ReligionDispatches - RDBooks

The Plot to End the World

Michael J. Baigent — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:00:01 PDT

Writer Michael Baigent talks about his latest book, Racing Toward Armageddon.

The Mystic in the Rye: JD Salinger’s Religious Fiction

Louis A. Ruprecht — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:01 PST

The one thing that seems able to tame even a hardened cynic like Holden Caufield, in the least overtly religious Salinger book, is an encounter with the innocence of childhood; especially children at play. It is this quest for lost innocence that defines the spiritual trajectory of Salinger’s most memorable characters. They are all teachers, parents, players, children-at-heart.

RDPulpit: Obama Missed the Hope in State of the Union Address

Daniel Schultz — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:00:01 PST

In this adapted excerpt from his forthcoming book, RD contributor Daniel Schultz asks whether the president’s State of the Union address will foster hope, ‘newness,’ and faith or just reinforce the base assumptions about power and the economy.

Losing Old Gods, Finding Nature

Bron Taylor — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:00:01 PST

Ten questions for Bron Taylor, whose latest book Dark Green Religion holds that traditional religions are gradually being replaced by more sensory forms of spirituality which promote more sensible, ecologically adaptive behaviors.

Yearning For A God We Can Live With

Benjamin Weiner — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

Two new books, one offering a vision of interfaith, universal religion, the other a model of a radically transformed Judaism, attempt to wrestle God into the everyday. Against the ascendancy of the so-called New Atheism, both writers argue for a God who transcends “god-management systems” and whose primary claim on us is through our own spiritual longing.

Sacred Real Estate: What Makes Washington’s WWII Memorial So Dreadful?

Michael A. Elliott — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

What does it mean that the World War II Memorial in DC drowns conversation in the roar of its fountains? A new book explains what our monuments reveal about the intertwining of sacred and patriotic in American civic culture.

Monks With Guns: Discovering Buddhist Violence

Michael Jerryson — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

The co-editor of a new book on the history of Buddhist violence and warfare explains how the notion of a purely mystical and otherworldly Buddhism—promoted by some of the great interpreters of the tradition—denies its adherents’ humanity.

Excerpt: The Christian Roots of Zionism

Shalom Goldman — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 08:00:01 PST

20th century Jewish aspirations for a revived national home were supported by three centuries of Christian enthusiasm—bolstered by biblical literalism—for the return of the Jews to "their land." In this excerpt from the newly-released Zeal for Zion, Shalom Goldman traces the Christian roots of Zionism.

What the Danish Cartoon Controversy Tells Us About Religion, the Secular, and the Limits of the Law

Winnifred Fallers Sullivan — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:01 PST

A new book by four leading intellectuals (Talal Asad, Judith Butler, Saba Mahmood, and Wendy Brown) brings attention to the ongoing failures of the Euro-American liberal legal order in the face of the conflict between religious and secular values—and in doing so puts those very categories into question.

Jewish Past/Israeli Future: A Review of The Invention of the Jewish People

Shalom Goldman — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:01 PST

The reactions to the English-language publication of a book deemed “a scandal” reveal as much about the politics of contemporary Israel (and of its relation to the American Jewish community) as they do about the history the book describes. It’s not that Shlomo Sand believes that the Jews are not the chosen people—he argues that they might not be a people at all.

Morality is Not Necessarily Good

Hans-Georg Moeller — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:01 PST

Ten questions for philosopher Hans-Georg Moeller whose new book explains how the language of morality, or of ethical purity, distorts our ability to tackle the toughest social and political problems.

The Only Thing Evangelicals Will Never Forgive Is Not Hating the “Other”

Frank Schaeffer — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:01 PST

In this excerpt from Patience With God: Faith for People Who Don’t Like Religion (or Atheism), the son of influential evangelicals asks whether anyone who remains a “professional Christian” in the evangelical/fundamentalist world risks becoming an atheist and/or a liar.

The Next Islamists: The Wide Green Smudge That’s Changing Our World

Haroon Moghul — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:01 PST

If China becomes a new priority, an economic beacon and a political patron, what happens to the question of reconciling Islam and the West? Two new books offer groundbreaking approaches to this and other unexpected questions.

GMO or No: Problematic Intersections of Religion, Biotechnology, and Food

Brittany Shoot — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:01 PST

Can a genetically altered hot dog be kosher? Can a vegetarian eat a tomato that has animal DNA in it? Is modified corn just another instance of colonialism? These and other questions are broached in a new anthology, sure to make excellent Thanksgiving dinner conversation.

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.”