"For decades, Bill Press argues, conservative preachers such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and James Dobson - joined by most Catholic bishops - have defined religion so narrowly that Democrats and liberals have been pushed outside the fold. According to their narrow gospel, God put George Bush in the White House to deal with gays, guns, and abortion - and those who don't agree are on the sure road to hell." "How the Republicans Stole Christmas is Press's fervent call to Democrats and liberals to reclaim religion and return it to its basic principles of social justice, charity, and tolerance. Press argues that the Right didn't just steal religion, the Left let them have it, offering no resistance as conservatives dictated what's right and what's wrong. But on today's social issues, according to Press, religious conservatives have gotten it all wrong. They have turned Jesus from a loving Messiah who championed the poor and dispossessed into a cold-blooded advocate for the rich and powerful. Press does not confine his criticisms to so-called Christian leaders
he uncovers the same wrong-headed tendencies in other faiths and among nonbelievers, who even today cling to the Old Testament as an appropriate code of behavior."--BOOK JACKET.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [271]-273).