Six politically diverse evangelical Christians model a better way to do politics: respectful conversation about twelve public policy issues that uncover common ground and illuminate remaining disagreements.

Current political discourse is broken, characterized by nasty sound bytes, demonizing the opposition, and holding to fixed positions that resist the discovery of the common ground needed for governing. In this volume, six evangelical Christians model a better way, informed by the belief that the call of Christians to love their neighbors should create a welcoming space for persons to talk respectfully about their disagreements.

The six Christians, who situate themselves at various points along the political spectrum, completed a nine-month "Alternative Political Conversation" on the website www.respectfulconversation.net on the following topics: the federal budget deficit, immigration, religious freedom, Syria and Iran, Israel and Palestine, poverty in the US, marriage, health care, K-12 education, gun control, abortion, and the role of government.

Harold Heie is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Faith and Inquiry at Gordon College. He previously served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Northwestern College (IA) and Messiah College. He holds an MA and PhD in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University. He has authored, co-authored, or co-edited: Soul Care: Christian Faith and Academic Administration (2012), Mutual Treasure: Seeking Better Ways for Christians and Culture to Converse (2009), and other books.

"Harold Heie affirms the very unfashionable notion that when Christian believers actually talk with one another, good things are possible . Amazingly, he also holds that such a hopelessly old-fashioned idea should apply to political differences. For readers who long for such old- fashioned and unfashionable respect, dialogue, listening, and learning, this book shows the way. It holds out one more almost unimaginable prospect: that Christian approaches to politics might live up to what the founder of Christianity modeled and in so doing contribute much-needed light and salt to the public square."

--Mark A . Noll
Francis A . McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

"Harold Heie has rendered invaluable service to evangelicalism, the church, and society by providing a model for sustained and constructive discourse among people from all points on the political spectrum. Evangelicals and non-evangelicals alike will be surprised by the diversity of evangelical views, but all of us will learn and benefit from the comity exhibited in these pages."

--Randall Balmer
Mandel Family Professor in the Arts & Sciences, Dartmouth College
author of The Making of Evangelicalism

ISBN: 9780891124672

Pages: 210

Dimensions (inches): 9 x 6

Weight (pounds): 0.65