Book Review: The Fight of our Lives

I was given a copy of The Fight of our Lives by William J. Bennett and Seth Leibsohn to review by Thomas Nelson Publishers.  I felt this book was an appropriate and fair analysis of the current debates, battles, and news of the situation with the Islamic faith and it's radical spectrum.  News sources, where ever they come are filled with propoganda, agendas, and false sources.  Bennett and Leibsohn have done their best to accumulate a wide variety of sources, most often direct quotes from world political and religious leaders.  Nothing speaks truth louder and more clear than words directly out of the mouths of those we debate.

This book gives extensive research and anaylsis to the wars (physical and psychological and philisophical) being fought over freedom, religion, and the rights of the human race.  This book left me more educated on the fundamentals of Islam and its spectrum of belief matrix's.  I feel more prepared to defend not only my religious and political stances, but to also analyze sources and information being presented on the state of Islam in the world.  Confused about where our country should stand on this issue?  While not an end all solution, this book helped clarify many ideals.  The Fight of our Lives also showed the powerful unawareness and even deceptiveness our country (particularly in the political realm) is to the power radical Islamists have on our current events.  I had no idea (and I would venture to say that most don't given news stories) the complete and documented history of Nidal Hasan and his beliefs and actions leading up to the Fort Hood Massacre.  To think that our nation's leaders would go to such drastic and knowing steps to deny linking this tragedy to Hasan's radical Islamic beliefs is frustrating.  It is the truth- documented- and covered up in order to maintain 'policitcal correctness'.

I felt that the epligue about the importance of teaching American History and its founding ideals was powerful, convicting, and an important tool for preparing the future leaders of this country to know how to stand our ground.  Linking Washington's beliefs in who was a friend or a foe of the American way was also powerful to me in being able to decifer our current friends or enemies.

Overall, this book is an excellent tool for filtering today's news events and processing them into my own political and religious stances.