Book Review: Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction

The Book: David Kuo has spent years working at the nexus of politics and faith. Here he recounts how he got involved in the efforts of people like Bill Bennett and Ralph Reed, what drew him to a candidate named George W. Bush, and the frustrations he ultimately faced trying to implement President Bush’s faith-based initiatives.

My Take: I came away from the book understanding Kuo’s frustrations, but also believing Kuo carried some political naiveté for far too long in his career. Politicians have overpromised and underdelivered since the House of Burgesses. To believe lofty ambitions like pouring billions of dollars into faith-based groups wouldn’t be ensnared in Washington politics and ultimately be derailed by anti-faith forces is seeing the world through rose-colored glasses for too long. Holding on to those dreams in a post-9/11 world is admirable, but not realistic.

I suggest reading the first and last chapter. The rest is Kuo’s narrative. These two chapters deliver his bottom line: Christians should fast from mixing politics and faith for a little while. Let’s get back to letting Jesus motivate our actions, rather than winning or losing elections.

I also recommend reading chapter five. Kuo worked for a time for then-Sen. John Ashcroft. Here he relates a story that really opened my eyes to Ashcroft’s disposition:

Ironically, the most uncertain voice I was across was Ashcroft’s. His most common saying was “It is against my religion to impose my religion,” and he meant it. We tried putting all sorts of religious provisions into Charitable Choice. I wanted to insert language making it easier for explicitly religious groups to use the money for religious material that could also have educational value. We waned to allow vouchers to let welfare recipients to go places like Teen Challenge where they could receive Jesus. Ashcroft pushed back: “Uhhh…I’m very uncomfortable with some of this.”

One day as we drove to the airport, Ashcroft said, “You know, none of us have it quite just right. Baptists think they’ve got it right. So do the Mormons. But you know what? No one does have it quite right. We’re all off. We’re all some shade of gray. I just pray that God is patient.”

I won’t give them all away here, but there are other good tidbits in there about Ashcroft in the book.