ReligionDispatches - RDBooks

Moses on the Mayflower: Was the Prophet a Founding Father?

Linell Cady — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 PST

Author Bruce Feiler is back from “walking the Bible” and is roaming the country, tracing Moses’ footsteps. But in his eagerness to make the prophet into a unifying symbol, he misses the true complexity of the relationship between religion and the secular in America.

Sex, the Body, the World: It’s R. Crumb’s Bible Now

Naomi Seidman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:01 PST

Among the most surprising things about underground comics master R. Crumb’s new illustration of the first book of the Hebrew Bible is not only how straight he plays the visual translation, but also the affinity between his own sensibility and the fleshly materiality of Genesis.

The Gospel of Contradiction: An Interview with Mary Gordon

Nathan Schneider — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:01 PST

Why is the character of Jesus so powerful? Why is he such a hit? Bestselling writer Mary Gordon re-reads the Gospels, asking these questions, among others, and trying to figure out why fundamentalist readings of scripture, grounded in fear and rage, have come to dominate the understanding of religion in this country.

A Daily Utopia: Creating Our Moral Values Every Day

Anna Peterson — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:00:01 PST

The author of a new book talks to RD about the radical that lies beneath our everyday practices, whether ethics requires religion, and the “education of desire.”

Compelled by Faith: When Prayer is Not Good For You

Mandy Van Deven — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 PST

Abby Sher collected thumbtacks and paper clips, traced the patterns on her wallpaper, and prayed fervidly to avert disaster. In another era she might have been just another pious eccentric; today she’s a recovering obsessive-compulsive who has renounced (most of) her faith.

American Fever: A Tale of Romance and Pestilence

Michael A. Elliott — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 PST

An online novel about a flu pandemic blurs the boundaries between real “flu-blogging” and the dystopic world of its blogger protagonist. And it exposes the cultural anxiety, both religious and secular, that disease unleashes.

Religion is Not about Belief: Karen Armstrong’s The Case for God

Brian McGrath Davis — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:01 PST

Of all the monotheisms, Christianity has come to depend the most on the idea of belief, or doctrine. But there is a strong countertradition, now submerged, that insists that any time we say we know who God is, or what God wants, we are committing an act of heresy.

Suicide Bombers and the Prozac God: A Review of Dying for Heaven

Bruce B. Lawrence — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:00:01 PST

A new work advancing a radical theory of the motivation behind suicide bombers is almost bizarrely off the mark. Stitching together thought and observation from disparate and often dissonant sources, Georgetown theology professor Ariel Glucklich’s book would be laughable were he not a consultant to the defense community.

A Secret History of Satan

W. Scott Poole — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:01 PDT

The Devil created by American culture is made in the image of American culture; our beliefs about Satan are part of a theological narrative that has shaped religion, pop culture, and even, in some cases public policy.

Good Without God: The Ethics of Atheism

Becky Garrison — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:01 PDT

The nonreligious population is exploding, and somebody has to minister to them. Harvard’s humanist chaplain is on the road, sharing a vision of the common good, hoping his message will resonate with theists and atheists alike.

The Good Bishop Is Right—The Time for Church Debates on Homosexuality is Past

David Gillespie — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:00:01 PDT

Retired Episcopal bishop John Selby Spong has declared that he will no longer argue about the status of gay and lesbian people in the church. “There is no middle ground,” the bishop says, “between prejudice and oppression.” So much for “love the sinner, hate the sin.”

Prison as Resurrection

Caleb Smith — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:01 PDT

While it’s clear that prisons in this country are a disaster and a scandal, a new book delves into the system’s religious roots and the belief in the spiritual benefits of disciplinary isolation.

Weird Testament: The Bible Gets the R. Crumb Treatment

Gabriel Mckee — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:01 PDT

Legendary underground comics artist R. Crumb has produced a surprisingly reverent Book of Genesis. For real grotesquerie, you need to look back to the Bible of Basil Wolverton, an evangelical illustrator whose work dwelt on the bizarre and violent.

