The First Dissident: The Book of Job in Todays Politics
by By Safire, William
Category: Religion , General

William Safire, one of America's most influential political columnists, applies the Book of Job to the politics of today. In The First Dissident he shows how modern heroes have reshaped authority and history - and how individual citizens can, too - by following the courageous example of Job.The Bible's Book of Job is the story of a good man who dares to challenge God's judgment. Job's search for the answer to apparent injustice in God's design has stirred religious controversy and inspired readers for 2,500 years. Tennyson called the Book of Job "the greatest poem of ancient and modern times." D. H. Lawrence described it as "the story of your own soul."Safire's provocative exploration interprets Job - the innocent, angry sufferer - as the original dissenter. He shows how the biblical story can serve as inspiration and instruction manual for modern leaders and citizens, a primer on effective protest - when to dissent, how to force authority to listen, what kinds of persuasion work, why it is important for leaders to avoid isolation. He illuminates the timeless role of dissent in shaping power and influencing even the highest authority. And he draws modern-day parallels in the struggles of such human rights leaders as Mustapha Barzani, Martin Luther King, Jr., Natan Sharansky, Vaclav Havel, and others.The First Dissident is written in William Safire's insightful style of informal scholarship and is studded with anecdotes and examples drawn from Safire's wide-ranging political experience in the White House as speechwriter and in covering global politics for The New York Times. The First Dissident reaches across the millennia to show how any person, armed with a sense of righteousness, can engage with higher authority to protest unfair treatment - and thereby change the world.