: A tract to make Bob Hansen proud
Review: Too many Americans are seduced by what flaunts itself as "religious" or "spiritual" values. Many would argue that has come from anti-abortion fanaticism, but, wherever it comes from, it's degrading to religion.

This volume is a classic example of one of those propaganda documents produced almost always by the political Right that makes them feel warm and cuddly inside, while their politics, economics, etc., are so despicably narcissist as to be atheist.

I've tried to find something positive about Reagan--whom I think showed symptoms of dimentia before he was even elected. But I'm having a hard time finding it. It's rather obvious that his alleged lieutenants were running the show (and they feared he'd be impeached when he was caught!) all the way through. This nonsense put me back; if this and Reagan speechwriters are all I can find, maybe I'll have to reconcile myself to Reagan having been an incompetent geezer incapable of recognizing the reactionary Stalinists around him.

My God, the religious Right will stop at nothing....