60-Second Critic: Middle Church

Middle Church
By Bob Edgar
(Simon & Schuster; $25)

Former Delaware County congressman Edgar’s ambition is inarguably noble: “reclaiming the moral values of the faithful majority from the religious right.” A minister before serving in Congress, Edgar punctuates his arguments — against

Middle Church
By Bob Edgar
(Simon & Schuster; $25)

Former Delaware County congressman Edgar’s ambition is inarguably noble: “reclaiming the moral values of the faithful majority from the religious right.” A minister before serving in Congress, Edgar punctuates his arguments — against the war in Iraq, pollution, big business and Republicans in general — with simple, poignant stories: of a four-year-old in a Baghdad church, of hearing Martin Luther King preach, of what he learned about prayer from a son’s horrific plane accident. And those arguments are sound. (“The Bible mentions abortion not once, homosexuality only twice, and poverty or peace more than 2,000 times.”) But unless you buy this for your favorite Ann Coulter fan, he’s preaching to the choir. Nice touch: The chapter headings juxtapose verses from Scripture with the more rabid rantings of Coulter, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell et al. Grade: B