Religion, Politics, and Reclaiming the Soul of Christianity:

A Spiritual Imperative for Our Time and Our Nation

by Jon Canas

God’s unconditional love is the quintessential element, the heart and soul of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The rise of modern American Christian fundamentalism, with its narrowly defined moralism and zeal to impose its restrictive views on all Americans, attacks our country’s democracy. Today’s Christian fundamentalists energize exclusionary right-wing politics, embolden xenophobia, and in the process abandon the very roots of their own religious tradition.

The author takes a comprehensive look at the origins, characters, and spiritual essence that shaped Christianity. In three sweeping sections, he traces the evolution of Christian dogma and its use for political purpose, the rise in consciousness from Law to Grace, the derailment of the authentic “Good News” message of Jesus Christ, and finally the necessity for our actions as modern Christians to be coherent with our beliefs. His book is an urgent invitation to reclaim and return the soul of Christianity to its loving heart.

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Jon Canas’ awareness of life as a spiritual journey began at an early age when he was in Catholic boarding school while growing up in France. He once considered the priesthood but then decided on business school. In his early thirties, he was introduced to the progressive Christian writings of Joel Goldsmith. Jon began to avidly study the messages from the masters of the world’s major religions. His ecumenical unfolding had begun. Jon was a fiscal and political conservative throughout most of his successful business career, but his political philosophy shifted dramatically as he became increasingly sensitized, saddened, and appalled at how far America’s predominant religion and his religion-Christianity-had strayed in its political expression from its quintessential essence of divine, unconditional Love. This book was written in response to this crisis of spiritual conscience at what is now a pivotal point in our nation’s history.