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An Inside Story of Political Seduction
Free Press
October 2006
On Sale: October 16, 2006
304 pages
ISBN: 0743287126
EAN: 9780743287128
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Political | Non-Fiction Religion
David Kuo came to Washington wanting to use his Christian
faith to end abortion, strengthen marriage, and help the
poor. He reached the heights of political power, ultimately
serving in the White House under George W. Bush, after being
policy adviser to John Ashcroft and speechwriter for Ralph
Reed, Pat Robertson, and Bob Dole. It was a dream come true:
the chance to fuse his politics and his faith, and an
opportunity for Christians not just to gain a seat at the
proverbial table but to plan the entire meal. Kuo spent nearly three years as second in command at the
president's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Yet his experience was deeply troubling. It took both the
Bush White House and a severe health crisis to show him how
his Christian values, and those of millions of Amer- icans,
were being corrupted by politics. Instead of following the teachings of Jesus to serve the
needy, Kuo found himself helping to manipulate religious
faith for political gain. Public funds were used in
battleground states, for Republican campaign events. The
legislative process was used as a football, not to pass laws
but to deepen purely symbolic fault lines. Grants were
incestuously recycled to political cronies. Both before and
after 9/11, despite lofty rhetoric from the president
claiming that his faith-based program was one of his most
important initiatives, there was no serious attempt to fund
valuable charities. Worst of all was the prevailing attitude in the White House
and throughout Washington toward Christian leaders. Key Bush
aides and Republican operatives spoke of them with contempt
and treated them as useful idiots. It became clear, during
regular conference calls arranged from the White House with
a key group of Christian leaders, that many of these
religious leaders had themselves been utterly seduced by
politics. It is time, Kuo argues, for Christians to take a temporary
step back from politics, to turn away from its seductions.
Tempting Faith is equal parts headline-making exposé,
political and spiritual memoir, and heartfelt plea for a
Christian reexamination of political involvement.
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