Marked, by Steve Ross
The first time I read Steve Ross' whirlwind tour through the gospel of Mark, I was non-plussed. The narrative seemed disjointed, much seemed to be left out, and the ending seemed a bit bewildering. After re-reading the actual gospel, my bewilderment turned to amazement and I realized that Steve Ross had shown me the gospel afresh in his graphic novel rendition, faithfully keeping the episodic disjointedness, unanswered questions, and just plain weirdness of the original while simultaneously translating it into the modern day context. That's no small achievement for a book you can probably finish in an hour, but will want to linger over far longer.
While the subject matter and some of the depictions are probably not best suited for children under the age of 13, a couple of teenagers who read this graphic novel with me appreciated the action sequences and presentation. They generally enjoyed the book. I enjoyed it upon re-reading, especially after I had also re-read the gospel of Mark. I came into this novel thinking that it might have potential as a way to introduce Mark's gospel to someone who had never read it. Now I think that the best audience is someone who already has familiarity --church people if you will. People like myself who can benefit from having our conventional view of the story and its characters shaken up a bit. Of course Mark's gospel is also quite short, so it is entirely reasonable to read it in parallel with Steve Ross' version.
Surprisingly, I found myself moved by some of the most arresting images. John the baptizer answering his call to ministry on the telephone; the rich man wishing to follow Jesus literally drowning in his massive pile of possessions; the Transfiguration done with butterflies; Mary walking dirty city streets to the empty tomb Easter morning --all of these and more kept me lingering over the panels and thinking about them long after I'd set the book down.
Paperback: 180 pages
Publisher: Seabury Books (November 1, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1596270020
ISBN-13: 978-1596270022
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
The First Paul
|
25.5.10
The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon
by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
I've been a fan of Marcus Borg for a long time. What he did for Jesus in Jesus: A New Vision and Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time Borg and Crossan apply to their study and analysis of Paul. By separating Paul's letters into three categories: genuine (radical), contested (conservative), and authored by others (reactionary) they are able to highlight the radically egalitarian, non-violent, and mystical vision of the body of Christ and the kingdom of God which Paul preached as a sharp contrast to then prevailing notions of the Roman Empire and its emperor.
Two things stood out for me in this book. First, I have always been a bit perplexed about how the same man who wrote "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28) could also write such passages as "Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:22) or "Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honour, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed." (1 Timothy 6:1) Attempts to harmonize these kinds of passages with each other inevitably water down Paul's more radical statements of egalitarianism, transporting them off to some spiritual realm where they cannot impact real life. Another approach, to claim Paul as the first wily pragmatist who said one thing to one church and the opposite to another is also ultimately unsatisfying. Crossan and Borg's historical approach, which defines the earliest genuine strand of Paul writings as the most radical, with subsequent strands reflecting later accomodation to culture as Christianity became more widely accepted through the Roman Empire makes sense to me as a logical progression and evolution of a religious tradition even as it disturbs me at the same time.
My favorite part of the book, however, was Borg and Crossan's treatment of Jesus versus Ceasar and the Kingdom of God versus the Roman Empire. Drawing upon Roman historical writings from shortly before the birth of Jesus, they are convincingly able to show that many of the most important ways in which Paul and Christianity talk about Jesus (i.e., Jesus is Lord, Jesus' divine birth, Jesus as the Son of God, and Jesus as the one who brings peace to the earth) would have immediately resonated with first century listeners as familiar language about the emperor! While not discounting the spiritual significance of these terms at all as they apply to Jesus, knowing their context viz. the god-king Caesar really awakened me to the political implications of Paul's writings, and also easily explains why the early apostles and followers of the Jesus movement were martyred by the Empire. Paul's writings were treason, threatening the legitimacy of the emperor. When Paul says "Jesus is Lord," that means Caesar is not.
One thing that I always appreciate about Marcus Borg is the clarity with which he explains difficult concepts. This book did not seem as clearly written as some of his others. I'm not sure if this can be blamed on John Dominic Crossan or is just part and parcel of a book that is written by more than one author. On the whole, however, I found it an enjoyable and illuminating read, even if the writing bogged down a bit in some sections. By placing Paul and his message in their first century contexts, Borg and Crossan are able to illuminate his radical message in a way that still speaks to us today.
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: HarperOne (March 3, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061430722
ISBN-13: 978-0061430725
by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
I've been a fan of Marcus Borg for a long time. What he did for Jesus in Jesus: A New Vision and Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time Borg and Crossan apply to their study and analysis of Paul. By separating Paul's letters into three categories: genuine (radical), contested (conservative), and authored by others (reactionary) they are able to highlight the radically egalitarian, non-violent, and mystical vision of the body of Christ and the kingdom of God which Paul preached as a sharp contrast to then prevailing notions of the Roman Empire and its emperor.
Two things stood out for me in this book. First, I have always been a bit perplexed about how the same man who wrote "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28) could also write such passages as "Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:22) or "Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honour, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed." (1 Timothy 6:1) Attempts to harmonize these kinds of passages with each other inevitably water down Paul's more radical statements of egalitarianism, transporting them off to some spiritual realm where they cannot impact real life. Another approach, to claim Paul as the first wily pragmatist who said one thing to one church and the opposite to another is also ultimately unsatisfying. Crossan and Borg's historical approach, which defines the earliest genuine strand of Paul writings as the most radical, with subsequent strands reflecting later accomodation to culture as Christianity became more widely accepted through the Roman Empire makes sense to me as a logical progression and evolution of a religious tradition even as it disturbs me at the same time.
My favorite part of the book, however, was Borg and Crossan's treatment of Jesus versus Ceasar and the Kingdom of God versus the Roman Empire. Drawing upon Roman historical writings from shortly before the birth of Jesus, they are convincingly able to show that many of the most important ways in which Paul and Christianity talk about Jesus (i.e., Jesus is Lord, Jesus' divine birth, Jesus as the Son of God, and Jesus as the one who brings peace to the earth) would have immediately resonated with first century listeners as familiar language about the emperor! While not discounting the spiritual significance of these terms at all as they apply to Jesus, knowing their context viz. the god-king Caesar really awakened me to the political implications of Paul's writings, and also easily explains why the early apostles and followers of the Jesus movement were martyred by the Empire. Paul's writings were treason, threatening the legitimacy of the emperor. When Paul says "Jesus is Lord," that means Caesar is not.
One thing that I always appreciate about Marcus Borg is the clarity with which he explains difficult concepts. This book did not seem as clearly written as some of his others. I'm not sure if this can be blamed on John Dominic Crossan or is just part and parcel of a book that is written by more than one author. On the whole, however, I found it an enjoyable and illuminating read, even if the writing bogged down a bit in some sections. By placing Paul and his message in their first century contexts, Borg and Crossan are able to illuminate his radical message in a way that still speaks to us today.
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: HarperOne (March 3, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061430722
ISBN-13: 978-0061430725
Gilead
|
11.6.06
Gilead: A Novel, by Marilynne Robinson
This was a truly beautiful novel, like an ember glowing after the fire has died. It was not apparent to me from the beginning, however. This is the kind of book that slowly reveals its secrets and its beauty. Like a hard life lived well, meaning is hard won, wrested from the soil, from suffering.
Robinson's primary character, a preacher named John Ames, says it best when (describing baptism) he states, "There is a reality in blessing, which I take baptism to be primarily. It doesn't enhance sacredness, but it acknowledges it, and there is power in that." (p. 23) In the same way, Gilead acknowledges the sacredness in what may seem from an outsider's point of view to be ordinary lives in an ordinary Midwestern town. The sacredness of Iowa, of all places! It also acknowledges the sacredness in those of us who may consider ourselves beyond redemption.
The novel takes the form of an extended letter from father to son. John Ames is an old man with a young son, and pens this letter turned memoir as an attempt to communicate critical wisdom to his young son from beyond the grave. As the father tells the convoluted tale of a life that was shaped significantly by the experiences, heartaches, and wisdom learned from his forebears a picture of four generations of preachers emerges --each with different styles, personalities, and convictions bound by a common vocation.
John Ames' grandfather was a firebrand; an abolitionist who believed in passionate pursuit of social justice, working for the cause to end slavery, even to the point of advocating violence and revolution. He was noted for strong views and strong convictions, even giving away his own possessions to everyone that had need of them. His prophetic ministry was grounded in a vision from childhood, a vision of Christ shackled in chains that cut so deep they went "to the bone."
