Maybe you remember me writing about this recently: Prisons Purging Books on Faith From Libraries
Here’s the good news (imo): Evidently they’ve decided to return most of those books.
[U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesperson] Garrett said material removed since June will be returned to prison chapel libraries unless the material has been found inappropriate, such as books or videos that could be radicalizing or inciting violence.
By June 2008, “what comes off the shelves will be a very, very small number, because the vast majority of material will be on the ‘that’s OK list,’” Garrett said.
10-01-2007 |
No Comments »I ran across this quote by Philip Pullman (an agnostic/atheist author of novels for children and adolescents) the other day
We don’t need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do’s and don’ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once upon a time lasts forever.
08-14-2007 |
8 Comments »It’s been a few months since I asked what you’re reading. I figure that at least some of you will have different answers from last time!
I just started reading Vanity Fair (for the second time). I first read it some years ago. We watched the movie on DVD for the first time last weekend and it’s inspired me to read it again. I’ve loved older novels since I was a teenager. Read the rest of this entry »
09-26-2006 |
23 Comments »My son and I have been reading Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quartet sci fi series recently. The first book, A Wrinkle in Time, is the best-known. When I read it as a kid, I completely missed the Christian metaphors and references; as an adult, I’m finding these books full of them.
As we were reading the second book, A Wind in the Door, one line in particular jumped out at me. I don’t know if it carries a particular meaning or reference for Christians, or why the author necessarily included it, but I found it thought-provoking. Read the rest of this entry »
08-23-2006 |
9 Comments »In Thoreau’s “Walden,” he said, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
In your own experience, have you found “wisdom in the woods”? What “essential facts” have you learned about life by observing and interacting with nature? Have you discovered truth and beauty through the natural world? For those who believe in God, do you feel that God has taught you lessons about life through his creation?
08-22-2006 |
11 Comments »A couple of months ago I wrote Warriors and Princesses, a blog entry about two Christian books, Wild at Heart for men and Captivating for women. Paul just posted these thoughtful comments in defense of Wild at Heart.
Doesn’t it strike you that there are some gender differences?
we’ve been brought up to think in terms of equality, acceptance, no real gender divide anymore - this is a good thing in many ways and a confusing thing in many ways as well - roles are blurred, people say what is expected and feel something else inside and others genuinely believe it.
Read the rest of this entry »
08-07-2006 |
28 Comments »Hello Atheists and Christians:
I grant both the Title Case.
Speaking of title cases, the book currently titled Jim and Casper Go to
Church is now in the “crap! We gotta get all this writing done immediately!!
We’ll never make our initial manuscript date! Oh My God! (Jim) Oh My
Non-God! (Casper*) We’re doomed!” phase.
* A tough part of being an atheist: you have to find other exclamations. Read the rest of this entry »
07-27-2006 |
17 Comments »I’m reading Not in Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic Is Transforming America by Christine Wicker.
Here’s a quote from the book about sports players and magic:
Baseball players spit into their hands before picking up a bat. Bowlers wear the same clothes for as long as a winning streak lasts. Rodeo riders put the right foot in thr stirrup first. Tennis players avoid holding two balls when serving. Michael Jordan wore shorts from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, under his uniform. Halll of Famer Wade Boggs would eat only chicken the day of a game. If these things seem silly, forbid the players their magic and see how seriously they take it. Little leaguers learn such thinking from coaches and parents, who might be expected to oppose such gross superstition but in fact go right along with it.
06-15-2006 |
13 Comments »Maybe you’ve heard of Anne Rice. She’s written a number of best-selling novels about vampires. She switched direction significantly with her latest novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.
Here’s a description of the novel from an article about Anne Rice on Christianity Today Online:
Christ the Lord tells the story of Jesus through first-person narrative, drawing on the Bible, the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and Catholic doctrine. Jesus is part of a large, warm extended family (in the novel, Joseph was previously married and widowed, so Rice’s Jesus has half-siblings). The family is returning to Nazareth after living in Egypt.
06-07-2006 |
11 Comments »This is from the back cover and front flap of Wild At Heart by John Eldredge (a popular Christian book for men):
Every man was once a boy. And every little boy has dreams, big dreams: dreams of being the hero, of beating the bad guys, of doing daring feats and rescuing the damsel in distress. Every little girl has dreams, too: of being rescued by her prince and swept up into a great adventure, knowing that she is the beauty.
But what happens to those dreams when we grow up? Walk into most churches, have a look around and ask yourself: What is a Christian man? Without listening to what is said, look at what you find there. Most Christian men are…bored.
Deep in his heart, every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.
05-31-2006 |
23 Comments »