Nonfiction Reviews

(BookLife) Review by Staff Christian: The Politics of a Word in America, Harvard University Press, Matthew Bowman, 29.95 (280p) ISBN 978-0-674-73763-1 Bowman ( The Urban Pulpit ), associate professor of history at Henderson State University, pulls together a thought-provoking series of case studies that charts the long history of Christian political rhetoric in the United States. Because pets offer unconditional love, owners can feel a sense of the divine and God through them, Billups contends. [...]he explores various religious doctrines concerning vegetarianism-particularly Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam-and helps readers consider what (if any) role vegetarianism should play in one's life; Morgante ends up leaning toward a diet that includes meat. ( Apr. ) Web Exclusive by Staff Undocumented: Immigration and the Militarization of the United States-Mexico Border, powerHouse Books, John Moore, 50 (176p) ISBN 978-1-57687-867-5 Photographer Moore's harrowing photo essay, the culmination of over a decade of work, documents the grueling immigration process for undocumented Mexicans and Central American coming to U.S., from the abject poverty and vicious gang violence that often propels them to leave to their everyday experiences once established in the United States.