The unholy alliance of the Political Right and the Religious Right threatens to destroy the America we love. It also threatens to generate a popular aversion to God and religion by identifying religious values with a pro-war, pro-business, pro-rich, anti-science, and anti-environmental stance. 
Over the past few decades, the Republicans have achieved political dominance by forging a union with the Religious Right. This marriage has provided a sanctimonious veneer for policies that have helped the rich get richer while ignoring the needs of the middle class and the poor, dismantling environmental and civil liberties protections, and seeking global domination. The Right champions the materialism and ruthless selfishness promoted by unrestrained capitalism and then laments the moral crises of family instability and loneliness experienced by people who bring these commercial values into their homes and personal lives. In response, the Religious Right offers insular communities for the faithful and a culture that blames liberals, activist judges, homosexuals, independent women, and all secular people for the moral and spiritual emptiness so many Americans experience. 
Yet, however distorted both the Right's analysis and its solutions to America's spiritual crisis may be, it wins allegiance by addressing the human hunger for a life with some higher purpose. The Left, by contrast, remains largely tone-deaf to the spiritual needs of the American people. It is the yearning for meaning in life, not just the desire for money or power, that lies at the core of American politics.
Addressing the central mystery of contemporary politics -- why so many Americans vote against their own economic interests -- The Left Hand of God provides an invaluable, timely, and blunt critique of the current state of faith in government. Lerner challenges the Left to give up its deeply held fear of religion and to distinguish between a domination-oriented, Right-Hand-of-God tradition and a more compassionate and hope-oriented Left-Hand-of-God worldview. Further, Lerner describes the ways that Democrats have misunderstood and alienated significant parts of their potential constituency. To succeed again, Lerner argues, the Democratic Party must rethink its relationship to God, champion a progressive spiritual vision, reject the old bottom line that promotes the globalization of selfishness, and deal head-on with the very real spiritual crisis that many Americans experience every day.
Lerner presents a vision that incorporates and then goes far beyond contemporary liberal and progressive politics. He argues for a new bottom line in our economy, schools, and government. This is a fundamentally fresh approach, one that takes spiritual needs seriously in our economic and political lives. Presenting an eight-point progressive spiritual covenant with America, Lerner provides a blueprint for how the Democratic Party can effectively challenge the Right and position itself to win the White House and Congress. By appealing to religious, secular, and spiritual but not necessarily religious people, The Left Hand of God blazes a trail that could change our world and reclaim America from the Religious Right.

The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right

History

Lerner, Michael

World

HarperOne

The editor of Tikkun magazine and the co-author (with Cornel West) of Blacks and Jews presents this concrete and empathetic guide to building a spiritually rich Jewish life.

Jewish Renewal: Path to Healing and Transformation, A

Religion & Spirituality

Harper-perennial

Left Hand of God, The: Healing America’s Political and Spiritual Crisis

The Politics Of Meaning: Restoring Hope And Possibility In An Age Of Cynicism

Drawing on ideas presented in the Bible, Jewish teachings, and his experience as a psychotherapist, Lerner examines the roots of the vague discontent felt by so many Americans about our political system and explains how values can be put back into these broken politics.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Basic Books

A thought-provoking critique of contemporary liberalism and conservatism alike offers a detailed program for reinstituting a spiritually sensitive and ethical society and challenges the modern-day materialism and selfishness of today's market-driven culture.

Philosophy

An overview of available choices, in treatments and living with cancer, of unconventional approaches includes imagery, massage, therapeutic touch, herbal medicines, acupuncture, spiritual healing, yoga, and others, presented with compassion and objectivity and based on extensive research.

Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Diseases & Physical Ailments

Mit Pr

The founding editor of Tikkun magazine provides a liberal analysis of Judaism and its psychological, ethical, spiritual, and social foundations, offering a radical rereading of the Bible and of Jewish history.

Jewish Renewal

Judaism

Putnam Adult

"Credible and important."—Kirkus Reviews Examining the issues that have united Blacks and Jews in the past and now separate them, two long-time friends and leading intellectuals try to restore the special relationship between the two groups in a hard-hitting and worthwhile exchange. Can Jews and Blacks be friends and allies once again? It's neither easy nor impossible, say Michael Lerner and Cornel West, in a dialogue that looks at the most pressing problems of contemporary America through the prism of the relationship between their two communities. The alliance between Blacks and Jews was the cornerstone of liberal politics for much of the twentieth century. Yet today there are people in each community who see their former ally as their most dangerous foe. In the current political climate, it would be easy to suggest we gloss over the differences and unite in the face of a common enemy: the reactionary right. But calls for unity are not likely to succeed unless they are based on working through the explosive issues that separate communities. West and Lerner refuse to compromise their deeply held views for the sake of unity. In a dialogue that is always respectful, though sometimes marked by tension, they help each other understand their different ways of looking at the world. Avoiding easy outs and quick fixes, they explore such subjects as Louis Farrakhan, Zionism, the economic inequalities between Jewish and Black communities, crime, and affirmative action. Both powerful public intellectuals, Lerner and West take on some of the most demanding problems of our time, in a sophisticated but extremely accessible way. They conclude with a plan for healing the rifts that have developed. But in a deeper sense, it is their dialogue itself that is healing. Lerner and West's relationship is a model rarely seen in American politics: two powerful men ready to explore differences, not afraid to disagree, and drawn through the course of the dialogue to grow closer and morecaring for each other. The dialogue of this book is a model for both the Black and the Jewish communities, and it suggests that healing and transformation are possible, and that hope can triumph over cynicism and despair. With a new epilogue on the O.J. Simpson verdict and the Million Man March.

Jews and Blacks: A Dialogue on Race, Religion, and Culture in America

West, Cornel

Penguin Publishing Group

A study of American heritage and contemporary civilization and America's relation to the world

America as a Civilization

Americas

Holt Paperbacks

Surplus powerlessness: The psychodynamics of everyday life-- and the psychology of individual and social transformation

Medical Books

Psychology

Institute for Labor & Mental Health

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Books by Lerner, Michael