In today’s tense political climate, many analysts have speculated that Reagan conservatism is dying out. Among other things, they point to the popularity of big government Republicans who may seek to lower taxes, but overcompensate through increasing government programs and spending. To Reagan conservatives, the future looks bleak. But in Reagan’s Children: Taking Back the City on the Hill, Hans Zeiger looks to the rise of conservative values among young Americans today.

Zeiger has essentially one point throughout the book: there is a resurgence of conservatism and faith among the youth of America today and this should be a great cause of optimism. To make his case, he provides countless statistics, case studies, and anecdotes. He explores the reasons why it’s occurring, the historical significance and importance, and how conservative Christians can further strengthen their cause.

Perhaps the greatest value of Reagan’s Children is Zeiger’s relentless optimism. It’s refreshing, and almost shocking, considering the typical doom and gloom rhetoric often put forward by conservative commentators worried about the future of America.

However great this optimism is, though, it is rooted in the book’s greatest problem: Zeiger contends that God is calling this generation to change the world and that when Christians take charge of this calling America will continue to be (or return to being) “that shining city on a hill.” The problem is that the primary mode for making a difference is through political action. What’s missing in the calling of Reagan’s Children is the role of the church. It is the church’s responsibility to change the world, not a secular government. In this, Zeiger perpetuates a serious problem common to the Religious Right: confusing the role of the government and the role of the church. While America may well be the “greatest nation on God’s green earth,” it is not so because America is God’s chosen country. America is not God’s country, but the church is His, and it is through the global community of believers that God will bless the nations.