... once again display, if I do say so myself, quite a range.
Carlin Romano ponders Dominic D.P. Johnson and Dominic Tierney's Failing to Win Perceptions of Victory and Defeat in International Politics: In world politics, when is a loss a win?
Michael Harrington finds Forgetfulness thoughtful: 9/11 parallels pervade Just's latest.
I take another, somewhat more sympathetic, look at Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion: 'God Delusion' author: Read Scripture.
Paula Marantz Cohen has discovered a new genre: Slight, satisfying piece of 'geezer lit'.
Glenn Altschuler is intrigued by Scott Reynolds Nelson's take on a famous legend: Author unearths some of the truth behind John Henry.
Jen Miller thinks Kenning Jennings Jeopardy! memoir is fresh and original: 'Nerd folk icon' explores U.S. passion for trivia.
Sandy Bauers found the audio version of Jed Rubenfeld's The Interpretation f Murder trying: Too much information in this historical murder mystery.
But Sarah Weinman really liked Micharl Largo's Final Exits: Witty encyclopedia of mortal ends
And let's not forget: 'One Book, One Philadelphia' picks Cuban refugee's memoir.
Frank, I agree with you when you say that, in studying comparative religion, the student may not come to feel that all are equally invalid, as Richard Dawkins seems to intend, but rather that all are equally valid. I have studied comparative religion for many years, now, and I have come to believe that all the great religions share a similar mystical experience of the Divine at their core and origin, no matter what happens to their developments as institutions later on, culturally and politically.
ReplyDeleteOver at the Dragoncave, a few days ago I posted a personal essay that is also obliquely related to this topic.
Whenever I read someone like Dawkins' views on religion, I am reminded of the alternative views of another maverick scientist, Rupert Sheldrake, a biologist who investigates spirituality from a more open-minded (it seems to me) viewpoint: not to debunk, but to examine what it universally human. That spiritual experience is a universal human birthright, whatever or Whoever one believes in, is something Sheldrake has examined. He has done two books of dialogues with Matthew Fox that I think are relevant to the topic at hand. The first of these, "Natural Grace," is highly engaging reading.