{"product_id":"the-crooked-places-made-straight-reflections-on-the-moral-meaning-of-america","title":"The Crooked Places Made Straight: Reflections on the Moral Meaning of America","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Georgia senator Warnock ( \n\u003ci\u003eA Way Out of No Way\u003c\/i\u003e) lays out a persuasive Christian case for reforming an America divided by cynicism, inequality, and disconnection . . . Warnock's view of the current state of the country is both clear-eyed and refreshingly optimistic. A clarion call for a fairer America that speaks to the urgency of the moment.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"In \n\u003ci\u003eThe Crooked Places Made Straight\u003c\/i\u003e, Senator Raphael Warnock stands in the ancient shadow of the prophet Isaiah and dares to ask whether America has the courage to straighten what it has allowed to bend. A must read, his words flow like a steady stream of truth; a moral reckoning for the nation's soul. This book is a prophetic summons to lift the valleys, lower the mountains, and build a beloved community where justice for 'the least of these' is an obligation not an aspiration.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Bishop Vashti Murphy Mckenzie, President and General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"With a pastor's heart and prophet's conviction, Senator Warnock calls us to meet the crises of our time with biblical hope. Believing in us enough to be unflinchingly honest about how far we've strayed, Warnock refuses to give up on America. With faith in God and in the decency of human beings, he shows us a way forward.\" \n\u003cb\u003e --Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal bishop of Washington \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"This stunning book is at once a testament to a different kind of politics, and an invitation to dream of a different kind of America. Senator Rev Raphael Warnock takes inspiration from the Prophet Isaiah, but it is \n\u003ci\u003ehis \u003c\/i\u003eprophetic voice that calls us to see ourselves-- and our nation-- through a moral prism, grounded in the world as it is, and ever imagining the world as it could be. That is the America I want to live in.\" \n\u003cb\u003e --Rabbi Sharon Brous, senior and founding rabbi of IKAR and national bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Amen Effect \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Raphael Warnock is the lodestar of our time of holding fast to Christian faith while pressing hard and realistically for the ends of justice. This book is a luminous sermon to the nation on voting rights, gun violence, mass incarceration, poverty, dark-money politics, and the eco-crisis, delivered with Senator Warnock's characteristic eloquence.\" \n\u003cb\u003e --Gary Dorrien, author of \u003ci\u003eOver from Union Road\u003c\/i\u003e and Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePraise for A WAY OUT OF NO WAY: \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Sparkling . . . In nine engrossing chapters, Warnock offers a narrative of an extraordinary life, from impoverished beginnings in Savannah to his arrival on Capitol Hill. Along the way, he reflects with considerable candor and insight on the meaning and importance of faith, truth-telling and political and social redemption.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eRaymond Arsenault, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Raphael Warnock's inspiring memoir arrives just in time to remind us that even in our darkest days, America offers at least as much hope as despair.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eCharles Kaiser, \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Warnock's story is indeed the new American story. Only this time, Horatio Alger hails from the projects . . . reads like a Who's Who of Black America . . . riveting.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eTammy Joyner, \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Full of tales about Warnock's upbringing in a public housing project with 11 siblings and two doting parents, and the go-getter gumption it took to rise to one of the nation's most important pulpits.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eGreg Bluestein, \u003ci\u003e The Atlanta Journal-Constitution\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Georgia's first Black senator reflects on family, faith, and democracy . . . A thoughtful celebration of a spiritually rich life.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A compelling, insightful memoir that details an extraordinary journey. A remarkable preacher--now politician, who uncharacteristically chooses to take his famous Atlanta pulpit with him to Washington.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eBryan Stevenson, author of \u003ci\u003eJust Mercy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"In \n\u003ci\u003eA Way Out of No Way\u003c\/i\u003e, U.S. senator Raphael Warnock--at once pastor and public servant--demonstrates why he is one of our nation's most dynamic moral leaders.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eStacey Abrams, politician and author of \u003ci\u003eOur Time Is Now\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock lives his life with a sense of mission guided by his faith. As a preacher standing in the legacy of the King family at Ebenezer Baptist Church and as a United States senator, Raphael Warnock is helping build a better Georgia and America. Warnock's life is a sermon that we get to witness in his remarkable book, \n\u003ci\u003eA Way Out of No Way\u003c\/i\u003e.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003ePresident Jimmy Carter\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Raphael Warnock is a tireless advocate for justice and a true inspiration for countless people, including me. Whatever hope exists for our democracy is traceable to everyday heroes, like Warnock, who are guided by a powerful moral compass and who refuse to surrender to the forces of injustice no matter how long the odds.