StarAstrologer - Books : Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 261.708828273
EAN: 9780385522281
ISBN: 0385522282
Label: Doubleday
Manufacturer: Doubleday
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: August 12, 2008
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: August 12, 2008
Sales Rank: 5397
Studio: Doubleday
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“People who take God seriously will not remain silent about their faith. They will often disagree about doctrine or policy, but they won’t be quiet. They can’t be. They’ll act on what they believe, sometimes at the cost of their reputations and careers. Obviously the common good demands a respect for other people with different beliefs and a willingness to compromise whenever possible. But for Catholics, the common good can never mean muting themselves in public debate on foundational issues of human dignity. Christian faith is always personal but never private. This is why any notion of tolerance that tries to reduce faith to private idiosyncrasy, or a set of opinions that we can indulge at home but need to be quiet about in public, will always fail.”
—From the Introduction
Few topics in recent years have ignited as much public debate as the balance between religion and politics. Does religious thought have any place in political discourse? Do religious believers have the right to turn their values into political action? What does it truly mean to have a separation of church and state? The very heart of these important questions is here addressed by one of the leading voices on the topic, Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Denver.
While American society has ample room for believers and nonbelievers alike, Chaput argues, our public life must be considered within the context of its Christian roots. American democracy does not ask its citizens to put aside their deeply held moral and religious beliefs for the sake of public policy. In fact, it requires exactly the opposite.
As the nation’s founders knew very well, people are fallible. The majority of voters, as history has shown again and again, can be uninformed, misinformed, biased, or simply wrong. Thus, to survive, American democracy depends on an engaged citizenry —people of character, including religious believers, fighting for their beliefs in the public square—respectfully but vigorously, and without apology. Anything less is bad citizenship and a form of theft from the nation’s health. Or as the author suggests: Good manners are not an excuse for political cowardice.
American Catholics and other persons of goodwill are part of a struggle for our nation’s future, says Charles J. Chaput. Our choices, including our political choices, matter. Catholics need to take an active, vocal, and morally consistent role in public debate. We can’t claim to personally believe in the sanctity of the human person, and then act in our public policies as if we don’t. We can’t separate our private convictions from our public actions without diminishing both. In the words of the author, “How we act works backward on our convictions, making them stronger or smothering them under a snowfall of alibis.”
Vivid, provocative, clear, and compelling, Render unto Caesar is a call to American Catholics to serve the highest ideals of their nation by first living their Catholic faith deeply, authentically.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Charles Chaput is one of the most honest, heartfelt Catholic authors of our time. His societal observations in Render Unto Caesar are both honest and sobering, yet his insights are deeply inspiring in the way that they challenge a person of faith to truly LIVE what they say they believe. "Render Unto Caesar" challenges the world's logic, yet does so for the sake of preserving the goodness of our society - in our marriages, in our families and thus, by extension, the peace and joy of our nation as ... Read More
Rating:  -
The book is very conversational in style with many stories mixed in with some church teachings. I had been hoping for more definitive statements and guidance. It did lead me to go and read Living the Gospel of Life, which provided more of the guidance I was hoping for. Archbishop Chaput does state that if the book does nothing else than lead people to read Living the Gospel of Life, then the book will have accomplished its goal.
Rating:  -
Chaput is the Catholic archbishop of Denver, and the first Native American archbishop ordained. Render Unto Caesar is both a religious and a political book, weaving the two together. His main thesis is that people of faith, particularly Catholics, need to be more vocal about their faith, be faithful Catholics first, before their national citizenship, and that Catholic politicians need to reflect their Catholic beliefs before their personal ones. There is a good deal of the history of the Catholic ... Read More
Rating: -
Written in the same way Archbishop Chaput speaks- down to earth and easy to follow yet full of wisdom and powerful insights. Archbishop Chaput is a living saint and this book reflects his holiness in the matters of politics- where few holy people go. His insights into American Democracy will have you thinking differently about your role in our country
Rating: -
"the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do" -1Ch12
To this concise book by Bishop Chaput, this non-Catholic says: Wow, a true tour d'force. A continuous flow of historical, cultural, moral, and spiritual insight and perspective.
At times the text flows almost non-stop with memorable quotes, representing an enormous amount of research, imparting a deep well of understanding and wisdom.
I liked the way Chaput didn't ... Read More
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