Description

In his sharp, observant book, Stan Goff grapples with a problem crucial to modern Christian values. The sanctification of war and contempt for women are both grounded in a fear that breeds hostility, a hostility that valorises conquest and murder. In ‘Borderline’, Goff dissects the driving force behind the darkest impulses of the human heart. The un-Christian history of loving war and hating women are not merely similar but two sides of the same coin, he argues, in an ‘autobiography’ that spans two millennia of war and misogyny. ‘Borderline’ is the personal and conceptual history of an American career army veteran transformed by Jesus into a passionate advocate for nonviolence, written by a man who narrates his conversion to Christianity through feminism. Stan Goff spent most of the final three decades of the twentieth century as a soldier – most of that in what is euphemistically called ‘special operations.’ He is sometimes a writer, sometimes an ‘activist,’ sometimes a husband, dad, and granddad, and sometimes a gardener. ‘Stan Goff is a remarkable human being, so we should not be surprised at this equally remarkable book. Drawing on feminist theory, Goff helps us see war as an expression of a perverse masculinity. His philosophical and theological insights throughout this book are stunning. Borderline is a must-read for anyone concerned with war and its effect on our lives.’ Stanley Hauerwas, former Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School. ‘I’ve long wondered why so few male theologians made the obvious connections between sex and war. Stan Goff stands in this gap with striking candour, insisting the rest of the intellectual world join him. He makes a compelling case for recognising that perhaps the most profound product of the last century has been gender theory, and that until the church wrestles with its theological credibility, we cannot possibly be in full communion with God or our female neighbours.’ Logan Mehl-Laituri, author of ‘Reborn on the Fourth of July’.