Fred Rogers and his Neighborhood were a presence in millions of American homes for more than 25 years. His comforting presence on the television screen made three generations of American children feel special. This Presbyterian minister was a pioneer in serving families and children through the mass media.

In Peaceful Neighbor, Michael Long, an associate professor of religious studies and peace and conflict studies at Elizabethtown College, has put together a ethically stirring portrait of this soft-spoken communicator as a radical peacemaker who opposed the Vietnam War, the nuclear arms race, the Persian Gulf War, and the War on Terror. With more than 3.5 million viewers weekly, he probably reached more people with his messages on nonviolence than any other Christian activists you can name. His reverence ethic supported diversity, racial justice, gender equality, support for the LGBT communities, and the loving care of animals and the good Earth.

Mr. Roger's prosocial messages were built on the solid foundations of peace, compassion, and justice, the trinity of character virtues which should be animating Christians today to speak out and demonstrate against the staggering military budget and the widening gap between the super rich and the rest of the nation's citizens.