As a home-schooled, gingham-wearing, picket sign-carrying teenager, Alisa Harris believed that with enough fervent prayer, doctrinal argument and political activism, God's people could save the world. She picketed abortion clinics as a small child, volunteered for Republican campaigns as a teenager and even dressed up as Hillary Clinton to make a point about government corruption at a county fair.
But as Alisa moved outside her family circle, encountering people she truly respected who didn't share her beliefs, she began to wonder if it were possible--or necessary--to argue people into faith. Gradually, she acknowledged the frustrating complexity of living in a world with so many gray areas--and came to rely less on carefully constructed arguments and more on the grace of a God whose benevolence reached far beyond the boundaries of politics.
Harris, now a journalist, writes with a wry self-awareness, poking gentle fun at her own past arrogance, while admitting she hasn't figured out exactly how to live as a person of faith. She deeply respects her parents' beliefs and the principles they taught her, but in the wake of 9/11, various political scandals and several controversial wars, she rejects the idea that Americans--or anyone--should conflate politics and faith.
In our highly polarized political climate, Harris is a refreshing contrast to pundits who insist on the "right" way to vote (and believe). She speaks for a new generation of Christians, who believe faith and politics should interact, but prefer asking questions--and helping others--to forming picket lines. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams