Reagan’s Christian Soldiers

Reagan’S Christian Soldiers

Under Fire: An American Story,by Oliver L. North, with William Novak (HarperCollins/Zondervan, 446 pp.; $25.00, hardcover);Koop: The Memoirs of America’s Family Doctor,by C. Everett Koop, M.D. (Random House, 342 pp.; $22.50, hardcover). Reviewed by John Wilson, an editor and writer for a publisher of reference books in Pasadena, California.

Although autobiography may not be an exclusively Western literary genre, it has flourished in the West as in no other culture. The notion that each person’s life has a discoverable meaning—an assumption basic to autobiography—is Christian at its roots.

Also Reviewed In This Section:

40 Spare the Child,by Philip Greven

40 The Scattered Voice,by James W. Skillen

42 Faithful Attraction,by Andrew M. Greeley

44 How to Be Pentecostal Without Speaking in Tongues,by Tony Campolo

44 Wake Up America!by Tony Campolo

From the Confessions of Augustine to C. S. Lewis’s Surprised by Joy, classic autobiographies have looked inward as well as outward, not content with a mere record of events. Many of the earliest texts in American literature are spiritual autobiographies or conversion narratives.

Oliver North and C. Everett Koop are distant heirs to this rich tradition. In their autobiographies, both men unambiguously profess an evangelical Christian faith; both discern a pattern of God’s working in their lives. Neither man, however, is much given to introspection; these books focus on public life, particularly on controversies that brought them to national attention during the Reagan years.

While each of these autobiographies has something to offer on its own terms, the two books are more interesting when read together, not only for their dovetailing accounts of how the Reagan administration did business (not a pretty story), but also, and more important, for what they reveal about the moral complexity of the world in which we all have to operate, no matter how far we are from the circles of power.

The Sin Of Pure Motives

Under Fire was midwifed by William Novak, whose specialty is writing other people’s autobiographies (for example, those of Lee Iacocca, Tip O’Neill, and Nancy Reagan). With Novak’s help, North has produced a readable narrative: glib, funny, at times saccharine and gratingly superficial, well stocked with portraits of the high and the mighty.

On the evidence assembled here, North would be a loyal friend and a good comrade—someone you would call on in a crisis. Considering the ordeal he and his family have been through, it is not surprising that he has apparently never fully faced up to his role in the Iran-contra affair. Although North acknowledges at several points that he and others erred, those admissions are quickly undercut by talk of pure motives. He does not seem to grasp that it was confidence in the purity of their motives that permitted him and his coconspirators (up to and including the President) to override the perhaps misguided but clearly demarcated congressional limits on aid to the contras.

Should North have been subject to prosecution? Absolutely not. See the appendix of Under Fire for letters of appreciation to him from both President Reagan and Vice-president Bush, dated November 1985; the note from Bush (source of the book’s title) will delight connoisseurs of his idiosyncratic English.

Surgeon On A Mission

Koop—written, the acknowledgments seem to suggest, with considerable help from the author’s son, Allen—is the better book of the two. A brief introductory chapter relates how, in August 1980, Koop was contacted about the surgeon general’s post by headhunters for the Reagan-Bush ticket (already confident of victory in the November election). Even in those first approaches there were hints of the failures of communication and the conflicting agendas that Koop would have to struggle with throughout his tenure in Washington.

The next several chapters, occupying about a third of the book, are straight autobiography. “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a doctor.” Couple that sentence with a later one—“I never tired of performing surgical procedures”—and you have the essence of the man.

Chick Koop is one of those exceptional people gifted from childhood with an unswerving sense of purpose. The source of that gift remains a mystery, but Koop vividly sketches his Brooklyn childhood, his formative years at Dartmouth College and at Cornell’s medical school, and the circumstances that led to his pioneering role in pediatric surgery as surgeon-in-chief of Philadelphia’s Children’s Hospital. These chapters also touch on his family life, with his wife, Betty, and their children, and on his discovery, as a young adult, of what he had been missing as a nominal Christian: a genuine experience of Christ’s redeeming, sacrificing, and abiding love.

An admirable man, Koop shares one notable quirk with many other autobiographers: Recounting triumph after triumph, he finds it difficult ever to show himself in a bad light. The worst and virtually only failing he confesses to is that for several years, instead of spending precious free time with his family on Sunday afternoons and evenings, he did volunteer work at a skid-row clinic.

Chapters on his highly politicized confirmation hearing and his efforts to revitalize the surgeon general’s office are followed by a section on major issues: smoking, AIDS (Koop’s controversial AIDS report is reprinted in an appendix), the rights of handicapped children, and abortion.

Two points emerge from this record of Koop’s experience as surgeon general. First, it is heartening to see how much difference one determined individual can make (supported, as Koop repeatedly acknowledges, by many others). The second point is that Koop’s enormous effectiveness was a result of his ability to compromise without sacrificing his core principles.

We learn, for example, that even while Sen. Edward Kennedy was railing publicly against Koop’s appointment as surgeon general, the two men were meeting and discussing mutual concerns: “What I had feared would be a contentious encounter with Ted Kennedy instead became the beginning of an affable cooperation on a number of vital health care endeavors over the next eight years.”

At first it seems contradictory that Koop, a man of such strong will and stubborn integrity, should be a master of negotiation and compromise. Upon further inspection, however, it becomes clear that it was the strength of Koop’s convictions, founded on love, that enabled him to work so well with people whose convictions differed from his own. Perhaps that is the most important lesson we can take from this remarkable life story.

What Koop and North both lack as autobiographers is inwardness. They do not probe deeply into the lives they record, nor do they meditate on the process of writing autobiography. Situated firmly in the outer world we all share, they hardly reveal the inner worlds that are theirs alone.

Why Christians Spank

Spare the Child: The Religious Roots of Punishment and the Psychological Impact of Physical Abuse,by Philip Greven, (Vintage, xiv + 263 pp.; $11.00, paper). Reviewed by Grant Wacker, associate professor of religious studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rutgers University historian Philip Greven captured national attention a decade ago with the publication of The Protestant Temperament, an analysis of how particular theological outlooks coincided with particular child-rearing patterns in early America. In that volume, Greven argued that evangelical Protestants consistently disciplined their children more severely than their liberal counterparts. In this new study, which focuses on corporal punishment of children, Greven is both more evenhanded and more extreme.

He contends that the Jewish-Christian tradition itself, not just evangelical Protestantism, lies at the root of the physical abuse of children. Though Greven draws most of his evidence from contemporary Pentecostal and fundamentalist authors, he does so, he tells us, only because they are the most forthright proponents of a practice that is pervasive in the modern West.

Whatever the sins of others, the evidence against evangelical Protestants is both compelling and chilling. While Greven acknowledges that a handful of leaders, including Horace Bushnell and Dwight L. Moody, avoided swatting their children, he leaves little doubt that the overwhelming majority have endorsed everything from occasional spanking to infliction of severe physical pain and systematic deprivation of food, water, and light.

The harsh disciplinary advice of Susanna Wesley in the eighteenth century differs little from the punitive views of Larry Christenson, Jack Hyles, and Beverly and Tim LaHaye in the twentieth. In every case, subduing the will of the child has served as the all-consuming goal. The insistence of some contemporary evangelicals that young girls need strict disciplining in order to prepare them for a life of submission to their future husbands speaks for itself. Even the recommendations of so-called moderates like James Dobson give pause in the clear light of day.

The latter two-thirds of the book is devoted to the consequences of corporal punishment. The immediate pain and distress the toddler experiences is, in a way, the least of Greven’s concerns. He argues that the retaliatory anger a child feels may be buried at the time but often shows up in destructive personal and social behavior later on. The list is extensive: anxiety, fear, hate, apathy, depression, obsessiveness, rigidity, overprotectiveness, dissociation, paranoia, sadomasochism, domestic violence, aggression, delinquency, authoritarianism, and, perhaps most arresting for readers of CHRISTIANITY TODAY, apocalyptic premillennialism. Regarding the last, Greven avers that corporal punishment invariably ignites resentment, and resentment, sublimated in childhood, frequently reappears as a desire for the imminent end of the world. The salvation of a few comes at the expense of many.

How Christ’S Ambassadors Work With Caesar

The Scattered Voice: Christians at Odds in the Public Square,by James W. Skillen (Zondervan, 252 pp.; $9.95, paper). Reviewed by Bruce Barron, who works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as special assistant to U.S. Rep. Rick Santorum.

James Skillen, director of the Association for Public Justice in Washington, D.C., and an unusually sophisticated political theorist, identifies and respectfully portrays seven camps into which contemporary Christian political thinking can be divided. This is enough to make his book valuable. But he also goes on to present a constructive critique of each position and then moves toward articulating his own approach to doing politics as a Christian.

Due to space limitations, Skillen’s critiques are far from exhaustive and his counterproposals only tantalizingly suggestive. However, two distinctive themes emerge.

First, Skillen is preeminently concerned for developing a positive valuation of government as an institution, and of the Christian’s responsibility to work within it. This concern is most prominent when he chides “cautious and critical conservatives” for devoting too much attention to what government should not or cannot do. But it also pervades his critique of the politically liberal Christians who, as Skillen sees it, lack a framework of Christian political principles by which to prescribe what government should do and why.

Skillen’s second key theme is differentiation—that is, the increasingly complex development of modern society into a multiplicity of institutions (governments, businesses, families, schools, voluntary and religious organizations, and so on). In Skillen’s view, most political approaches fail to deal adequately with the implications of our highly differentiated society. Here he shows his affinity with the neoconservatives, represented by Richard Neuhaus and Michael Novak, who have given the most attention to this question.

The criterion of differentiation serves, among other purposes, to show why the Bible cannot be simplistically applied to modern public policy. One could wish that Skillen offered more guidance on how the Bible can be applied to contemporary issues, especially since he affirms the Scriptures’ continuing relevance in general terms.

But it would take another volume for Skillen to answer his own call for a comprehensive, positive Christian philosophy of public life. He is certainly well equipped to offer one; let us hope that we do not need to wait too long for this much-needed sequel.

Murky Terrain

The strengths of Greven’s work are numerous. He writes simply and clearly, avoiding the lingo of the social scientists who tutor much of his thinking (a severe punishment in itself). He makes good on his claim that scholarship should not be an arcane enterprise, interesting only to museum rats, but ought to illumine the very real problems of daily life. Most important, Greven forces us back to the drawing board. He compels us to reconsider the rationale for a practice most of us rarely think about, because virtually everyone does it. Indeed, he devotes more pages than one might expect from a professional social historian to a careful analysis of the biblical passages that have been used as a warrant for corporal punishment. Not surprisingly, he finds many of them, especially in the New Testament, ambiguous at best, perniciously misused at worst.

Unfortunately, the vices of this work almost swamp its virtues. I suspect that most readers, including basically sympathetic ones like myself, will be repelled by his persistent exaggerations. Recurring statements such as “the end of the world begins with the striking of a single child” scrape against our common-sense ordering of life. Further, the data Greven presents often fail to substantiate the conclusions he draws. To claim, for example, that Kathryn Kuhlman the child sometimes suffered humiliating treatment at the hands of a domineering mother is one thing. To conclude that Kuhlman the adult bore lifelong spiritual and psychological wounds from that treatment is quite another. Both statements may be true, but the inner life is murky terrain, and it takes more light than Greven offers to make the connections clear.

Comparative evidence would help. If societies exist where children are never physically punished, and if those societies are free from the maladies that afflict ours, Greven would have a more compelling case. If, in our own society, unpunished children can be shown to lead healthier, better adjusted adult lives (fewer divorces, less alcoholism, whatever), Greven would have an airtight case. But with one or two minor exceptions, Greven makes no effort to draw on “neutral” control data.

Thirty-Nine Lashes

The most disturbing feature of the book is Greven’s dogged singlemindedness. He refuses to acknowlege that gradations in the severity of discipline might have something to do with its morality. A single swat on the behind and 39 lashes at the post fall equally under his censure.

He discounts the possibility that children and situations may differ dramatically. Discipline that is nothing but punitive retribution in one setting may serve as a life-saving boundary in another. He largely ignores the myriad ways that violence against children may be subtly encoded in shaming practices at home and at school. And he pays little attention to what may well prove the most vicious culprit in the whole child-abuse syndrome: alcohol.

Philip Greven is manifestly a high-minded man. Yet his passion against human suffering sometimes outstrips the persuasiveness of his arguments. That is particularly unfortunate given the seriousness of the social problem he addresses.

Even so, he makes a powerful point, a point that everyone—including every evangelical Christian—needs to hear. Is it possible that parental love does not necessitate childhood fear? Is it possible that our ideas about punishing children have more to do with the efficiency requirements of modern industrial society than with biblical revelation?

The author aptly reminds us, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” If Greven has delivered only one child from the tyranny of an abusive parent, he has performed a laudable task.

The Bad News Is Not So Bad

Faithful Attraction: Discovering Intimacy, Love and Fidelity in American Marriage,by Andrew M. Greeley (Tor, 287 pp.; $4.99 paper). Reviewed by Ken Steinken, a writer living in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Everyone knows that married men and women in the United States are sleeping around more than ever, that children diminish the happiness of a marriage, and that most people, if they had it to do over again, would marry someone different. Catholic priest and sociologist Andrew Greeley provides convincing evidence in Faithful Attraction that these and many other commonly held beliefs are false, a fabrication of poor research and the media demand for instant analysis.

Greeley bases most of his unconventional conclusions on the results of the Love and Marriage Gallup study of 657 married couples, which was conducted in 1989–90 for Psychology Today. According to Greeley, this was the first “full-scale” national probability study of sexuality and fidelity in marriage.

Many of the findings defy conventional wisdom and indicate that marriage in America is far healthier than we have been led to believe:

• Ninety percent of American couples have had only one sexual partner since they were married (and it is not because they are afraid of AIDS).

• Four-fifths say they would marry the same person if they had it to do over again.

• Over 80 percent of all married men, regardless of age, say their wife is good-looking.

• Three-quarters of married people say their spouse is their best friend.

• Three-quarters of those questioned say divorce is “not at all likely.”

• Over 60 percent of American couples describe their marriage as “very happy.”

• The best predictor of whether or not a couple is happy together is joint prayer. The study found, for example, that couples from two-income families that pray together are less likely to consider divorce than single-income families that do not pray together.

• People who live together before marriage are less likely than those who did not cohabit to say their marriage is very happy. Those who have had premarital sex are also less prone to say their marriage is very happy.

Among other things, Greeley is a professor of sociology at the University of Arizona and a research associate at the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center. Despite his credentials, he has encountered rough going in the scientific community. He cites several scientific journals that would not publish well-documented articles that reported the institution of marriage in the United States to be in good health. Scientific American rejected one article, saying they simply didn’t believe Greeley’s findings.

The volume of statistics given in the book may be somewhat intimidating, but one need not be a sociologist to appreciate the book. Greeley’s talent as a writer of fiction shows through in his ability to construct a readable and, in many cases, enjoyable sentence. In addition, Greeley simplifies the book by including 104 comparative graphs that illustrate many of the findings.

Greeley is quick to say, “Ethical and philosophical positions are not derived from survey research.” But he does allow himself to speculate on the meanings of some of the findings. For instance, Greeley titles his final chapter, “Can Marriage Survive?” Although all the data he has collected cannot substantiate his response, he begins the chapter with this statement of faith: “Yes.”

Tony’S Tongues Of Fire—And Smoke

How to Be Pentecostal Without Speaking in Tongues,by Tony Campolo (Word, 176 pages, $14.95, hardcover);Wake Up America!by Tony Campolo (HarperCollins/Zondervan, 188 pages; $15.95, hardcover). Reviewed by Robert Bittner, an editor and free-lance writer living in the Chicago area.

“The Charismatic movement is A bringing millions into a changed and holy lifestyle,” writes Tony Campolo, author, speaker, and professor of sociology at Eastern College. As a result, this movement is becoming “the most dynamic expression of Christianity in the world today.”

For noncharismatic evangelicals, those are strong words indeed. Yet, in How to Be Pentecostal Without Speaking in Tongues, Campolo ably fends off objections while calling all Christians to a deeper faith and a more vital Christian lifestyle—no matter what they may decide about Pentecostalism.

Beginning with the basics, Campolo takes care to explain the important concerns and distinctions of the charismatic movement for newcomers. Evangelicals and Pentecostals agree on far more than they might realize, Campolo asserts.

As evidence, he draws ten points from Romans 8 that summarize what it means to be truly “Pentecostal”—that is, to live a Spirit-filled life. He moves beyond the questions of “tongues” and miracles to such everyday—and every-Christian—concerns as how to nurture closeness with God and why we should be good stewards of the world around us. Even if one previously shuddered at the mention of Pentecostalism, there is enough simple insight in these chapters alone to recommend the book.

The author follows his exposition with a call to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. The chapter bears the unfortunate title “How to Make It Happen,” but Campolo is too down-to-earth to suggest magic words or mood music. In fact, the “how” is deceptively straightforward. “The infilling comes,” Campolo writes, “when you put no conditions on what you are willing to surrender in establishing a relationship with God.” These are words of refreshing integrity.

For all its benefits, however, the Pentecostal movement is not without charlatans or, even, demonic influences. The last half of the book is devoted to varieties of supernatural experience, common-sense guidelines for discerning “the phonies,” and two cautionary chapters of warning and encouragement regarding spiritual warfare and the power of evil.

The fact is that those most in tune with the work of the Holy Spirit often have a heightened awareness of demonic activity as well. Under the circumstances, a presentation of the familiar “armor of God” imagery of Ephesians 6:13–18 is an apt conclusion to this truly inspiring book.

Rousing Sleeping Christians

Ironically, little armor is required to follow Campolo’s prophetic call in Wake Up America! It is a book that urgently details America’s problems while offering surprisingly few (and these half-hearted) solutions.

Certainly the need for Christians to spark an American awakening is great. One need only consider the plights of our inner cities, the homeless, drug abuse, and inadequate social institutions. So why aren’t more Christians providing solutions? Don’t they care? According to Campolo, the majority of American Christians care deeply about these things, but they have become satisfied with their middle-class lifestyles. They are too settled to make radical changes—such as living in ghettos among the poor—and they are oblivious to the many small ways they can make a difference in the world.

Unfortunately, Campolo’s call is less than rousing. The man who once challenged university students to revise their materialistic values (“Would Jesus drive a BMW if he were alive today? No!”) settles for an appealing but essentially bloodless “Do what little you can, and God will honor it.” It is reassuring to know that we need not concern ourselves with spiritual tepidness and that the least we can do is sometimes enough. But given the dramatic weights of the problems, that approach seems inadequate.

A stronger solution by far would be found in spiritual rejuvenation that comes when Christians surrender their lives completely to the power of the Holy Spirit.

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