Failing America's Faithful How Today's Churches Are Mixing God with Politics and Losing Their Way by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
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Book Description

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 ...

The traditional role of the church in this country has been to promote the welfare of those in the community who depend on it-the poor, the sick, those in need. Yet American churches today are more involved in offering prescriptions for what one ought not to do than in working for the greater good.

Kennedy Townsend movingly recalls what it was like to grow up as the eldest Kennedy of her generation, a member of a prominent Catholic family at a time when both America and the Church were undergoing a revolutionary transformation. She documents how America's churches have been in the forefront of the fight for social progress: from the original struggle for independence, to the abolitionist movement, to the support of women's suffrage, better working conditions, and civil rights. And she shows how today's churches, allied with the political right, have created a new social agenda and have become obsessed with fighting legal and legislative battles about personal and private issues, while the neediest of our country are forgotten.

But opposition to this distortion of Christian traditions has been growing, and Failing America's Faithful provides powerful examples of individuals altering the current state of affairs, from prominent figures like Rick Warren to anonymous Christians who are heeding a call to help their neighbors.

This book's inspiring message is one of hope and spiritual renewal. Powerful and provocative, Failing America's Faithful demonstrates how Americans can reclaim their religious traditions and transform their churches, their lives, and this very nation.

About the Author

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest child of Robert F. Kennedy, worked in the U.S. Department of Justice before serving two terms as Maryland's lieutenant governor. She has taught at Georgetown University and the University of Pennsylvania, speaks regularly on political and religious issues, and is engaged in philanthropic work. She and her husband have raised four daughters and live in Baltimore.

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