Broken We Kneel

Drawing on her personal experience and knowledge of religious history, Diana Butler Bass ex-amines the contours of the uniquely American relationships between church and state, Christian identity and patriotism, citizenship and congregational life. Broken We Kneel attempts to answer the central question with which so many people are struggling: do Christians owe their deepest allegiance to God or country? In writing both impassioned and historically informed, Bass reflects on current events and political questions that have sharpened the tensions between serious faith and national imperatives. This book incorporates the author's own experience of faith, her vocation as a writer and teacher, and her roles as wife, mother, and churchgoer into a larger conversation with Christian practice and contemporary political issues. Broken We Kneel is a call to re-member that the core of Christian identity is not always compatible with national political policies. This volume includes a new foreword and reflections on the sixteen years since the publication of the first edition.

This second edition of Broken We Kneel includes a powerful new introduction by Rev. Robert W. Lee (author of A Sin By Any Other Name), and new reflections by Diana Butler Bass on the tensions of faith and citizenship, especially regarding race in a post-Charlottesville world. Broken We Kneel is both a lament and a plea for communities of faith to engage important issues. It would make a great group reading book during the upcoming election.