You Are More Than Your Brain: A Revolutionary Theory of Consciousness

John Stoehr — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:01 PDT

Science tells us that our minds, our consciousness, our very selves, reside in our physical brains. But what if this model, relying as it does on a seventeenth century understanding of mind and matter, is outdated? Philosopher Alva Noë proposes a revolutionary alternative.

The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right

Frederick Clarkson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:01 PDT

President Obama averages 30 death threats per day, preachers pray publicly for his death, and right-wing pundits speak openly of military coups. Dave Neiwert, author of The Eliminationists, gives some insight into the relationship between extreme rhetoric and acts of violence.

Harry Potter Gone Bad: Lev Grossman’s The Magicians

Donna Freitas — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:00:01 PDT

The characters in this adult, anti-fantasy novel of hope (and magic) lost appear to teach the lesson that Harry Potter probably ended up hating himself, and life, after the end of book seven. But would a less dour novel have been so highly praised?

Mennonite in a Midlife Crisis (of Faith)

Brittany Shoot — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:00:01 PDT

Poet and writer Rhoda Janzen rebounded from a series of overlapping crises by going home to her Mennonite family—and lived to tell the (surprisingly funny) tale.

Barbara Ehrenreich’s Bright-Sided Explores the Dark Side of Positive Thinking

Michelle Goldberg — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:00:01 PDT

A new book reveals the historical roots and conservative uses of the positive thinking movement, showing how it encourages victim-blaming, political complacency, and a culture-wide flight from realism.

Bright-Sided Recalls Mark Twain’s Travails

Michael A. Elliott — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:00:01 PDT

Barbara Ehrenreich’s new book on the dangers of Positive Thinking recalls Mark Twain’s obsession with the 19th century’s most famous mind-over-matter exponent: Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy. Are critics just jealous?

Republican Gomorrah Documents the Christian Right Takeover of the GOP

Chip Berlet — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:00:01 PDT

Despite resorting to demonization and dated paradigms, Max Blumenthal’s muckraking first book traces the fascinating history of the religious right and its web of gothic and aggressive conspiracy theories—making a convincing case that the Republican Party has been “shattered” by a right-wing religious movement.

Modernity’s Fraternity: What Dan Brown Gets Right

Samuel Biagetti — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:01 PDT

Dan Brown reimagined Christianity in The Da Vinci Code. In his new novel, America’s most influential pop philosopher takes on Freemasonry, having fun with the bizarre legends surrounding the movement, and exposing the layer of mystical thinking that underlies modern rationalism.

Racing Toward Armageddon: The Three Great Religions and the Plot to End the World: An Excerpt

Michael J. Baigent — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:00:01 PDT

Finally, something Christians, Jews, and Muslims can agree on: Apocalypse. But as the theological end-time visions of the three Abrahamic faiths converge, it is not the wrath of heaven that threatens life on Earth, but all-too-human fundamentalism and fearmongering.

A Jew in Church? No Big Deal

Benjamin Weiner — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:01 PDT

In My Jesus Year a young “metrodox” Jew spends a year church-hopping in order to get perspective on his own faith. Sounds daring, but turns out to be a fairly relaxed exercise. Our reviewer proposes a much tougher challenge...

The Revolution Will Be Whispered: An Excerpt From Everywhere a Guest, Nowhere at Home: A New Vision of Israel and Palestine

Kim Chernin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:00:01 PDT

In this lyrical excerpt, author Kim Chernin envisions a new solution that rises up from the Sinai desert nurtured by two little girls.

Not that Kind of Fundamentalist Memoir

Mandy Van Deven — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:01 PDT

Carlene Bauer lost her faith, but it wasn’t because she was raised on the far-right fringe of fundamentalist religion—it was more that she thought God deserved better than the clichés of modern evangelicalism.