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eMichelle Alexander, author of \u003ci\u003eThe New Jim Crow\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A story of love, courage, and abiding faith--of a man who has grown into the crown Morehouse College placed above his head. \n\u003ci\u003eA Way Out of No Way\u003c\/i\u003e is a powerful sermon from beginning to end. Read it as a prophetic witness and as the story of a pastor who now walks the corridors of power to speak truth and to act on behalf of the least of these.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eEddie S. Glaude Jr., author of \u003ci\u003eBegin Again\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"This book is a harbinger of hope in what sometimes seems like hopeless times. Whether you know him as Senator Warnock or Pastor Warnock, his is a remarkable journey that will touch, enlighten, and inspire you.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eThe Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church and author of\u003ci\u003e Love Is the Way\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Power of Love\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eA Way Out of No Way\u003c\/i\u003e brilliantly captures the life and upbringing of one of the most unique and inspiring figures in American life over the last half century. Before he blazed a path to Washington, Reverend Senator Warnock charted a course worthy of history books in the quiet dignity of Black sacrifice and struggle, rising from poverty to one of the nation's foremost pulpits, and now, the Senate floor. This is Black Bildungsroman meets the American hunger for justice, and what a majestic story it is.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eMichael Eric Dyson, author of \u003ci\u003eLong Time Coming\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Warnock's extraordinary book shows us the way forward to a multiracial democracy in America filled with the children of God.\" -- \n\u003cb\u003eJim Wallis, inaugural chair of Faith and Justice at McCourt School of Public Policy, founding director of the Georgetown University Center on Faith and Justice, and author of \u003ci\u003eAmerica's Original Sin\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eSenator Reverend Raphael G. Warnock\u003c\/b\u003e serves as a United States senator from Georgia and the senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta. Senator Warnock holds degrees from Morehouse College and Union Theological Seminary and several honorary doctorate degrees in recognition of his ministry and public service. He is the author of \n\u003ci\u003eThe Divided Mind of the Black Church\u003c\/i\u003e, \n\u003ci\u003eA Way Out of No Way\u003c\/i\u003e, and children's books, including the \n\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller \n\u003ci\u003eWe're in this Together: Leo's Lunch Box\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eAn Instant \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Bestseller \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom Senator Reverend Raphael G. Warnock, a sermon in the public square on the issues that plague us most\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSenator Reverend Raphael G. Warnock is a transformational voice in Congress and the pastor of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Ebenezer Baptist Church, and for the semiquincentennial of America, he exhorts us to reach for the highest and noblest aspects of our national character. Senator Warnock argues that we suffer not from a paucity of resources but from a poverty of moral imagination. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHis sermon on the book of Isaiah draws from ideals resonant in his own faith and all the great faiths and other moral traditions, offering a bold vision of how to live and relate to one another in the land. A moral topography, he calls it, a geopolitics that centers love and justice, or as Dr. King would so often say, the beloved community. \n\u003ci\u003eThe Crooked Places Made Straight \u003c\/i\u003eexamines six crises at the center of American life: voting rights and voter suppression, gun violence, mass incarceration, the persistence of poverty, dark money in politics, and the climate emergency. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis is not a naive faith, either. As Senator Warnock writes: \n\u003ci\u003e Isaiah is no stranger to frustration with institutional leadership. He knows well the perils of public corruption, sophisticated legalized bribery, and a political class more interested in preserving its own power than in serving the people. . . . He's fed up with political leaders who are focused on their own gain at the expense of the people. \"Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves,\" he says.\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor Senator Warnock, democracy is the political enactment of a spiritual idea. A vote is a kind of prayer. \n\u003ci\u003eThe Crooked Places Made Straight \u003c\/i\u003eis his inspiring vision for a more just and equitable America where communities thrive with hope and possibility and every child has a chance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 03\/23\/2026 (EAN 9798217058983, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/15\/2026 (EAN 9798217058983, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Penguin Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496288747798,"sku":"9798217058983","price":37.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9798217058983.jpg?v=1783059084","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/the-crooked-places-made-straight-reflections-on-the-moral-meaning-of-america","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}