In stark contrast, John Ames' father never had a vision, discounted the importance of religious experience, and "went to sit with the Quakers" after the Civil War. The rift between these two strong-willed characters profoundly shapes the narrators life.
John Ames, our narrator throughout the novel, was a preacher during World War I, the Flu epidemic, and World War II. He is an interesting mix of his father and his grandfather. A pacifist, he once wrote a fiery sermon casting the flu as God's judgment against a people to willing to go to war. However he never preached that sermon out of compassion for a suffering flock. Perhaps he is the synthesis of what was best about both his father and his grandfather. A seemingly simple country preacher haunted by the ghosts of his father, grandfather and a late wife who died in childbirth, he has hidden depths with which we become increasingly familiar as the novel progresses.
John Ames' son takes two forms, one literal and the other metaphorical. On a literal level Ames is writing to a son who will come of age only after he is dead. On a deeper level, there is John Ames Boughton --ne'er do well son of his best friend-- who the preacher must come to terms with, forgive, and see God's grace within. Through this revealing of grace the glory of the old man's life, and the dusty Iowa farm town, is revealed.
PUBLISHER: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. New York, 2004; ISBN: 0-374-15389-2
KEYWORDS: fiction, Iowa, preaching, relationships
This was a truly beautiful novel, like an ember glowing after the fire has died. It was not apparent to me from the beginning, however. This is the kind of book that slowly reveals its secrets and its beauty. Like a hard life lived well, meaning is hard won, wrested from the soil, from suffering.
Robinson's primary character, a preacher named John Ames, says it best when (describing baptism) he states, "There is a reality in blessing, which I take baptism to be primarily. It doesn't enhance sacredness, but it acknowledges it, and there is power in that." (p. 23) In the same way, Gilead acknowledges the sacredness in what may seem from an outsider's point of view to be ordinary lives in an ordinary Midwestern town. The sacredness of Iowa, of all places! It also acknowledges the sacredness in those of us who may consider ourselves beyond redemption.
The novel takes the form of an extended letter from father to son. John Ames is an old man with a young son, and pens this letter turned memoir as an attempt to communicate critical wisdom to his young son from beyond the grave. As the father tells the convoluted tale of a life that was shaped significantly by the experiences, heartaches, and wisdom learned from his forebears a picture of four generations of preachers emerges --each with different styles, personalities, and convictions bound by a common vocation.
John Ames' grandfather was a firebrand; an abolitionist who believed in passionate pursuit of social justice, working for the cause to end slavery, even to the point of advocating violence and revolution. He was noted for strong views and strong convictions, even giving away his own possessions to everyone that had need of them. His prophetic ministry was grounded in a vision from childhood, a vision of Christ shackled in chains that cut so deep they went "to the bone."
In stark contrast, John Ames' father never had a vision, discounted the importance of religious experience, and "went to sit with the Quakers" after the Civil War. The rift between these two strong-willed characters profoundly shapes the narrators life.
John Ames, our narrator throughout the novel, was a preacher during World War I, the Flu epidemic, and World War II. He is an interesting mix of his father and his grandfather. A pacifist, he once wrote a fiery sermon casting the flu as God's judgment against a people to willing to go to war. However he never preached that sermon out of compassion for a suffering flock. Perhaps he is the synthesis of what was best about both his father and his grandfather. A seemingly simple country preacher haunted by the ghosts of his father, grandfather and a late wife who died in childbirth, he has hidden depths with which we become increasingly familiar as the novel progresses.
John Ames' son takes two forms, one literal and the other metaphorical. On a literal level Ames is writing to a son who will come of age only after he is dead. On a deeper level, there is John Ames Boughton --ne'er do well son of his best friend-- who the preacher must come to terms with, forgive, and see God's grace within. Through this revealing of grace the glory of the old man's life, and the dusty Iowa farm town, is revealed.
PUBLISHER: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. New York, 2004; ISBN: 0-374-15389-2
KEYWORDS: fiction, Iowa, preaching, relationships
Plan B
|
1.3.06
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, by Anne Lamott
In this short, rambling, yet entertaining book the reader is treated to an inside view of one middle-aged west coast liberal's attempt to make sense of life as a Christian, parent, Sunday school teacher, writer, and citizen under the Bush Administration.
Yes, I kid you not. A big subtext in this series of autobiographical spiritual musings is the despair that liberal types feel when the right wing is in power. I suppose anyone with strong political leanings is subject to this kind of despair. While most of the electorate are probably somewhere in the middle --with something to like and dislike about anyone who might occupy the White House-- those on either fringe fear the worst, braving the current Administration like a raging storm, hoping it will end without destroying everything in its path.
I couldn't help but think, "this must be how Christian conservatives felt during Clinton's eight years in office." As someone with a very conservative extended family, I'm constantly hearing ranting from that end of the spectrum. I can only hope that I don't rant like that myself. Lamott definitely shows that ranting isn't the sole property of one political party.
Part of me wondered, why put so much partisan politics into this book? Lamott has a lot of down-to-earth wisdom to share, wisdom gained from her own rocky experiences, wisdom that could be even be useful to certain Republicans. However any self-respecting Republican will probably toss this book after reading the first few pages of Bush bashing. Here are some nuggets of her wisdom. The tone is quirky, pithy, and down-to-earth:
". . .when you pray, you are not starting the conversation from scratch, just remembering to plug back into a conversation that's always in progress." (p. 25)
". . .if you want to change the way you feel about people, you have to change the way you treat them." (p. 143)
"This drives me crazy, that God seems to have no taste, and no standards. Yet on most days, this is what gives some of us hope." (p. 222)
"She said you could tell if people were following Jesus, instead of following the people who follow Jesus, because they were feeding the poor, sharing their wealth, and trying to help everyone get medical insurance." (pp. 222-223)
"If I were God, I'd have the answers at the end of the workbook, so you could check as you went along, to see if you're on the right track. But nooooooo. Darkness is our context, and Easter's context: without it, you couldn't see the light. Hope is not about proving anything. It's about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us." (pp. 274-275)
"Every single spiritual tradition says that you must take care of the poor, or you are so doomed that not even Jesus or the Buddha can help you." (p. 307)
Great stuff.
On the other hand, maybe politics and religion do go hand in hand. For years I was a left-leaning parishioner in right-leaning churches. This gave me no end of consternation while I told myself I was holding out hope that church could transcend partisan differences.
Now I attend a church that more closely matches my political views, and I feel like a decades long hangover has finally ended! While it is nice to imagine that church can transcend politics, the reality is that everything is political, and the only way you can be represented is to be part of a group that shares your interests. That, and you can come out of church without fuming and bitching for days on end about what you just heard from the pulpit.
Lamott has the guts to be completely honest, even when it doesn't make her look good. She's comfortable enough about who she is that she can trash the Bush Administration yet also question her own motives for doing so. She just lets it all hang out, and then she attempts, albeit mostly unsuccessfully, to heal from the hatred. I can't help but admire her honesty and her struggle, which comes to a climax about two-thirds through the book:
"The sermon ended; people were crying. Veronica [Lamott's pastor] asked if anyone wanted to come forward for special prayer. . . I struggled to keep in my seat, but I found myself standing, then lurching forward stiffly. . .I whispered that I was so angry with and afraid of the right wing in this country that it was making me mentally ill.. . and the church prayed for me, although they did not know what was wrong." (p. 224)
This wound up being a very interesting read! Not what I expected and well worth my time. In a way Lamott's ranting is redeemed because it leads to a deeper insight into her own hopes, fears, and insecurities. This makes the book unlike anything I'd read before in this genre. Anyone can attack their political opponents, but it is a rare person who can also admit their own vulnerabilities at the same time.
PUBLISHER: Riverhead Books, New York, 2005. ISBN: 1-57322-299-2.
In this short, rambling, yet entertaining book the reader is treated to an inside view of one middle-aged west coast liberal's attempt to make sense of life as a Christian, parent, Sunday school teacher, writer, and citizen under the Bush Administration.
