by Jimmy Carter

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review by Lee Nash

COMES NOW JIMMY CARTER with his twentieth book, ranking him third among our 42 presidents for books published, behind Theodore Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover and counting. As the first of his books to focus on current political issues, this is his substantive, coolly reasoned, creatively Christian rebuttal in the continuing debate on public values in America, perceived by many to have been one-sided heretofore. Here's Carter's alternate list of endangered values:

1. Bipartisan problem solving led by patriotic statesmen in both parties, who place the good of the nation before political gain.
2. Provision for free and open debate on controversial issues, in a context of respect for dissenting voices, seeking authentic win/win solutions that majorities affirm.
3. Preservation of the separation of church and state.
4. Protection of civil liberties and personal privacy, and of human rights generally.
5. Affirmation of equal rights and opportunities for women and minorities.
6. Promotion of economic and social justice for the poor and the vulnerable.
7. Belief in the sanctity of human life, whether threatened by abortion, by the death penalty, or by unnecessary and unjust wars.
8. The harmonious mutually reinforcing partnership of science and Christian faith.
9. Protection of the quality and integrity of our environment.
10. Avoidance of deficit spending whenever possible.
11. Providing citizens openly with thoroughly researched, accurate information on major domestic and international issues.
12. Emphasizing diplomacy over military action when possible, and avoiding pre-emptive, unnecessary wars that don't meet “just war” criteria, especially in a climate of contempt for the enemy in which the lives of civilians, including women and children, “tend to become relatively inconsequential” (p. 5).
13. Respect for long-standing global agreements, and for international organizations and views, on such matters as nuclear arms accords, potential WMD threats, environmental protections, and humane treatment of prisoners.

Not that these 13 points are emphasized equally; several have their own chapters, and some are my formulations of Carter's views. More than a third of the book presents a devastating critique of the Bush administration's unilateral, militaristic foreign policy (though George W. Bush is mentioned by name only twice). Not a latecomer to criticism of the Iraq war, Carter wrote a major essay for the New York Times on March 3, 2003, entitled “Just War, or an Unjust War,” which declared that the imminent invasion of Iraq failed to meet four historic Christian requirements for a just war (pp. 151-55). He further offers a scientific dismissal of the “Star Wars” project as “ill-justified and wasteful” (p. 138), and decries America's recent violations of the Anti-Ballistic Missile and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaties, declaring that “the United States has now become the prime culprit in global nuclear proliferation” (p. 136). Coming from a former Commander-in-Chief who was a career naval student and officer for ten years, such concerns may deserve our attention.

This book begins with Carter's testimony as “a ‘born again' evangelical Christian,” who depends “on the Holy Scriptures, as interpreted by the words and actions of Jesus Christ” (p. 6). He believes that the general neglect of the listed principles and the increasing partisan animosity fed by both parties mainly results from the heightened influence of fundamentalists on both religious and governmental matters, who “have managed to change the nuances and subtleties of historic debate into black-and-white rigidities and the personal derogation of those who dare to disagree” (p. 3).

Thus while Carter affirms the principle of the separation of church and state, he acknowledges fully that his Christian values inform his positions on political issues. Where he steps outside the comfort zone of many folks of faith is when he affirms political compromises that seem less than Christian as necessary responses to major issues in a religiously diverse democracy. In discussing such responses he makes frequent use of statistical data and opinion polls in determining what he considers to be the best possible win/win solutions to tough questions. None of these will fully satisfy thoughtful Christians, as they don't fully satisfy Carter.

Coming as it does from a man of keen intelligence who has held and wielded power at the highest levels, and who is committed both to the Christian faith and to the U. S. Constitution, this book is significantly more than merely another reflexive attack from the political left. It merits our respectful consideration, and its author invites our corrective dialogue. It is no surprise that it tops the current list of best-sellers, nor that Alan Wolfe of the Washington Post closes a review in which he complained that at times “the Jesus talk gets laid on a bit too thick,” with this sentence: “He may not have been one of our best presidents, but he is undoubtedly one of our finest human beings.”

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