Our Endangered Values -- Jimmy Carter: A Book Review

Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis

Jimmy Carter

Simon & Schuster, 2005

Our 39th president, James Earl Carter, is quite the writer, a true living national treasure.  A poet, an historian (Hornet's Nest is a fictional account set during the Revolutionary War), a philanthropist and humanist (he founded the Carter Center and is a driving force of Habitat For Humanity), A Baptist deacon and husband and father, a statesman and politician, our dear Mr. Carter is a man of deep moral convictions.  It is those convictions which he believes are not only under fire from the conservative and religious right but are in jeopardy of being eliminated altogether.  And, according to Jimmy Carter, they're destroying America's moral character while claiming to uphold the values Americans hold dear. 

Our Endangered Values:  America's Moral Crisis is an expository account of how the conservative right and the fundamentalist Christians have gained political control of the nation, ignoring our deepest held moral values -- human rights, land conservation, religious and personal freedoms -- while paying lip service to them to gain office.  President Carter sees the dangerous erasing of the separation line between church and state, the barely disguised "faith-based initiatives" as violations of the Constitution.  He also bemoans our terrible humanitarian record in the past several years, most of the monies given to foreign nations go to the advisors and not to those who desperately need it.  He points out the ignoring of the Geneva Conventions, the Guantanamo detainees being held without being charged, and the "extraordinary renditioning" (the transfer of individuals from the United States to friendly nations where torture is an accepted form of interrogation) of certain suspects.   Carter points out the wanton greed and lack of conservation of the current administration, especially with regard to the recent vote on opening the Alaskan frontier to oil exploration and our not signing the Kyoto Accord.  He decries the bold usurpation of powers by George W. Bush, powers not awarded him by the Constitution for his station.

And Mr. Carter doesn't stop there.  A deeply religious man, Carter talks about the intolerance of the fundamentalist movement that has gained control of many of the Protestant churches, including his own (which he resigned from).  He has no problem with science and religion commingling, does not believe that one should exclude the other.  He sets forth his views on the terrible idea of female submission to the patriarchal church.  And, as mentioned above, he explains why church and state were meant to be kept separate, and why the founding fathers decided to word the Constitution the way the did.

A thoroughly fascinating read, Our Endangered Values is an up-close and personal view of America today as seen through the eyes of a former president who believes the United States is on the verge of a moral crisis.  With his religious convictions entwined, President Carter points out the political failings of today's conservative right-wing movements and how they are damaging our national and international image.  He doesn't paint a pretty picture of the road ahead if we continue to ignore and undermine and legally detract from the basic principles upon which our nation was founded.  This book proves why Jimmy Carter is considered a knowledgeable statesman, an American who wishes to see America be the great country it can be, not the intimidator and aggressor nation it has become.