Yes, I kid you not. A big subtext in this series of autobiographical spiritual musings is the despair that liberal types feel when the right wing is in power. I suppose anyone with strong political leanings is subject to this kind of despair. While most of the electorate are probably somewhere in the middle --with something to like and dislike about anyone who might occupy the White House-- those on either fringe fear the worst, braving the current Administration like a raging storm, hoping it will end without destroying everything in its path.
I couldn't help but think, "this must be how Christian conservatives felt during Clinton's eight years in office." As someone with a very conservative extended family, I'm constantly hearing ranting from that end of the spectrum. I can only hope that I don't rant like that myself. Lamott definitely shows that ranting isn't the sole property of one political party.
Part of me wondered, why put so much partisan politics into this book? Lamott has a lot of down-to-earth wisdom to share, wisdom gained from her own rocky experiences, wisdom that could be even be useful to certain Republicans. However any self-respecting Republican will probably toss this book after reading the first few pages of Bush bashing. Here are some nuggets of her wisdom. The tone is quirky, pithy, and down-to-earth:
". . .when you pray, you are not starting the conversation from scratch, just remembering to plug back into a conversation that's always in progress." (p. 25)
". . .if you want to change the way you feel about people, you have to change the way you treat them." (p. 143)
"This drives me crazy, that God seems to have no taste, and no standards. Yet on most days, this is what gives some of us hope." (p. 222)
"She said you could tell if people were following Jesus, instead of following the people who follow Jesus, because they were feeding the poor, sharing their wealth, and trying to help everyone get medical insurance." (pp. 222-223)
"If I were God, I'd have the answers at the end of the workbook, so you could check as you went along, to see if you're on the right track. But nooooooo. Darkness is our context, and Easter's context: without it, you couldn't see the light. Hope is not about proving anything. It's about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us." (pp. 274-275)
"Every single spiritual tradition says that you must take care of the poor, or you are so doomed that not even Jesus or the Buddha can help you." (p. 307)
Great stuff.
On the other hand, maybe politics and religion do go hand in hand. For years I was a left-leaning parishioner in right-leaning churches. This gave me no end of consternation while I told myself I was holding out hope that church could transcend partisan differences.
Now I attend a church that more closely matches my political views, and I feel like a decades long hangover has finally ended! While it is nice to imagine that church can transcend politics, the reality is that everything is political, and the only way you can be represented is to be part of a group that shares your interests. That, and you can come out of church without fuming and bitching for days on end about what you just heard from the pulpit.
Lamott has the guts to be completely honest, even when it doesn't make her look good. She's comfortable enough about who she is that she can trash the Bush Administration yet also question her own motives for doing so. She just lets it all hang out, and then she attempts, albeit mostly unsuccessfully, to heal from the hatred. I can't help but admire her honesty and her struggle, which comes to a climax about two-thirds through the book:
"The sermon ended; people were crying. Veronica [Lamott's pastor] asked if anyone wanted to come forward for special prayer. . . I struggled to keep in my seat, but I found myself standing, then lurching forward stiffly. . .I whispered that I was so angry with and afraid of the right wing in this country that it was making me mentally ill.. . and the church prayed for me, although they did not know what was wrong." (p. 224)
This wound up being a very interesting read! Not what I expected and well worth my time. In a way Lamott's ranting is redeemed because it leads to a deeper insight into her own hopes, fears, and insecurities. This makes the book unlike anything I'd read before in this genre. Anyone can attack their political opponents, but it is a rare person who can also admit their own vulnerabilities at the same time.
PUBLISHER: Riverhead Books, New York, 2005. ISBN: 1-57322-299-2.
Passion for Peace
|
15.2.05
Passion for Peace: The Social Essays, by Thomas Merton
This collection of essays, edited by William H. Shannon, show the evolution of Merton's anti-war, pacifist stance as it evolved in the wake of the Vietnam War in the 1960s. As Shannon writes in the introduction, ". . .most of the articles that follow have been previously published, but in books that are now out of print. This book contains the substance of Seeds of Destruction, published by Farrar Straus and Giroux in 1964, and most of the articles compiled by Gordon Zahn in The Non-Violent Alternative, published by Farrar Straus and Giroux in 1980." (pp. 6-7)
Merton's stance against war and violence is rooted in self-awareness. "[E]very form of oversimplification tends to make decisions ultimately meaningless. We must try to accept ourselves. . . not only as perfectly good or perfectly bad, but in our mysterious, unaccountable mixture of good and evil. We have to stand by the modicum of good that is in us without exaggerating it." (p. 16). The root of evil is not to be projected onto the other as a prelude to war, but instead, "If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed --but hate these things in yourself, not in another," (p. 19)
According to Merton, "just war theory" or "natural law" or any other number of theological constructs need to be re-interpreted in the light of the Sermon on the Mount. Instead, what for Merton is central often gets relegated to the margins, seen as an impossible ideal, or exaggeration, or hyperbole for effect. When pacifist Christians argue for the application of the Sermon on the Mount to social systems, they need to justify this choice, and also deal with the many passages in the Old Testament that seem to sanction war as a God-ordained activity. While Merton laments, "[i]t is tragic that the nonviolent resistance to evil which is of the very essence of the New Testament morality has come to be regarded as a specialty reserved for beatniks and eccentric cultists," (p. 23) he also needs to provide more argument to support what seems counter-intuitive.
"There is one winner, only one winner in war. The winner is war itself. Not truth, not justice, not liberty, not morality. These are the vanquished. War wins, reducing them to complete submission. He makes truth serve violence and falsehood. . .Though moralists may intend and endeavor to lay down rules for war, in the end war lays down rules for them." (p. 28) As war after war occurs, and war becomes more total and more ruthless, as the tactics taken by "our side" are increasingly justified as necessary to counter the ruthless fighting of our enemies, Merton sees Christian values of peace as rapidly and steadily eroding.
There is a bit of elitism in Merton's writing. The laity are often referred to as being "confused" by the mass media and other sources. One gets the impression that Merton views the laity, and the public in general as sheep that are incapable of thinking for themselves.
This is somewhat mitigated in one of Merton's most interesting essays, "Danish Non-violent Resistance to Hitler." Here Merton outlines the amazing way in which the Danish resisted German attempts to exterminate the Jews in their country during World War Two by consistently and steadfastly, from the King on down to ordinary people, refusing to co-operate with the SS on moral grounds. (pp 150-153.) One can't help but wonder why such exceptions to Nazi oppression in Europe are not more widely known, and proposed as counterbalances to the meta narrative that says World War Two was a "just and necessary war."
While I commend Merton's forward thinking, encouraging Christians to think about the eventual consequences of moving down the slippery slope from countenancing certain wartime activities in "defense" to using these methods preemptively themselves, he seems somewhat naive. "Ambiguity, hesitation and compromise are no longer permissible. War must be abolished. A world government must be established. We have still time to do something about it, but the time is rapidly running out." (p. 47) Certainly this statement is made in the context of a cold war between two superpowers, with a monolithic mass media mediating the national conversation in the United States. To such a monolithic problem, maybe the monolithic solution of world government seemed justified. In today's context of decentralized sources of information (the Internet and hundreds of cable channels) and an amorphous war against multi-national terrorists, the faith in big institutions seems more naive.
Still, many of his observations remain timely. In speaking of the Communists, Merton writes, "We have no right to abandon the Christian moral values on which our society was built and adopt the moral opportunism and irresponsibility of atheistic materialism. If we live and act like atheists we will turn our world into a living hell, and that is precisely what we are doing --for the Russians are not the only men in the world who are Godless!" (p. 52) It's hard not to see both parallels and irony as a materialistic west, led by the United States, now fights militant Islamists like Al-Qaeda, often using methods that meet with objection on both pacifist, and civil libertarian grounds.
"Let us remember this formula: in the madness of modern war, when every crime is justified, the nation is always right, power is always right, the military is always right. To question those who wield power, to differ from them in any way, is to confess oneself subversive, rebellious, traitorous." (p. 55)
I was chilled at how much the names change, but the dynamic stays the same when reflecting on war and peace issues.
PUBLISHER: The Crossroad Publishing Company. New York. 1995. (originally written between 1961-1968); ISBN: 0-8245-1494-7.
