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The Global Public Square: Religious Freedom and the Making of a World Safe for Diversity

How do we live with our deepest differences? In a world torn by religious conflict, the threats to human dignity are terrifyingly real. Some societies face harsh government repression and brutal sectarian violence, while others are divided by bitter conflicts over religion’s place in public life. Is there any hope for living together peacefully? Os Guinness argues that the way forward for the world lies in promoting freedom of religion and belief for people of all faiths and none. He sets out a vision of a civil and cosmopolitan global public square, and how it can be established by championing the freedom of the soul―the inviolable freedom of thought, conscience and religion. In particular he calls for leadership that has the courage to act on behalf of the common good. Far from utopian, this constructive vision charts a course for the future of the world. Soul freedom is not only a shining ideal but a dire necessity and an eminently practical solution to the predicaments of our time. We can indeed maximize freedom and justice and learn to negotiate deep differences in public life. For a world desperate for hope at a critical juncture of human history, here is a way forward, for the good of all.

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The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It

The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It

Harper One
In a world torn apart by religious extremism on the one side and a strident secularism on the other, no question is more urgent than how we live with our deepest differences—especially our religious and ideological differences. The Case for Civility is a convincing andRead More
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Popular evangelical writer Guinness (The Call) worries that the culture wars are destroying the United States. If Americans don't findRead More
Publishers Weekly
The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It

In a world torn apart by religious extremism on the one side and a strident secularism on the other, no question is more urgent than how we live with our deepest differences—especially our religious and ideological differences. The Case for Civility is a convincing and timely proposal for restoring civility in America.

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The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It
Popular evangelical writer Guinness (The Call) worries that the culture wars are destroying the United States. If Americans don't find a way of living with our deepest differences, the republic will decline. He forcefully defends religious liberty, noting that it was crucial for the founding generation and should be just as crucial today. To that end, he calls Christians to rethink their enthusiasm for government-sponsored faith-based initiatives, and to remember that evangelicals were the victims of earlier church-state establishments. The religious right—whose discourse of victimization, says Guinness, is silly and anti-Christian—comes under fire. Nor is Guinness a fan of the nascent religious left—he prefers a depoliticized faith. For all Guinness's rhetorical vim, his proposals ultimately feel anodyne: his boilerplate conclusion is that in order to restore civility we need leadership and a remarkable articulation of vision. Furthermore, although Guinness notes that he is a European, the book is oddly marked by the old rhetoric of American cultural imperialism. Echoing JFK, Guinness wants his essay to be taken as one model for fostering civility around the world and helping make the world safe for diversity.
Publishers Weekly
Zero Hour America: History’s ultimatum over freedom and the answer we must give

Zero Hour America: History’s ultimatum over freedom and the answer we must give

IVP
America has lost its way. And America will fall—unless. Americans are approaching a "zero hour" for the republic and its distinctive view of ordered freedom. America is caught between two revolutions and alternately suppresses and squanders freedom with a prodigal carelessness, with little understanding ofRead More
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A must-read for anyone hoping to grapple with the decline of the United States, and who longs to see itRead More
Steve Forbes, chairman and editor in chief, Forbes Media
Zero Hour America: History’s ultimatum over freedom and the answer we must give

America has lost its way. And America will fall—unless.

Americans are approaching a “zero hour” for the republic and its distinctive view of ordered freedom. America is caught between two revolutions and alternately suppresses and squanders freedom with a prodigal carelessness, with little understanding of the responsibilities that freedom requires.

Os Guinness warns that if America abandons its distinctive ideals and ideas, we will have carved into the chronicles of history yet another example of the failure of a free society. Like other crucial times in world history, the present crisis is a “civilizational moment” and also a pivot point that could lead to national renewal. Outlining seven key foundation stones of freedom, Guinness lays out a pathway for defining and ordering freedom, righting national wrongs, and passing freedom’s baton from generation to generation.

Human freedom is precious and rare, and citizens who prize it must do what it takes to renew and sustain societies that are free for all of their members. America’s window of opportunity is brief, and the alternative to renewal is bleak. The present moment must not be missed.

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Zero Hour America: History’s ultimatum over freedom and the answer we must give
A must-read for anyone hoping to grapple with the decline of the United States, and who longs to see it return to the grand vision of its founding ideals.
Steve Forbes, chairman and editor in chief, Forbes Media
Os Guinness is the Paul Revere for this generation, warning America to wake up before it's too late. With his keen insight and characteristic wisdom, Os diagnoses the root cause of the threats to our freedom and prescribes a look back and inward. In his helpful and engaging style, Os persuasively explains why knowing history and understanding virtue are prerequisites for the restoration of true freedom.
Steve Daines, U.S. Senator from Montana
While many have commented that the loss of faith and virtue are responsible for the precipitous decline of freedom and prosperity in America, few have explained the problem with the dazzling insight and gusto that Guinness provides. Zero Hour America is a bracing and powerful book that demands reading.
Mollie Hemingway, editor in chief, The Federalist
The Last Christian on Earth: Uncover the Enemy’s Plot to Undermine the Church

The Last Christian on Earth: Uncover the Enemy’s Plot to Undermine the Church

Baker Books
In one of the world's great ironies, the Christian faith contributed decisively to the rise of the modern world, but has been undermined decisively by the modern world it helped to create. The Christian faith has become its own gravedigger. In the 25 years sinceRead More
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The Last Christian on Earth: Uncover the Enemy’s Plot to Undermine the Church

In one of the world’s great ironies, the Christian faith contributed decisively to the rise of the modern world, but has been undermined decisively by the modern world it helped to create. The Christian faith has become its own gravedigger. In the 25 years since philosopher and social critic Os Guinness first published The Gravedigger Files, much has happened: the fall of the Soviet Union, the rise of the computer age, the reemergence of China and India, the rise of Islamic terrorism, and the worldwide revitalization and politicization of religion. The central mystery of Dr. Guinness’s spy novel inspired by his affection for John le Carré thrillers remains unsolved: Can Christians regain the full integrity of faith in Christ while fully and properly engaged in the advanced modern world? This new edition of The Last Christian on Earth, which includes previously unpublished top-secret memos, is Dr. Guinness’s parable about the future of the Christian church in the West. Written in the grand tradition of le Carré, Fleming, and Clancy, this thriller pays homage to the genre while transcending it–because the real-life ending has yet to be written!

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The Last Christian on Earth: Uncover the Enemy’s Plot to Undermine the Church