Why Christians Should Be Leftists
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
The Sermon on the Mount offers a rousing call to political solidarity—if only we have ears to hear it.
Being a Christian and being a socialist go together for Phil Christman. He explains why in this stirring manifesto, which is part testimony of his own journey out of conservatism, part entertaining introduction to the American left, and part impassioned call to his fellow believers to take a fresh look at their own politics. Christman speaks particularly to Christians who are already uncomfortable with how political leaders on the right leverage sexism, racism, and homophobia. He encourages these believers: Keep going! Apply your moral discernment to capitalism, too!
Demonstrating why he's regarded as one of the best essayists in America, Christman deftly synthesizes politics, theology, pop culture, and ethics in this erudite and lively treatise. Throughout he offers a gentle but firm challenge to Christians who are disillusioned by politics as usual and searching for a new approach to civic life that takes Jesus's teachings seriously.
"I am approaching the social through the personal, by giving a testimony of sorts. You can take the boy out of evangelicalism, but can you really take the evangelicalism out of the boy? Even now, I have to tell the story."
Last Syllable Book Award Nonfiction Longlist (2025)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this astute if occasionally meandering treatise, Christman (How to Be Normal), an English professor at the University of Michigan, advocates for abandoning "the old covenant between Christians and conservatism" and adopting leftist values closer to the ones Jesus espoused. Diverging from the liberalism of today's Democratic party, he outlines a leftist politics that seeks to build a society where "the meek, the peacemaker, the person on the bottom of things is abundantly blessed." Doing so would entail dismantling capitalism—which provides too many opportunities for individuals to accumulate "enough wealth and capital" to "fund the destruction" of a fair society—in favor of something closer to a socialist democracy, Christman acknowledges. More practically, readers can enact leftist values by giving to charity; joining or starting a union; opposing nativism; and supporting climate change initiatives. While the author's digressive, footnotes-heavy style can frustrate, curious readers will appreciate his careful attention to moral nuance and clear points about the insufficiency of good intentions. Simply believing the "right" things, he notes, "shows me a lot of ways in which the strength of my intentions is not enough to change... social structures that my actions are embedded within." Christians seeking a stimulating political discourse should pick this up.