This collection of essays, edited by William H. Shannon, show the evolution of Merton's anti-war, pacifist stance as it evolved in the wake of the Vietnam War in the 1960s. As Shannon writes in the introduction, ". . .most of the articles that follow have been previously published, but in books that are now out of print. This book contains the substance of Seeds of Destruction, published by Farrar Straus and Giroux in 1964, and most of the articles compiled by Gordon Zahn in The Non-Violent Alternative, published by Farrar Straus and Giroux in 1980." (pp. 6-7)
Merton's stance against war and violence is rooted in self-awareness. "[E]very form of oversimplification tends to make decisions ultimately meaningless. We must try to accept ourselves. . . not only as perfectly good or perfectly bad, but in our mysterious, unaccountable mixture of good and evil. We have to stand by the modicum of good that is in us without exaggerating it." (p. 16). The root of evil is not to be projected onto the other as a prelude to war, but instead, "If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed --but hate these things in yourself, not in another," (p. 19)
According to Merton, "just war theory" or "natural law" or any other number of theological constructs need to be re-interpreted in the light of the Sermon on the Mount. Instead, what for Merton is central often gets relegated to the margins, seen as an impossible ideal, or exaggeration, or hyperbole for effect. When pacifist Christians argue for the application of the Sermon on the Mount to social systems, they need to justify this choice, and also deal with the many passages in the Old Testament that seem to sanction war as a God-ordained activity. While Merton laments, "[i]t is tragic that the nonviolent resistance to evil which is of the very essence of the New Testament morality has come to be regarded as a specialty reserved for beatniks and eccentric cultists," (p. 23) he also needs to provide more argument to support what seems counter-intuitive.
"There is one winner, only one winner in war. The winner is war itself. Not truth, not justice, not liberty, not morality. These are the vanquished. War wins, reducing them to complete submission. He makes truth serve violence and falsehood. . .Though moralists may intend and endeavor to lay down rules for war, in the end war lays down rules for them." (p. 28) As war after war occurs, and war becomes more total and more ruthless, as the tactics taken by "our side" are increasingly justified as necessary to counter the ruthless fighting of our enemies, Merton sees Christian values of peace as rapidly and steadily eroding.
There is a bit of elitism in Merton's writing. The laity are often referred to as being "confused" by the mass media and other sources. One gets the impression that Merton views the laity, and the public in general as sheep that are incapable of thinking for themselves.
This is somewhat mitigated in one of Merton's most interesting essays, "Danish Non-violent Resistance to Hitler." Here Merton outlines the amazing way in which the Danish resisted German attempts to exterminate the Jews in their country during World War Two by consistently and steadfastly, from the King on down to ordinary people, refusing to co-operate with the SS on moral grounds. (pp 150-153.) One can't help but wonder why such exceptions to Nazi oppression in Europe are not more widely known, and proposed as counterbalances to the meta narrative that says World War Two was a "just and necessary war."
While I commend Merton's forward thinking, encouraging Christians to think about the eventual consequences of moving down the slippery slope from countenancing certain wartime activities in "defense" to using these methods preemptively themselves, he seems somewhat naive. "Ambiguity, hesitation and compromise are no longer permissible. War must be abolished. A world government must be established. We have still time to do something about it, but the time is rapidly running out." (p. 47) Certainly this statement is made in the context of a cold war between two superpowers, with a monolithic mass media mediating the national conversation in the United States. To such a monolithic problem, maybe the monolithic solution of world government seemed justified. In today's context of decentralized sources of information (the Internet and hundreds of cable channels) and an amorphous war against multi-national terrorists, the faith in big institutions seems more naive.
Still, many of his observations remain timely. In speaking of the Communists, Merton writes, "We have no right to abandon the Christian moral values on which our society was built and adopt the moral opportunism and irresponsibility of atheistic materialism. If we live and act like atheists we will turn our world into a living hell, and that is precisely what we are doing --for the Russians are not the only men in the world who are Godless!" (p. 52) It's hard not to see both parallels and irony as a materialistic west, led by the United States, now fights militant Islamists like Al-Qaeda, often using methods that meet with objection on both pacifist, and civil libertarian grounds.
"Let us remember this formula: in the madness of modern war, when every crime is justified, the nation is always right, power is always right, the military is always right. To question those who wield power, to differ from them in any way, is to confess oneself subversive, rebellious, traitorous." (p. 55)
I was chilled at how much the names change, but the dynamic stays the same when reflecting on war and peace issues.
PUBLISHER: The Crossroad Publishing Company. New York. 1995. (originally written between 1961-1968); ISBN: 0-8245-1494-7.
Soul Sex
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15.5.04
Soul Sex: Tantra for Two, by Pala Copeland and Al Link
When I think of Tantric sex, the first thing that comes to mind is rock musician Sting. We've all heard by now that he's this awesome Tantric lover, that he and his wife have amazing sex for hours on end, no doubt hanging off the ceiling and the chandeliers, taut rock star perfection glistening with charged sweaty erotic concentration. . . well!
Soul Sex: Tantra for Two, by Pala Copeland and Al Link presents Tantric sex for the rest of us. Ordinary everyday folks with stressful jobs, children, and perhaps an extra pound or twenty can also be Tantric lovers. De-mystifying Tantra for ordinary people, this easy-to-read guide combines the best of down-to-earth sex and relationship advice with a nice overview of Tantra and how to incorporate some or all of its practices into a committed, lifelong, monogamous relationship.
The two big things that just leapt off the page as I read this book were "This just makes so much sense, I can't believe I'm not doing it" and "I could really do this...this is SO within the realm of possible I can't believe I'm not doing it." Copeland and Link have taken the esoteric sexual secrets of the East and repackaged them, translating and transmuting them into commonsense practices and techniques that practically anyone can feel comfortable with.
The view of Tantra in the book falls within a long western tradition of taking religions and philosophies from the East, removing the specific religious aspects, deities, and rituals, and presenting a more abstract set of principles that can get results without having to be a Buddhist or a Hindu. Coming from a Christian background, I couldn't help but think that many of the principles in the book were complimentary to a western worldview, while others dramatically re-evaluated traditional views. One of the areas where Eastern ideas were most obvious was in the discussion of chakras, or energy centers, in the body. While I could accept the idea that people experience energy as residing in certain centers in the body, I found many of the details regarding the chakras esoteric and hard to take seriously. Despite this, however, one can take the pieces that work and incorporate them selectively into your sex life, discarding what feels alien or uncomfortable.
The second half of the book gets into the nut and bolts of Tantric meditation and sexual practice. Beginning with an overview of the seven energy centers in the body, Copeland and Link present breathing exercises, muscle exercises, sexual positions, mood enhancers, and other hints for more soulful lovemaking. They actually make sense out of sexual positions. I've read many books that merely list the sexual positions, failing to the mention the role each sexual position plays in lovemaking. I never knew that some of the more movement limiting sexual positions are actually intended to slow down the pace while maintaining the emotional connection between lovers. Thank you for explaining this!
It was surprising to me that this book about spiritual sex spent the first 100 pages or so speaking mostly about emotional states, communication skills, unspoken beliefs and how they can shape and overshadow a relationship. Yet it underscores the conviction of both the authors and myself that what happens outside the bedroom in the relationship has a radical impact on one's sex life. Without a healthy relationship in which each partner is willing to deal with their "stuff," spiritual growth and sexual ecstasy just isn't going to happen. "What causes the relationSHIP to sink is the accumulated weight of unresolved 'stuff.'" (p. 94)
PUBLISHER: New Page Books, New Jersey. 2003; ISBN: 1-56414-664-2
LINKS: http://www.tantra-sex.com
When I think of Tantric sex, the first thing that comes to mind is rock musician Sting. We've all heard by now that he's this awesome Tantric lover, that he and his wife have amazing sex for hours on end, no doubt hanging off the ceiling and the chandeliers, taut rock star perfection glistening with charged sweaty erotic concentration. . . well!
Soul Sex: Tantra for Two, by Pala Copeland and Al Link presents Tantric sex for the rest of us. Ordinary everyday folks with stressful jobs, children, and perhaps an extra pound or twenty can also be Tantric lovers. De-mystifying Tantra for ordinary people, this easy-to-read guide combines the best of down-to-earth sex and relationship advice with a nice overview of Tantra and how to incorporate some or all of its practices into a committed, lifelong, monogamous relationship.
