SOURCE: A review of God Is Red, in New Republic, Vol. 170, Nos. 3078-3079, January 5-12, 1974, pp. 25-6.

Ruether is an American educator and theologian. In the following review, she highlights the contrasts between Christianity and Native American religions that Deloria presents in God Is Red.

Vine Deloria, spokesman for the rise of "red consciousness," is the son of an Indian Episcopalian clergyman. Himself seminary-trained, Deloria's criticism of the white man's relation to Indian society has increasingly focused on the character of Christianity. Deloria believes that the white man's destruction-relationships with other people and with the earth have been inculcated and justified to a large extent by his religion. In this new book [God Is Red] Deloria contrasts critical aspects of Christianity with the spirit of Indian religion.

The source of white imperialism lies in the Christocentric view of history. Christians see themselves as God's sole elect people who...