In this book, B. Jill Carroll uses the nature writing of Annie
Dillard and the philosophical categories of Emmanual Levinas to
critique the models of God that drive contemporary political
theologies, especially feminist and liberation theologies. These
political theologies ignore the amoral and often harsh aspects of
our existence in the natural world, even though they often align
God with the cosmos. Political theologies excise from their models
of God all notions of violence, indifference to social justice or
general amorality in favor of models that support and advance
specific social, political and economic ideologies. Such
'domestication' of God does not do justice to the hard facts of our
existence in the natural world, nor does it fully plumb the depths
of using nature to metaphorize God. Furthermore, Carroll argues
that current political models of God do not survive the most
important critiques of religion in the modern era, namely those
leveled by Feuerbach, Freud and Nietzsche. Instead, the 'God of the
oppressed' stands tall among any number of gods that exist
primarily as projections of our best selves, illusions rooted in
wish fulfillment, and attempts to further our own personal goals by
claiming the universe is on our side. The Savage Side offers us a
glimpse of a natural theology uninterested in apologetics, but
thoroughly obsessed with using the natural world as a springboard
for describing God. The God that emerges is wildly beautiful,
terrifyingly indifferent to political or moral ideology, the
consummate Other, and the ultimate ground of our being. This book
demands to be read by anyone interested in the relationship between
religion and politics, especially those who have given themselves
to the cause of social justice in the name of God. Readers will be
challenged to let go of comfortable, but outdated notions of deity
despite their convenience for the advancement of certain social and
political goals, like gay and lesbian rights, women's rights, or
third world liberation. Indeed, the claim that 'God is on our side'
emerges as the most problematic claim of contemporary constructive
theology.
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