The two big things that just leapt off the page as I read this book were "This just makes so much sense, I can't believe I'm not doing it" and "I could really do this...this is SO within the realm of possible I can't believe I'm not doing it." Copeland and Link have taken the esoteric sexual secrets of the East and repackaged them, translating and transmuting them into commonsense practices and techniques that practically anyone can feel comfortable with.
The view of Tantra in the book falls within a long western tradition of taking religions and philosophies from the East, removing the specific religious aspects, deities, and rituals, and presenting a more abstract set of principles that can get results without having to be a Buddhist or a Hindu. Coming from a Christian background, I couldn't help but think that many of the principles in the book were complimentary to a western worldview, while others dramatically re-evaluated traditional views. One of the areas where Eastern ideas were most obvious was in the discussion of chakras, or energy centers, in the body. While I could accept the idea that people experience energy as residing in certain centers in the body, I found many of the details regarding the chakras esoteric and hard to take seriously. Despite this, however, one can take the pieces that work and incorporate them selectively into your sex life, discarding what feels alien or uncomfortable.
The second half of the book gets into the nut and bolts of Tantric meditation and sexual practice. Beginning with an overview of the seven energy centers in the body, Copeland and Link present breathing exercises, muscle exercises, sexual positions, mood enhancers, and other hints for more soulful lovemaking. They actually make sense out of sexual positions. I've read many books that merely list the sexual positions, failing to the mention the role each sexual position plays in lovemaking. I never knew that some of the more movement limiting sexual positions are actually intended to slow down the pace while maintaining the emotional connection between lovers. Thank you for explaining this!
It was surprising to me that this book about spiritual sex spent the first 100 pages or so speaking mostly about emotional states, communication skills, unspoken beliefs and how they can shape and overshadow a relationship. Yet it underscores the conviction of both the authors and myself that what happens outside the bedroom in the relationship has a radical impact on one's sex life. Without a healthy relationship in which each partner is willing to deal with their "stuff," spiritual growth and sexual ecstasy just isn't going to happen. "What causes the relationSHIP to sink is the accumulated weight of unresolved 'stuff.'" (p. 94)
PUBLISHER: New Page Books, New Jersey. 2003; ISBN: 1-56414-664-2
LINKS: http://www.tantra-sex.com
Not a Drop to Drink
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8.7.03
'Not A Drop To Drink,' by Grey Rollins
Grey Rollins' 16 page short story 'Not A Drop To Drink' examines group dynamics, mob rule, and the violence associated with religious fundamentalism within the context of a classic "hard SF" short story. The premise is simple: Colonists stuck on a world with little fresh water debate dwindling alternatives to ensure their survival. After discarding other options which have proven ineffective, scientist Lalo Helsink makes a daring proposal: genetically engineer the children to have salt glands so that they can drink the abundant seawater found on the planet. Without this modification the colony's needs will outstrip the fresh water supply in a matter of years, ensuring death.
While most are uneasy with such a draconian solution, it is seen as the only alternative to certain death. Not so for Agnes Beeson, leader of a Christian prayer group in the colony. She and her followers believe that God is punishing the colony for lack of faith, and if they pray hard enough rain will come. She believes that genetic tinkering on humans is an abomination --displaying lack of faith in God's design when God created humans.
With the colony still ambivalent, the plan goes forward and the first generation of "salties" --children with salt tracks that stem from their eyes to rid their bodies of excess salt-- is born. Beeson will not be stopped, however, and soon acts of vandalism against Helsink and the parents of the "salties" erupt in the colony. These violent acts finally culminate in a fire that consumes eight houses and kills two adults. The story ends as Helsink and the families leave the colony. Although they lack resources and are in the minority, their future seems hopeful because --through more genetic engineering in order to avoid inbreeding-- they can still reproduce in large enough numbers to establish a viable colony.
This story raised two questions for me. First, when religious fundamentalism gains power, is violence inevitable? If one is merely talking about Christian or Muslim conservatives who believe they take the Bible or Qur'an literally --I don't think that alone is enough to guarantee a violent sect. Historically there have been textual literalists who also included an ethic of non-violence in their belief systems --finding the justification for non-violence in the very texts they attempt to follow so scrupulously. I see the defining characteristic of fundamentalism as the tendency to demonize the other. When one's ethical system encourages one to see evil as an external force resident in some other group, instead of recognizing the evil that lurks within --or seeing God as Other-- it's easy to legitimize violence against groups that are different in any way.
Secondly, is it moral to genetically engineer human beings? Many in contemporary Western society draw a distinction between reproductive cloning (which they see as "playing God" with the process that leads to birth) and therapeutic cloning or gene therapies (which they see as helpful medicine.) For me 'Not a Drop to Drink' exposes some of the flaws in this kind of thinking by showing that actually changing the human genome is far more radical than using the technology to simply make a copy of another human being, flaws and all. I tend to see using genetic technology to help infertile couples --or perhaps help gay and lesbian couples pass on their genes-- as a relatively benign use of the technology. Adding and subtracting things to human genes seems more provocative, raising questions about the extent to which our genes make us human, and the boundaries of what can be considered human at all.
PUBLISHER: July/August 2003 issue of Analog: Science Fiction and Fact (Astounding). Pages 100-118. Dell Magazines. New York. ISSN: 1059-2113.
Grey Rollins' 16 page short story 'Not A Drop To Drink' examines group dynamics, mob rule, and the violence associated with religious fundamentalism within the context of a classic "hard SF" short story. The premise is simple: Colonists stuck on a world with little fresh water debate dwindling alternatives to ensure their survival. After discarding other options which have proven ineffective, scientist Lalo Helsink makes a daring proposal: genetically engineer the children to have salt glands so that they can drink the abundant seawater found on the planet. Without this modification the colony's needs will outstrip the fresh water supply in a matter of years, ensuring death.
While most are uneasy with such a draconian solution, it is seen as the only alternative to certain death. Not so for Agnes Beeson, leader of a Christian prayer group in the colony. She and her followers believe that God is punishing the colony for lack of faith, and if they pray hard enough rain will come. She believes that genetic tinkering on humans is an abomination --displaying lack of faith in God's design when God created humans.
With the colony still ambivalent, the plan goes forward and the first generation of "salties" --children with salt tracks that stem from their eyes to rid their bodies of excess salt-- is born. Beeson will not be stopped, however, and soon acts of vandalism against Helsink and the parents of the "salties" erupt in the colony. These violent acts finally culminate in a fire that consumes eight houses and kills two adults. The story ends as Helsink and the families leave the colony. Although they lack resources and are in the minority, their future seems hopeful because --through more genetic engineering in order to avoid inbreeding-- they can still reproduce in large enough numbers to establish a viable colony.
This story raised two questions for me. First, when religious fundamentalism gains power, is violence inevitable? If one is merely talking about Christian or Muslim conservatives who believe they take the Bible or Qur'an literally --I don't think that alone is enough to guarantee a violent sect. Historically there have been textual literalists who also included an ethic of non-violence in their belief systems --finding the justification for non-violence in the very texts they attempt to follow so scrupulously. I see the defining characteristic of fundamentalism as the tendency to demonize the other. When one's ethical system encourages one to see evil as an external force resident in some other group, instead of recognizing the evil that lurks within --or seeing God as Other-- it's easy to legitimize violence against groups that are different in any way.
Secondly, is it moral to genetically engineer human beings? Many in contemporary Western society draw a distinction between reproductive cloning (which they see as "playing God" with the process that leads to birth) and therapeutic cloning or gene therapies (which they see as helpful medicine.) For me 'Not a Drop to Drink' exposes some of the flaws in this kind of thinking by showing that actually changing the human genome is far more radical than using the technology to simply make a copy of another human being, flaws and all. I tend to see using genetic technology to help infertile couples --or perhaps help gay and lesbian couples pass on their genes-- as a relatively benign use of the technology. Adding and subtracting things to human genes seems more provocative, raising questions about the extent to which our genes make us human, and the boundaries of what can be considered human at all.
PUBLISHER: July/August 2003 issue of Analog: Science Fiction and Fact (Astounding). Pages 100-118. Dell Magazines. New York. ISSN: 1059-2113.
