Michael Wear > Quotes

“Christians cannot protest for their religious freedom one day and protest against a mosque opening up down the street the next. Not only does that undermine Christian witness in politics, it undermines religious freedom.”
― Michael Wear, Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America

“Unless Americans demand from their party’s politicians something more than zero-sum politics, that is what we will get on religious freedom issues for the foreseeable future.”
― Michael Wear, Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America

“aversion is the tendency to dislike and distrust those who disagree with us politically, particularly those in a different political party. This aversion is toxic for our politics, but as we’ve seen, it creeps into the communion of believers as well. The very thing that ought to make Christians identifiable to the world—our love for one another (John 13:35)—is overridden by our politics, thus undermining the testimony of our faith.”
― Michael Wear, The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life

“In many cases our perspective has been so thoroughly shaped - or even discipled - by worldly ideologies that we mistake our flawed ideological positions for Christian positions.”
― Michael Wear, Compassion (&) Conviction: The AND Campaign's Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement

“I ask: how much should being on the “right side of history” excuse?”
― Michael Wear, Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America

“In 2009, our diversity demanded we accept that there will be voices we disagree with in public spaces. In 2013, diversity required us to expel dissent.”
― Michael Wear, Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America

“In 2010, respected academics David Campbell and Robert Putnam concluded in their landmark book, American Grace, that partisan politics were directly to blame for the rise of religiously unaffiliated Americans.”
― Michael Wear, Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America