Tempting Faith by David Kuo

I usually read children’s fiction and avoid political non-fiction like the plague. But this book caught my eye and I’m glad I read it. It is different than the other exposes out there. It appeals to (as in, it makes an appeal to) all Americans, regardless of religion or political affiliation.

Tempting Faith is by turns a political expose and a very moving memoir of one man’s life. David Kuo worked in Bush’s office of Faith-Based Initiatives, campaigning for aid to small charities. Kuo began by believing he could use politics to bring money to under-funded charities across America. In the end, however, his department accomplished little and he left the White House disillusioned by politics.

The power of Kuo’s book comes not from his insider views on corrupt politics (though there is plenty of that), but rather from the lack of bitterness or anger in his writing. Though full of irony, his story has none of the barbs that so many political books do. Kuo writes as a man completely free from all concern for his reputation or career because, well, he is. He gave up on politics when he discovered he has a brain tumor and could die at any time. As Kuo himself writes, his health showed him what was important in life. Instead of trying to use politics to support charitable causes, he got involved with charities himself.

I think the most powerful part of the book is when Kuo writes about how, post 9/11, all the White House staffers got together, discussing how to get prayer meetings and candlelight vigils organized. Then they looked up and discovered the obvious: Americans had done all those things on their own. They hadn’t needed an initiative or an executive order to care about their fellow countrymen – they just did.