Parable of the Talents
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27.3.03
Parable of the Talents, by Octavia E. Butler
In this sequel to her 1993 novel Parable of the Sower Octavia E. Butler exceeds my expectations by writing a book that is more interesting than Sower in terms of plot and style. At least to some extent Butler abandons the journal format of Sower, adding in material that is not written solely from the perspective of Lauren Olimina. However, I was disappointed in the way she resolved the broader religious questions that dominated the first novel.
Parable of the Talents is written from multiple points of view. Structurally the glue that holds this story together is an extended essay, or history, written by Asha Vere --Lauren Olimina's daughter. She writes about her own life as one abducted from her parents and raised to oppose the Earthseed religion of her mother. Interspersed in this big story are first person perspective "historical documents" --journal entries by Lauren Olimina and Asha's father, Bankole --as well as a few selections from her uncle. All these different perspectives provide a more interesting and varied reading experience than the first novel, which was entirely journal entries of Lauren Olimina, founder of Earthseed. Perhaps this structure is symbolic of the fragmentation and much later re-integration of Earthseed that takes place in the novel.
I was much less impressed with the treatment of the Earthseed religion in this novel than in Sower. I felt that in Talents the author sacrificed the probing spiritual questions and realistic formation of a spiritual community in favor of moving the plot along. Unlike any other religious founder I can think of with the possible exception of Mohammad, Lauren Olimina lives to see the fruition of her religious tradition's ultimate goals. Since "The Destiny of Earthseed, / Is to take root / Among the stars." (p. 65) this seems a bit hard to swallow --especially since Olimina's whole world has been plunged in a post global-warming apocalyptic-style horror for the past 50 years! While Olimina, like Moses in the Bible, doesn't actually get to enter her Promised Land, the breakneck speed at which she progresses defies belief even within the confines of the story and the genre. When Olimina goes from a religion of one, to a community of maybe 50, then loses all that and is forced to start over again door-to-door, finally getting a rich national following capable of funding research and technology to build starships --I'm left unable to suspend my disbelief.
On the whole I must admit that I enjoyed this sequel more than I disliked it. In the final analysis, however, I see it as a novel that satisfies if one liked Parable of the Sower and merely "wants to find out more" about what happened to Olimina and her ragged band of followers. But if one wants an in-depth speculative novel about an interesting belief system and its implications, Parable of the Talents fails to deliver.
PUBLISHER: Seven Stories Press, New York. 1998. ISBN: 1888363819
In this sequel to her 1993 novel Parable of the Sower Octavia E. Butler exceeds my expectations by writing a book that is more interesting than Sower in terms of plot and style. At least to some extent Butler abandons the journal format of Sower, adding in material that is not written solely from the perspective of Lauren Olimina. However, I was disappointed in the way she resolved the broader religious questions that dominated the first novel.
Parable of the Talents is written from multiple points of view. Structurally the glue that holds this story together is an extended essay, or history, written by Asha Vere --Lauren Olimina's daughter. She writes about her own life as one abducted from her parents and raised to oppose the Earthseed religion of her mother. Interspersed in this big story are first person perspective "historical documents" --journal entries by Lauren Olimina and Asha's father, Bankole --as well as a few selections from her uncle. All these different perspectives provide a more interesting and varied reading experience than the first novel, which was entirely journal entries of Lauren Olimina, founder of Earthseed. Perhaps this structure is symbolic of the fragmentation and much later re-integration of Earthseed that takes place in the novel.
I was much less impressed with the treatment of the Earthseed religion in this novel than in Sower. I felt that in Talents the author sacrificed the probing spiritual questions and realistic formation of a spiritual community in favor of moving the plot along. Unlike any other religious founder I can think of with the possible exception of Mohammad, Lauren Olimina lives to see the fruition of her religious tradition's ultimate goals. Since "The Destiny of Earthseed, / Is to take root / Among the stars." (p. 65) this seems a bit hard to swallow --especially since Olimina's whole world has been plunged in a post global-warming apocalyptic-style horror for the past 50 years! While Olimina, like Moses in the Bible, doesn't actually get to enter her Promised Land, the breakneck speed at which she progresses defies belief even within the confines of the story and the genre. When Olimina goes from a religion of one, to a community of maybe 50, then loses all that and is forced to start over again door-to-door, finally getting a rich national following capable of funding research and technology to build starships --I'm left unable to suspend my disbelief.
On the whole I must admit that I enjoyed this sequel more than I disliked it. In the final analysis, however, I see it as a novel that satisfies if one liked Parable of the Sower and merely "wants to find out more" about what happened to Olimina and her ragged band of followers. But if one wants an in-depth speculative novel about an interesting belief system and its implications, Parable of the Talents fails to deliver.
PUBLISHER: Seven Stories Press, New York. 1998. ISBN: 1888363819
Parable of the Sower
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20.3.03
Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler
When I first learned that Parable of the Sower was yet another near-future dystopia, I groaned inwardly. While such books certainly have their place as cautionary tales, I usually find them so depressing that they don't make for entertaining reading. Science fiction is usually a more optimistic vision of how science and technology can shape us and take us places we've never been before. The whole dystopia sub-genre seems dark and depressing in contrast. 1984 and its warning against totalitarianism; Alas, Babylon and The Postman with their twin depictions of the aftermath of nuclear holocaust --these are all well-written books with an important political message, but they also seem a little surreal and far away in the future. Parable of the Sower manages to transcend the genre by offering a theme of hope through personal transformation. Author Octavia E. Butler is also relatively conservative in her extrapolated future, which makes her message seem all the more immediate, believable and relevant.
Butler takes current disturbing trends of global warming, gated communities, homelessness, and privatization and extrapolates a disturbingly familiar near future. The year is 2025, and it hasn't rained in years. Water (and everything else) is in very short supply. The middle-class live in gated communities topped with barbed wire and laser wire to keep out the street poor and gangs --desperate starving people willing to kill for food or shoes. And things are getting worse. Every year more gated communities are breached, looted, and pillaged by the desperate. The inhabitants are killed, rapped or tortured --rendered desperate themselves. Police, Fire departments, and other basic services are only available to those willing to pay their fees, resulting in only small enclaves of law and order surrounded by a sea of anarchy. Public education is non-existent, and unemployment is astronomically high. The United States government still exists --still collects taxes-- but seems exceedingly distant, in the hands of corporate interests, and unable to exert much force on the local level.
Against this backdrop we're introduced to the main character, Lauren Olamina, who lives in one of these walled communities outside San Diego and senses its coming destruction. Daughter of a Baptist pastor who is holding the small, ragged community of eleven households together through sheer force of will, Olamina is secretly forging (or discovering) her own religion called Earthseed, which gives her comfort and a sense of purpose as everything slowly crumbles around her. Here are some verses from the bible she assembles through the course of the novel, called Earthseed: The Books of the Living:
All that you touch,
You Change..
All that you Change
Changes you..
The only lasting truth
Is Change.
God
Is Change.(p.73)
Why is the universe?
To shape God.
Why is God?
To shape the universe (p. 72)
The bulk of the novel outlines Lauren Olimina as she discovers and refines the Earthseed religion, using it to understand the cataclysmic changes taking place in her life. Her walled community is ultimately invaded and she is forced to flee with a few possessions and a few companions, seeking out a new home where she plans to establish a community based on the new principle that "God is Change." The only way to survive is to embrace Change and try to consciously shape it --and allow it to ultimately shape you.
I found the concept of a new religion that embraces change to be enticing. While most institutional religions seem quite conservative and slow to change, Octavia E. Butler paints a convincing picture of Lauren Olimina as a dynamic religious tradition founder. The community she assembles is small enough and cohesive enough that its lack of inter-nicene squabbling does not detract too much from its realism. Perhaps only after the religious founder dies (not the subject of this book --maybe treated in Butler's later novel, Parable of the Talents?) do differing interpretations, and the calcification of the tradition start to arise. How that would be treated by a religion that defines God as change would be quite interesting.
As a person of faith and an avid reader of science fiction I enjoyed this novel because it not only extrapolated the future of science and social trends, but also religious belief. Defining God as change is an optimistic imagining of a people's reaction to cataclysmic change. I can't help but wonder if its overly optimistic, however. Surely a more typical human response is to either fear change, reject change, or to try to hold on to something as constant within the midst of change? Relgious founders are hardly typical, however, and maybe Butler's machinations are how most new faiths are formed --out of response to a specific historical situation or calamity.
