Clash over the Culture War: Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America?

Dan Merchant is an award winning television writer/producer, novelist and an expert on the loom. For more information, please visit lordsaveusthemovie.com.

Visit lordsaveusthemovie.com for more information

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) - Though nine out of ten Americans claim a belief in God, public expression of faith is more contentious than ever. Even as discussion of religion floods the media like never before, the rhetoric is divisive and hyper as the 2008 elections loom on the horizon.

Fed up with the angry, strident language filling the airwaves that has come to represent the Christian faith, author, director, and follower Dan Merchant says he set out to explore the collision of faith and culture in America.

What is all this fighting really about?

Lord, Save Us from Your Followers: Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America? by Portland native Merchant represents a two-year effort behind the front lines of the so-called Culture War in hopes of getting a conversation started.

The result is a startlingly refreshing book in bookstores now, and a feature length documentary film due for release in the summer of 2008. Both are full of offbeat observations, inspiring anecdotes, and in-depth interviews from both sides of the aisle.

From Dan's hilarious Bumpersticker Man interviews with folks on the street to his unique "Confession Booth" stunt at a Gay Pride celebration inspired by his meeting with Tony the Beat Poet, from Blue Like Jazz, Merchant delves into all the hot button social issues with candor, humor, and balance.

With exclusive interviews with comedian/Senatorial candidate Al Franken, former Senator and Religious Right inside man Rick Santorum, noted evangelical Tony Campolo, conservative radio host Michael Reagan and others, no stone is left unturned in this engaging, unpredictable, and challenging examination of the collision of faith and culture in America.

"We Christians are the ones who believe in the God of Love, right?" notes Merchant.

"We're the ones who love and worship the Prince of Peace, right? Isn't that us? Aren't we the ones who are to hold patience, kindness, and forgiveness up as ideal standards? We're the Truth and Grace people, correct? Then why are we hammering others with the Truth (our take on it anyway) and then neglecting to share the Grace? Those two things go together, one doesn't mean as much without the other."

Dan Merchant is an award winning television writer/producer, novelist and an expert on the loom. For more information, please visit lordsaveusthemovie.com.

Source: Thomas Nelson