Raised Right: How I Untangled My Faith from Politics
Praise forRaised Right“Journalist [Alisa] Harris gives a face and a voice to America’s younger generation, offering herself up as a case study of Christian youth caught in a partisan nation.… Young Americans will identify with her coming-of-age struggles and passion for weeding out injustice. Right-wing politicians and older generations of Christians should pay close attention in order to understand, and perhaps empathize with, her demographic.”—Publishers Weekly“Endorsements to co “A wonderful story for political misfits of all shapes and colors. Harris invites you to hop off the political bandwagon and to walk with her down the narrow way that leads to life. And she reminds you not to veer too far off the path to the left or to the right, lest you get confused and can’t find the way home again.”—Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and recovering sinner, www.thesimpleway.org“Raised Rightdemonstrates that the evangelical stampede to the far right in the 1980s has produced a generational backlash, as young evangelicals like Alisa Harris encounter the Hebrew prophets and the words of Jesus. This is the most encouraging book about evangelicals and politics I have read in a very long time.”—Randall Balmer, Columbia University, author ofThy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America“Raised Rightis funny, insightful, and packed with truth. Harris speaks on behalf of a generation of culture warriors longing for a more peaceful way forward. Those who grew up in the trenches will relate to every page.”—Rachel Held Evans, author ofEvolving in Monkey Town“InRaised Right,Alisa Harris paints a fascinating picture of how the same religious devotion can send succeeding generations to opposite sides of the political battlefield. And while her story may be more common than ever, it’s uncommonly told. Alisa’s voice is fresh, honest, gracious, and provocative in all the right places. An enthralling and illuminating read.”—Jason Boyett, author ofO Me of Little Faith: True Confessions of a Spiritual Weakling“Alisa Harris is a smart, fearless, gracious writer who, in her memoirRaised Right,showcases a deft mature-beyond-her-years honesty and kindness when sharing her affecting story of growing up in a politics-and-faith-charged environment. But the brilliance ofRaised Rightshines brightest when Harris begins confessing—often with a self-deprecating spin—the personal and spiritual unraveling that happens when she begins to unmarry her faith from her politics. Ultimately, hope wins throughout as Harris discovers small bits of humble truth along the journey. And because narrative inRaised Rightis rich yet familiar, readers will discover small bits of their own.”—Matthew Paul Turner, author ofChurchedandHear No Evil“Raised Rightchronicles Alisa Harris’s journey from an evangelical childhood community steeped in the politics of James Dobson to an evangelical young adulthood where the politics of Barack Obama are preferred. It is engaging and well written, and it will be very illuminating to anyone who wants to understand the changes afoot among youth raised evangelical and what those changes will mean for American politics.”—Jonathan Dudley, author ofBroken Words: The Abuse of Science and Faith in American Politics