As an unrelated sidenote, I didn't actually read this book --I checked the unabridged Audiobook CD out from the library, ripped it to MP3, and listened to it on my portable MP3 player. It was the first time I'd tried this, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to listen while taking my daily exercise. Nowadays I seem to have so little uninterrupted time for reading that it is nice to be able to leverage some other time each day. Since the novel takes the form of entries in Lauren's journal, it is easy to ingest in small doses.
PUBLISHER: Four Walls Eight Windows, New York. 1993. ISBN: 0941423999
When I first learned that Parable of the Sower was yet another near-future dystopia, I groaned inwardly. While such books certainly have their place as cautionary tales, I usually find them so depressing that they don't make for entertaining reading. Science fiction is usually a more optimistic vision of how science and technology can shape us and take us places we've never been before. The whole dystopia sub-genre seems dark and depressing in contrast. 1984 and its warning against totalitarianism; Alas, Babylon and The Postman with their twin depictions of the aftermath of nuclear holocaust --these are all well-written books with an important political message, but they also seem a little surreal and far away in the future. Parable of the Sower manages to transcend the genre by offering a theme of hope through personal transformation. Author Octavia E. Butler is also relatively conservative in her extrapolated future, which makes her message seem all the more immediate, believable and relevant.
Butler takes current disturbing trends of global warming, gated communities, homelessness, and privatization and extrapolates a disturbingly familiar near future. The year is 2025, and it hasn't rained in years. Water (and everything else) is in very short supply. The middle-class live in gated communities topped with barbed wire and laser wire to keep out the street poor and gangs --desperate starving people willing to kill for food or shoes. And things are getting worse. Every year more gated communities are breached, looted, and pillaged by the desperate. The inhabitants are killed, rapped or tortured --rendered desperate themselves. Police, Fire departments, and other basic services are only available to those willing to pay their fees, resulting in only small enclaves of law and order surrounded by a sea of anarchy. Public education is non-existent, and unemployment is astronomically high. The United States government still exists --still collects taxes-- but seems exceedingly distant, in the hands of corporate interests, and unable to exert much force on the local level.
Against this backdrop we're introduced to the main character, Lauren Olamina, who lives in one of these walled communities outside San Diego and senses its coming destruction. Daughter of a Baptist pastor who is holding the small, ragged community of eleven households together through sheer force of will, Olamina is secretly forging (or discovering) her own religion called Earthseed, which gives her comfort and a sense of purpose as everything slowly crumbles around her. Here are some verses from the bible she assembles through the course of the novel, called Earthseed: The Books of the Living:
You Change..
Changes you..
Is Change.
Is Change.(p.73)
To shape God.
To shape the universe (p. 72)
The bulk of the novel outlines Lauren Olimina as she discovers and refines the Earthseed religion, using it to understand the cataclysmic changes taking place in her life. Her walled community is ultimately invaded and she is forced to flee with a few possessions and a few companions, seeking out a new home where she plans to establish a community based on the new principle that "God is Change." The only way to survive is to embrace Change and try to consciously shape it --and allow it to ultimately shape you.
I found the concept of a new religion that embraces change to be enticing. While most institutional religions seem quite conservative and slow to change, Octavia E. Butler paints a convincing picture of Lauren Olimina as a dynamic religious tradition founder. The community she assembles is small enough and cohesive enough that its lack of inter-nicene squabbling does not detract too much from its realism. Perhaps only after the religious founder dies (not the subject of this book --maybe treated in Butler's later novel, Parable of the Talents?) do differing interpretations, and the calcification of the tradition start to arise. How that would be treated by a religion that defines God as change would be quite interesting.
As a person of faith and an avid reader of science fiction I enjoyed this novel because it not only extrapolated the future of science and social trends, but also religious belief. Defining God as change is an optimistic imagining of a people's reaction to cataclysmic change. I can't help but wonder if its overly optimistic, however. Surely a more typical human response is to either fear change, reject change, or to try to hold on to something as constant within the midst of change? Relgious founders are hardly typical, however, and maybe Butler's machinations are how most new faiths are formed --out of response to a specific historical situation or calamity.
As an unrelated sidenote, I didn't actually read this book --I checked the unabridged Audiobook CD out from the library, ripped it to MP3, and listened to it on my portable MP3 player. It was the first time I'd tried this, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to listen while taking my daily exercise. Nowadays I seem to have so little uninterrupted time for reading that it is nice to be able to leverage some other time each day. Since the novel takes the form of entries in Lauren's journal, it is easy to ingest in small doses.
PUBLISHER: Four Walls Eight Windows, New York. 1993. ISBN: 0941423999
Amazing Grace
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28.6.02
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, by Kathleen Norris
In this well-written, interesting volume, Kathleen Norris takes the timeless words of Christian vocabulary such as grace, perfection, belief, doubt, and Bible (just to name a few) and defines them in the light of her own experience and struggle to reconnect with her faith.
Drawing on her own spiritual journey back to Christianity as an adult, Norris explains how certain words erect barriers to faith, and how imaginative re-appropriation of these words can tear the barriers down.
Each essay is very short, which makes the book easy to read in short bursts. While I also read long stretches, it's the perfect book to put on one's nightstand and read a chapter or two each night.
While I found the "definitions" in her "lexicon" interesting, the most useful thing to me was her method --the way she allowed herself the freedom to roam freely around a word, finding a way to appropriate it creatively and intelligently into her spiritual vocabulary.
PUBLISHER: Riverhead Books; ISBN: 1573227218; (February 12, 1999)
In this well-written, interesting volume, Kathleen Norris takes the timeless words of Christian vocabulary such as grace, perfection, belief, doubt, and Bible (just to name a few) and defines them in the light of her own experience and struggle to reconnect with her faith.
Drawing on her own spiritual journey back to Christianity as an adult, Norris explains how certain words erect barriers to faith, and how imaginative re-appropriation of these words can tear the barriers down.
Each essay is very short, which makes the book easy to read in short bursts. While I also read long stretches, it's the perfect book to put on one's nightstand and read a chapter or two each night.
While I found the "definitions" in her "lexicon" interesting, the most useful thing to me was her method --the way she allowed herself the freedom to roam freely around a word, finding a way to appropriate it creatively and intelligently into her spiritual vocabulary.
PUBLISHER: Riverhead Books; ISBN: 1573227218; (February 12, 1999)
Just As I Am
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27.6.02
Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham
Billy Graham is a man who has impressed me (both positively and negatively) for quite some time, and Just As I Am is an equally impressive treatment of his life and ministry. Overly long in parts, the book nonetheless gives a fascinating look into his ministry, family life, personal convictions, and interactions with many famous political figures. While Graham's evangelically focused message of faith and repentance may be simple, Just As I Am shows us the complexity of the man himself, and the surpassingly open-minded way in which he reacts and interacts with those who hold differing theological views than himself.
One of the things the book does best is show how Billy Graham has evolved over the years. Recounting his first meetings with a United States president, Graham candidly admits to country-bumpkin manners and overly flashy showmanship (including an impromptu prayer on the White House lawn while photographers' cameras flash) after a private audience with President Johnson. Learning from these mistakes, however, Graham proceeds to become the "pastor to the presidents," having been a personal friend of Richard Nixon and Ronald and Nancy Reagan, as well as being in amazingly close contact with presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.
Just As I Am lays out Billy Graham's theological convictions shortly and simply as that of response to Christ's sacrifice on the cross by accepting responsibility for one's sins, recognizing Jesus as God on earth who died to pay the price for those sins, and (through God's help) a life in which one seeks a personal relationship with Jesus, giving God power and "lordship" and attempting to live according to God's will. This is the process that Graham believes Jesus teaches in the New Testament as being "born again." It is the type of conversion experience that Graham experienced personally as a teenager, and is fairly standard evangelical theology.
While his theology may be evangelically orthodox, however, Graham was not and is not a standard evangelical. While so much of evangelical Christianity today has gravitated towards a right-wing political agenda, Graham has been painstaking about not becoming involved in partisan politics. Although raised a Southern Democrat, and despite his deep personal friendship with Richard Nixon, Graham has explicitly refused to publicly endorse any presidential or any other political candidates, recognizing that there are sincere Christians in both major political parties. This is an attitude I think many evangelical and fundamentalist leaders would do well to adopt today, where political powder kegs such as abortion and school prayer become de facto litmus tests for acceptance in some churches, and partisan jokes and comments are commonly preached from the pulpit. Graham recognizes these attitudes as diluting the effect of the gospel message that he has devoted his life to preaching.
