Digital re-release of a Christian classic of 1988, ‘Samaritan Strategy’ by Colonel V. Doner
(Bonn, 19.08.2025) Here we offer a pdf reprint of the 1988 original of Colonel V. Donor’s ‘The Samaritan Strategy’ as what happened for decades in parts seems to repeat itself. We are working on a shortened print edition that will cut out things that are no longer relevant, so that younger readers can read and appreciate the Colonel’s provocative thighs without digging into names and historic details and names relevant before they were born.
From the preface to the new digital re-release
In retrospect, 37 years after Colonel V. Doner wrote his book ‘The Samaritan Strategy’, it has been proven that Colonel Doner lived and practiced what he called for back in 1988. And as his son Brant “C. J.” Doner has already successfully taken over, the legacy continues. Back in 2002, Kathleen “Wally” McCall and I edited a commemorative volume for Colonel V. Doner entitled ‘A Life of Transformation: From Politician to Good Samaritan: A Festschrift for Colonel V. Doner’ (RVB: Hamburg, 2002, download-link below).
In the preface I said: “Perhaps what makes this Festschrift a little more unusual is that it is written about a man who not only thought, spoke, or wrote; as are so many Festschrifts — though he did all these things too — but is written in honor of a man who is primarily a man of action. Colonel’s book ‘The Samaritan Strategy: A New Agenda for Christian Activism’clearly expresses Colonel’s philosophy of life in writing. But long before the book was written, Colonel was already telling the world what he thought by his work. From his involvement in politics to his present labors helping people help themselves on several continents, Colonel could not then and cannot now merely observe and comment on the situation around him. Although he would himself confess that he had much to learn then and perhaps still has a few things to learn now, his greatest satisfaction comes from being involved, doing something, helping people, and all this for the sake of his Savior.
Dear Colonel, Your appeal to ‘The Samaritan Strategy’ brought us together. So I would like to begin this Festschrift with formulating the Biblical base for the importance of our social responsibility. We have to spread the Gospel and you never wanted to undermine this. But the Gospel has to take place in this real world and we have to prove that the new life in Christ does not begin in the world to come, but here and now. Thank you for reminding us again and again!”
Let me quote Colonel himself (p. 37 of the Festschrift): “As I wrote in my book, ‘The Samaritan Strategy’, many Christians, particularly those with strong theological or political orientation, are anxious to lead but unwilling to earn the right through service. They want a big following or to be elected to Congress because of their superior ideas. Unfortunately, most people are slow to recognize such ‘brilliance’. What they do notice is that you have your own agenda and don’t seem particularly concerned about helping them formulate or advance their own. Leadership is earned through service.”
Colonel V. Doner became a Christian activist at the age of fourteen. Over the next twenty-five years he served in numerous political roles, culminating in his selection as Chairman of the Christian Voter Mobilisation Programme for Ronald Reagan in 1984. The result was one of America’s most astonishing presidential landslides. Millions of American Christians went to the polls believing that their vote would bring about the restoration of a Christian agenda in Washington. The actual result, however, was failure. Lots of words. No change. After a period of intense soul-searching and prayer, Colonel Doner resigned from numerous organizations he had helped to found. He began to study carefully why the Christian Right had failed in its attempt to restore America. His search led him to examine the larger questions of why movements succeed or fail. What kind of leadership American Christians were looking for. And above all, what the Bible says about Christian activism. The result of that search is this book, which gave guidance to many Christian leaders and organizations and stored up a myriad of projects and programs, among them The Samaritan Network with organizations around the globe, in which Colonel and I worked together.
In a review of the book on Amazon, Craig Mutton writes: “Politics Not a Substitute for Loving and Helping People I read this book years ago and I recently ordered this copy to upgrade to a hardback. Briefly, it’s the manifesto of the major architect of the Christian Right who later came to realize that neither the root nor the solution to America’s problems lie in politics. Colonel — his name, not his rank — Doner proposes that Christians stop trying to capture the reins of an essentially secular humanist system and concentrate on transforming society at the grass roots level by doing good works. This would include alternative forms of charity, healthcare and education that operate on the principles laid down in the Bible. Really worth a read by Christians who are discouraged by the direction of national politics but who want a strategic plan to impact our culture and society for what is right and good in the name of Jesus.”
Other books by Colonel V. Doner
- ‘The Responsible Parent’s Guide to TV’ (1988)
- ‘The Late Great GOP and the Coming Realignment’ (1998)
- ‘Christian Jihad: Neo-Fundamentalists and the Polarization of America’ (2012)
Downloads and Links
- Cover of the ‘The Samaritan Strategy’: https://thomasschirrmacher.info/wp-content/uploads/books/Doner-The-Samaritan-Strategy.jpg
- Download of the ‘The Samaritan Strategy’: https://thomasschirrmacher.info/wp-content/uploads/books/Doner-The-Samaritan-Strategy.pdf
- Download of ‘A Life of Transformation: From Politician to Good Samaritan: A Festschrift for Colonel V. Doner’: https://thomasschirrmacher.net/?p=20724
