If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk is an earnest look at how compassion, support, and acceptance - the tenets professed by most religious beliefs can make us better people. Released 28th Sept 2021, it's 238 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.
There are three things that struck me pretty quickly after beginning this read - first, the author John Pavlovitz (yes, the same guy who scrolls up FB feeds the world 'round) is honest and genuine, that he's intelligent, and he has a real gift for making concepts understandable.
I've been distressed and saddened by the increasing encroachment of evangelical Christianity on politics and the fusion of that group with right wing political factions in the USA (and to a lesser degree abroad). This is a rational, well thought out collection of 18 essays of contextual counter-philosophy on making a real effort to "not be a jerk" (as we ALL are, from time to time).
The author and editors have also included insightful discussion questions for individual or group study. He has also included succinct chapter notes with citations from the New Testament which are salient to the text. I found many of the discussion questions both simple and difficult (in a good way). There is a lot of humor here too and the author is quite adept at pointing out the inherent absurdity of our cosmic reality without ever once being preachy or mean.
Five stars. This is a great handbook for how to not be a jerk. It's slanted toward people in the Christian denominations, but is in no way exclusive. Everyone will find something to ponder. My only worry/regret is that the people who need it most (radical "evangelical Christian" nationalists) will ignore the important messages here in favor of meanness of spirit and unkindness .
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
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