Another area in which Graham deviated from the conventional thought of his heyday was the issue of segregation. Believing that such racist attitudes were contrary to the Bible, Graham insisted on non-segregated seating for Crusades, and actually refused to bring his organization to South Africa because of the apartheid government there, long before such sanctions were fashionable. This alienated him from more socially conservative Christians, as well as opening the issue with more liberal groups because he didn't get directly involved in the civil rights movement of the 60s.
The cord that ties all these views together is Graham's understanding of the Bible. The main theme that runs through Just As I Am is Graham's willingness to confront any obstacle, use any technology, and sacrifice as needed in order to spread his understanding of the Christian Gospel. To Graham the gospel message is paramount, and where evangelical mores or fundamentalist norms hindered the clear articulation of that message, he innovated. Graham recognized that times change, cultures change, and preaching techniques change as circumstances warrant. However, to Graham the gospel message is timeless and personal. Graham is always quick to say that he has accomplished nothing without the support and prayers of family and friends, and has done nothing but be a willing servant of God. While containing some regrets and counting the cost of being an itinerant evangelist; on the road most of the time and away from his family, Just As I Am is generally just that; a down to earth account of an extraordinary man and what he has accomplished.
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins; ISBN: 0061010839; (March 1998)
Billy Graham is a man who has impressed me (both positively and negatively) for quite some time, and Just As I Am is an equally impressive treatment of his life and ministry. Overly long in parts, the book nonetheless gives a fascinating look into his ministry, family life, personal convictions, and interactions with many famous political figures. While Graham's evangelically focused message of faith and repentance may be simple, Just As I Am shows us the complexity of the man himself, and the surpassingly open-minded way in which he reacts and interacts with those who hold differing theological views than himself.
One of the things the book does best is show how Billy Graham has evolved over the years. Recounting his first meetings with a United States president, Graham candidly admits to country-bumpkin manners and overly flashy showmanship (including an impromptu prayer on the White House lawn while photographers' cameras flash) after a private audience with President Johnson. Learning from these mistakes, however, Graham proceeds to become the "pastor to the presidents," having been a personal friend of Richard Nixon and Ronald and Nancy Reagan, as well as being in amazingly close contact with presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.
Just As I Am lays out Billy Graham's theological convictions shortly and simply as that of response to Christ's sacrifice on the cross by accepting responsibility for one's sins, recognizing Jesus as God on earth who died to pay the price for those sins, and (through God's help) a life in which one seeks a personal relationship with Jesus, giving God power and "lordship" and attempting to live according to God's will. This is the process that Graham believes Jesus teaches in the New Testament as being "born again." It is the type of conversion experience that Graham experienced personally as a teenager, and is fairly standard evangelical theology.
While his theology may be evangelically orthodox, however, Graham was not and is not a standard evangelical. While so much of evangelical Christianity today has gravitated towards a right-wing political agenda, Graham has been painstaking about not becoming involved in partisan politics. Although raised a Southern Democrat, and despite his deep personal friendship with Richard Nixon, Graham has explicitly refused to publicly endorse any presidential or any other political candidates, recognizing that there are sincere Christians in both major political parties. This is an attitude I think many evangelical and fundamentalist leaders would do well to adopt today, where political powder kegs such as abortion and school prayer become de facto litmus tests for acceptance in some churches, and partisan jokes and comments are commonly preached from the pulpit. Graham recognizes these attitudes as diluting the effect of the gospel message that he has devoted his life to preaching.
Another area in which Graham deviated from the conventional thought of his heyday was the issue of segregation. Believing that such racist attitudes were contrary to the Bible, Graham insisted on non-segregated seating for Crusades, and actually refused to bring his organization to South Africa because of the apartheid government there, long before such sanctions were fashionable. This alienated him from more socially conservative Christians, as well as opening the issue with more liberal groups because he didn't get directly involved in the civil rights movement of the 60s.
The cord that ties all these views together is Graham's understanding of the Bible. The main theme that runs through Just As I Am is Graham's willingness to confront any obstacle, use any technology, and sacrifice as needed in order to spread his understanding of the Christian Gospel. To Graham the gospel message is paramount, and where evangelical mores or fundamentalist norms hindered the clear articulation of that message, he innovated. Graham recognized that times change, cultures change, and preaching techniques change as circumstances warrant. However, to Graham the gospel message is timeless and personal. Graham is always quick to say that he has accomplished nothing without the support and prayers of family and friends, and has done nothing but be a willing servant of God. While containing some regrets and counting the cost of being an itinerant evangelist; on the road most of the time and away from his family, Just As I Am is generally just that; a down to earth account of an extraordinary man and what he has accomplished.
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins; ISBN: 0061010839; (March 1998)
Pilgrims in Their Own Land
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26.6.02
Pilgrims in Their Own Land: 500 Years of Religion In America, by Martin E. Marty
In the most general sense, this book is an excellent resource for those looking for a survey of American religious history. Starting with a brief overview of tribal rites performed by early native Americans prior to Columbus' arrival, the book takes a panoramic view through the centuries. Catholicism, Judaism, and the myriad forms of Protestant Christianity are covered as well as the major forms of Eastern thought as they relate to the United States context.
Martin Marty's thesis ties the book together, stipulating that even since early periods in its history the United States has taken a unique market place approach to religion. Unlike the relatively homogeneous states of the European past, in the American setting a wide variety of religious expression has been available since the beginning, and the average citizen has been able to pick and choose from a number of faiths competing for believers. Major revivals in the American Christian tradition, far from being ecumenical, often degenerated into sects competing for the new converts shortly after the tent-poles of the camp meeting were disassembled. This unique past, according to Marty, tends to make the average American more apt to "shop around," crossing denominational lines to find a church that best suits his or her needs, instead of remaining in the faith of the family or the community.
Pilgrims in Their Own Land does an excellent job of focusing in on the details of religious leaders and movements. Marty was able to encapsulate the details of relatively minor figures such as John Humphrey Noyes, or sects such as the Quakers in just a few pages, leaving plenty of room for breadth in this well-penned tome. Definitely a must-have reference source for anyone serious about learning United States religious history, the book's footnotes and bibliography also provide a great reading list for learning more about any particular segment of the past that interests the reader. I've already bought three more books after reading this one, specifically because Pilgrims In Their Own Land peaked my interest.
PUBLISHER: Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN: 0140082689; Reprint edition (August 1985)
In the most general sense, this book is an excellent resource for those looking for a survey of American religious history. Starting with a brief overview of tribal rites performed by early native Americans prior to Columbus' arrival, the book takes a panoramic view through the centuries. Catholicism, Judaism, and the myriad forms of Protestant Christianity are covered as well as the major forms of Eastern thought as they relate to the United States context.
Martin Marty's thesis ties the book together, stipulating that even since early periods in its history the United States has taken a unique market place approach to religion. Unlike the relatively homogeneous states of the European past, in the American setting a wide variety of religious expression has been available since the beginning, and the average citizen has been able to pick and choose from a number of faiths competing for believers. Major revivals in the American Christian tradition, far from being ecumenical, often degenerated into sects competing for the new converts shortly after the tent-poles of the camp meeting were disassembled. This unique past, according to Marty, tends to make the average American more apt to "shop around," crossing denominational lines to find a church that best suits his or her needs, instead of remaining in the faith of the family or the community.
Pilgrims in Their Own Land does an excellent job of focusing in on the details of religious leaders and movements. Marty was able to encapsulate the details of relatively minor figures such as John Humphrey Noyes, or sects such as the Quakers in just a few pages, leaving plenty of room for breadth in this well-penned tome. Definitely a must-have reference source for anyone serious about learning United States religious history, the book's footnotes and bibliography also provide a great reading list for learning more about any particular segment of the past that interests the reader. I've already bought three more books after reading this one, specifically because Pilgrims In Their Own Land peaked my interest.
PUBLISHER: Penguin USA (Paper); ISBN: 0140082689; Reprint edition (August 1985)
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