Name: Faith
ISBN: 9781432852528

Jimmy Carter

A New York Times Bestselling AuthorAll his life, President Jimmy Carter has been a courageous exemplar of faith. Now he shares the lessons he learned. Examining faith's many meanings, he describes how to accept it, live it, how to doubt and find faith again. In a serious and moving reflection from one of America's most admired and respected citizens, President Carter contemplates how faith has sustained him and how we may find it in our own lives.

A Journey for All

Faith

In this powerful and personal reflection, a New York Times bestseller, President Jimmy Carter contemplates how faith has sustained him in happiness and disappointment and considers how we may find it in our own lives. All his life, President Jimmy Carter has been a courageous exemplar of faith. Now he shares the lessons he learned. He writes, “The issue of faith arises in almost every area of human existence, so it is important to understand its multiple meanings. In this book, my primary goal is to explore the broader meaning of faith, its far-reaching effect on our lives, and its relationship to past, present, and future events in America and around the world. The religious aspects of faith are also covered, since this is how the word is most often used, and I have included a description of the ways my faith has guided and sustained me, as well as how it has challenged and driven me to seek a closer and better relationship with people and with God.” Quoting eminent Protestant theologians, in Faith President Carter describes his belief in religious freedom, moral politics, and the place of prayer in his daily life. He examines faith’s many meanings, he describes how to accept it, live it, how to doubt and find faith again. This is a serious and moving reflection from one of America’s most admired and respected citizens.

A Journey For All

Maggie

I don't typically read books about religion, but have always found Jimmy Carter to be an inspirational figure. This book is not specifically about religious faith, though it is certainly discussed at length throughout. Rather, Carter makes a case for faith in general as important, even more so than good works. Faith in each other, faith in ourselves, and faith in our common hopes and values.

What was made clear to me in this book is that Carter's faith in himself and a common good allow him to helpfully and importantly question and disagree with figures of authority- not to be contrarian, but to point out mistakes, acknowledge hypocrisy, and make change. He looks to make things better without seeking acknowledgement, a unique trait in politics. When he disagreed with Southern Baptist beginning to espouse derogatory beliefs about women and gay people, he called them to the Carter Center twice to try and make change. When it couldn't be improved, he helped to launch a second, actively inclusive leadership group for Southern Baptists. To situate this in his religious beliefs, he writes that Jesus and his disciples participated in and lead civil disobedience when "human laws were contrary to God's commands" (152). And above all else, to Jimmy Carter, God commands- and in fact, is- love.

This willingness to dissent was also made clear in his open criticism of political leaders, including those from his own party. Though not a pacifist, Carter sees war as the absolute last resort, only to be undertaken when all possible nonviolent actions have been exhausted, civilian casualties can be completely avoided, and the intended outcome is peace. He speaks critically of the war-hawk tendencies of American presidents. His early and vocal disagreement with the American invasion of Iraq is a perfect example. He also critiques their use of sanctions that only serve to strengthen enemy leaders and starve their people- specifically, he's critical of President Obama's termination of grain contribution to North Korea and refusal to take action after several world leaders, including Carter himself, reported stunning undernourishment and starvation in North Korea in 2011. I was happily surprised to see this critique of President Obama, as he is so often made to be perfect in contrast to the man who took the job after him. There is no doubt he was a better man and president; he was and is not perfect. Interestingly, Carter's critiques are some I have primarily from the further left contingent Democratic party.

Carter's faith is hard to replicate, but not to understand. He has, in many ways, lived a lucky life (he would use the word blessed, I'm sure). He is privileged in his whiteness, his maleness, and the deep roots his family has in his home of Plains, Georgia. He experienced many disputes there as an earlier opponent of segregation than most. Still, his warehouse was able to survive, he won political office, and when he returned home after cancer treatment later in life, they lined the streets with "Jimmy Carter for Cancer Survivor" posters. He acknowledges these privileges in the book. They certainly make it possible for one to have greater faith in ones country and its people. Still, the example of his faith in himself and the ultimate good of the people is hopeful. I also just think it's sweet that he writes poetry, lol. I'm interested in reading the new Carter biography, "His Very Best," to further complicate my idea of the man.

(An Eisenhower quote he uses in the book that I actually liked: "Every gun that is made, every warship that is launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of it's scientists, the hopes of it's children" (135).)

Faith A Journey for All

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