Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Mark Hatfield

The pages have yellowed and whole sections of the book have detached from the paperback binding since the first time I read it in 1976. Then, the former governor and senator from Oregon, Senator Mark Hatfield was attempting to reconcile his anti-Vietnam War convictions with the expectations that his fellow evangelical Christians imposed as a litmus test for his faith. I picked it up again in the days just prior to the election of Senator Barack Obama to become the 44th president of the United States. The issues and agony that Hatfield's faith provoked are eerily relevant today. His decision to serve the people of Oregon in the senate as an expression of his authentic commitment to Jesus Christ but without necessarily subscribing to the agenda of what we now call the religious right caused a lot of soul searching. He describes the research, counsel, prayer, reflection that grew to a rejection of a utilitarian civic religion. Here is an authentic wrestling to come up with a faith-filled political position with which I wish more believers would find the courage it takes to struggle.

Hatfield, Mark. Between A Rock And A Hard Place. Word Books. Waco, Texas. c. 1976.