Description
Book SynopsisIn tracing the roots and impact of the counter-culture's rejection of historical American beliefs, McElroy powerfully defends the bedrock principles of responsible individualism, practical improvement, and equal freedom under God.
Trade ReviewWhat do strict materialists, deconstructionists, sexual liberationists, radical feminists, extreme secularists, politically correct educational "theorists," racial and ethnic grievance mongers, neo-socialists, and others on the hard left of American politics have in common? They are driven by antagonism to the political, moral, and religious beliefs that have historically been at the heart of American culture—-beliefs to which true reformers from Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King appealed in calling the nation to be true to its ideals. In Divided We Stand, John McElroy brilliantly diagnoses the leftist rejection of historical American culture and offers a powerful critique of the ideas that spokesmen for the counter culture propose to put in their place. -- Robert P. George, Visiting Professor, Harvard Law School; McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University
John McElroy has written a thought-provoking analysis of what has gone wrong and how to make it right. -- David Horowitz, President of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture
In this elegantly written work, John McElroy brilliantly counters the counter-culture. No book could be more timely as America stands perplexed both at home and abroad. -- Charles Moskos, professor of sociology, Northwestern University
Table of Contents1 Foreword 2 Introduction: The Culture War in America in the Late Twentieth Century 3 The Rejection of American Culture 4 Perfection vs. Practical Improvement 5 Class Struggle vs. Equal Freedom 6 Bending: A Means of Deconstructing a Culture 7 Bending Education 8 Instrumental Government 9 Strict Materialism 10 Will American Culture Be Replaced? 11 Appendix A: Beliefs of American Culture 12 Appendix B: A Brief Homily on Needs 13 Appendix C: Some Recommended Further Reading 14 Sources and Notes 15 Acknowledgments
