About American Dream 2.0

Now Featured at the Patheos Book Club
American Dream 2.0
A Christian Way out of the Great Recession
By Frank A. Thomas

We need a new American Dream.

Is the American Dream still viable for me? This is a vexing question for our country. Is the American Dream alive or dead; and if the American Dream is dead, what happens next?

The promise of America has always been creative enterprise, industry, optimism, idealism, and hope. This promise, known since the beginning of the New World and named the "American Dream" during the Great Depression is still what makes immigrants cry as they look at the Statue of Liberty. But there is a dark side to the American Dream—one that we don't talk about in polite company—a side that exploits and seeks to dominate subjugated people.

This book looks at the American Dream—where it came from, why it is out of reach for most Americans, and how we can reclaim the fullness of its promise. Dr. Frank Thomas suggests that by aligning a new American Dream with Jesus' vision of the Kingdom of God and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vision of the "Beloved Community," it can sustain us well into the future.

About the Author

Frank A. Thomas is an author, speaker, coach, and pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee. He also hosts 15 Minutes of Faith with Dr. Frank A. Thomas, a weekly talk radio ministry that speaks to the well-being of body, mind, and soul.

Visit the author's web site at: http://www.theblvd.org/pastor.aspx

Endorsements for the Book

Anyone concerned with the future our nation must add this book to their personal library.
—Dr. Otis Moss III, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago

...compassionate...prophetic...insightful, intentional, and purposeful. He's not afraid to ask hard questions, and the answers are often revelational.
—Dr. R. Craig Strickland, Hope Presbyterian Church, Cordova, Tennessee

Dr. Frank Thomas is one of the nation's most powerful thinkers. He is able to make complex concepts come alive as he offers a positive critique for the conditions that plague us. It is a must read for all who want to "understand the times."
—Bishop Walter S. Thomas, Sr., New Psalmist Baptist Church, Baltimore, Maryland; Presiding Prelate, Kingdom Association of Covenant Pastors

Frank Thomas calls upon us all to become involved in a sustained critique of, and non-violent dissent against, the tendency to define our nation in purely economic terms. His call comes at an opportune time, for the vocabulary within which we describe our common dreams and collective values has become particularly anemic. His call, as articulated in this book, presents a rare combination of passionate argument and scholarly analysis that itself embodies the balanced approach that he advocates. He provides a masterful analysis of the jeremiad as a mode of prophetic protest even while he engages in a jeremiadic critique that acknowledges the tremendous American promise while detailing in a personal, accessible way how very far away from that promise we have fallen. In this book, in other words, Thomas practices what he preaches. It should be read by anyone interested in revitalizing our public discourse, and in recapturing our American Dream.
—Robert Terrill, Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Culture, Indiana University