Driving and Reading

... not at the same time.

Gae & I are driving up the Hudson River valley today and tomorrow. Today we visited West Point and are staying the night in Poughkeepsie, NY. Tomorrow we visit Hyde Park and then we drive on to Saratoga Springs.

I forgot to mention another book that I finished in the past few weeks - the latest in the Dune series, Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert and Frank Anderson. It was written as though it was the culmination of the overall story, but I understand there is yet another sequel already in the works. This one was pretty good - better than some of the others by these two.

I managed to finish up If God is Love. It presents a compelling set of thoughts and challenges. I think the book is very worthwhile. However, it seems to me that the authors, in all of their study and knowledge and to some extent reinvention of Christianity have left out important bits. If, in fact, they are correct that God saves everyone and that we should all live in peace and harmony and that we should practice a life of non-violence or pacificism, then why is it that God created a gigantic ecosystem here on earth where violence, aggression, survival of the fittest, and species extinction seem to be the history of the planet and all the living things on it. I like their book, but I think it simply ignores the positives that may come from characteristics and values that they don't much like.

Finally, I am very well into the new book from John Dean. As usual, it is well researched and interesting. I also appreciate that Dean lets the reader know right up front that he is writing a polemic. He doesn't try to hide behind his research. He is honest that he is trying to change your mind and goad you into action.

Inundated with Books, Work and Ideas

I finished up The Dawkins Delusion?: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine by Alister McGrath & Joanna Collicutt McGrath. The book was most interesting in putting forth the idea that at least some radical atheism is nothing more than anti-religious fundamentalism. Probably the book would have been more understandable if I had read the Dawkins book which this book was rebutting. However, I just am not up to slogging through 400+ pages of anti-religion diatribes. I've picked the book up and skimmed it a few times and what little I read seemed tired and pretty much of a polemic.

I am working hard to finish up If God Is Love: Rediscovering Grace in an Ungracious World by Philip Gulley, James Mulholland. This is a radical book with very intriguing ideas. A friend walked up to me at lunch today and asked what I was reading. I replied that I was reading "If God is Love." My friend then responded, "Is He?" And that I answered, "Not based on the way we act toward each other." The authors have a well developed and deep commitment to the idea that God will save everyone and that knowledge should transform how we view the world. If we do not divide the world into saved vs. damned, good vs. evil, then it is much harder for us to rationalize doing or thinking evil to/of others. And as such it should be much harder for us to decide to rationalize our own complicity in cultural systems that oppress or marginalize others. If God loves everyone equally, shouldn't we do likewise? It is an interesting viewpoint and one that intrigues me greatly. I'm not quite finished with the book, but I'm pretty sure I will be buying their first book in the near future.

I've also been reading, The World Without Us by Alan Wizeman. It is a very intriguing thought expirement. And the expirement is exactly what the title says. What would happen to the Earth if man suddenly ceased to be a part of the system? It isn't apocalyptic and it isn't particularly a "human-bashing" kind of book. It is just a sober and interesting set of science-informed speculation.

I've picked up a bunch of other books of late - some I've purchased and a few I've received as gifts. They include Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches by John Dean (which I have started reading), Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World by Bill Clinton, and Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush by Robert Draper. Those ought to keep me busy for a couple of days.

Gae and I are off on vacation starting this coming Saturday. We are headed to New York City, the Adirondacks, Stowe Vermont, and then Boston, Mass. We will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on this trip. We'll try to bring everyone back a jar of cool fall air.