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Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America (The Documents of 20th-century art) | 
 enlarge | Author: Gustav Niebuhr
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $11.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 61840
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.7 x 1.1
ISBN: 0670019569
Dewey Decimal Number: 201.5
EAN: 9780670019564
ASIN: 0670019569
Publication Date: July 31, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Hardcover, with dust jacket. Brand new, never used. Ships the next business day, with tracking and delivery confirmation sent to your email.
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Product Description
A bracing rejoinder both to religious fanaticism and to recent books decrying religion
The United States is the most religiously diverse nation in the world and the most religiously diverse collection of people in history. And even in this age of increasing religious violence, there is a growing movement of cooperation: thousands of devout worshippers who are willing to take a gamble on people of radically different faiths.
In this insightful, deeply felt examination of the nature of community and religion, former New York Times religion reporter Gustav Niebuhr traces the roots of religious freedom in America and the setbacks and triumphs it has encountered along the way. From Hindus and Quakers in Queens to Catholics and Jews in Baltimore, to black Baptists and Catholics in Louisville, to Catholics and Buddhists in Los Angeles, Niebuhr focuses on the ways people build ties between groups. He looks at why this movement is a particularly American endeavor and how it can save us all. Beyond Tolerance is a handbook for religious cooperation in our fractured times.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Worthy sentiments but falls short August 21, 2008
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
It's almost painful to criticize this slim volume because the sentiments behind it are ppraiseworthy. Niebuhr argues in favor of interfaith dialogue. He says that in the post 9/11 world, mutual understanding and respect between different religions is more crucial than ever. I heartily agree.
A former New York Times religion reporter turned academic, Niebuhr travels around the country finding various small-scale but nonetheless inspiring examples of such dialogue. It's all quite heart-warming.
Where the book falls short is in its lack of context. How can you balance these earnest efforts at mutual understanding against other developments which suggest that intolerance and racism only seem to be increasing? Take for example, the wave of anti-immigrant feeling that has swept the United States -- to say nothing of the racism that Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid has awakened, fueled not only by his color but by the false rumors that he is a Muslim?
Nieburh goes into quite a it of detail about post-Holocaust efforts by Christians to come to terms with their legacy of 2,000 years of hating, persecuting and humiliating Jews. "The overall record of Christians toward Jews and Judaism is discouraging," he says (page 145) -- one of the more spectacular understatements I've ever read on the subject.
He completely fails to address the unprecedented, disproportionate and unwarranted targeting of Israel by the Methodist, Presbyterian and other churches. Their attitude seems to be, "OK, we've said sorry for the Holocaust and we won't preach hatred about the Jews any more -- but the Jewish state is fair game." When these churches advocate disinvestment from Israel, they are once again falling back into the historical pattern of declaring Jews beyond the pale. It's anti-Semitism by another name.
This book is well-intentioned but falls short of confronting the subject with the true intellectual rigor and painful honesty it advocates.
 A Visionary Call August 19, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Every once in awhile a book transcends paper, ink, and binding to paint a picture. Niebuhr's book does just that -- casting a vision for interfaith understanding and issuing a challenge to engage in a transformative dialogue -- to move beyond the boundaries that limit and constrain us. Our future health, vitality, and sustainability as a global culture lies in collaboration and connection that is greater than any one religious faith or belief system. Too often modern religion is framed in divisive, destructive, and dysfunctional terms, with little regard to the essence of the good, the beautiful, and the true that undergird every major faith. When differences can be set aside in deference to the common good and the shared values of diverse faiths, amazing things can happen. Niebuhr offers an invitation into a new way of being 'religious' in a complex, chaotic, and often contentious world. This is a recommended read for every person of faith who desires to see our world become a place of peace, justice, mercy, and love.
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