Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Sep 14, 2018
Jun 1, 2018
Oct 1, 2017
Sep 8, 2015
Inside Mecca (DVD)
Summary: One of the most intimate and three-dimensional documentations of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. "Inside Mecca" follows three Muslims from very different backgrounds as they embark on an epic five-day reaffirmation of faith and quest for salvation. Witness the personal stories of the pilgrims and the mental preparation, physical strain and spiritual ecstasy they encounter on their pilgrimage of faith.
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Mar 10, 2015
The Jesuits - John W O'Malley
Summary: Chronicles the history of the Jesuit order from the time of Ignatius of Loyola to the present Pope Francis.
Booklist Reviews
With the first-ever election of a Jesuit as pope, this most controversial of Roman Catholic orders has once again arrived center stage. Since Ignatius Loyola instituted the Society of Jesus in the sixteenth century, the Jesuits have provoked both awe and anger from both church hierarchy and secular governments. Ostensibly dedicated to the pope, the Jesuits have found themselves alternately embraced and banned by Rome. Some kings tossed Jesuits into prison and purged them from their realms, while others, notably Russia's Catherine the Great, embraced them. Himself a member of the order, O'Malley emphasizes the Jesuits' commitment to education as central to their long-term success. They started schools and universities throughout their mission fields, often inaugurating Western-style higher education in countries such as India, China, and Japan. O'Malley's brief history records events, but the book's terse, just-the-facts approach may leave critical readers hungry for deeper insights and answers. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
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Feb 2, 2015
Abraham's curse - Bruce Chilton
Summary: When they arrived at the place which God had indicated to him, Abraham builtan altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son and put him onthe altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son . . ." --The Book of Genesis
Kirkus Reviews
Sweeping overview of monotheistic violence and sacrifice, tied to one of the most studied and academically tortured portions of the Bible.The verses in Genesis depicting Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son Isaac contain the seeds of cyclical and ceremonial violence that has plagued Judaism, Christianity and Islam to this day, suggests Chilton (Religion/Bard Coll.). While the subtitle suggests that child sacrifice is his focus, religious violence is in fact much more broadly defined here. Acknowledging that child sacrifice was nothing new in Abraham's time, the author then discusses early Jewish views on the practice, especially emphasizing the importance of martyrdom to the Jewish community during its years of revolt against Hellenistic and Roman rule. Chilton goes on to consider martyrdom in the Christian context, explaining the parallel made by early Christians between the self-sacrifice of the willing Isaac and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He explains the Qur'anic version of this story and its impact upon Islam, especially in the context of religious violence during the Crusades. The confrontation of all three monotheistic religions from the Crusades onward most clearly exhibits the violent inheritance of the Abrahamic peoples. Chilton discusses instances of child sacrifice and the death of children through religious violence, but just as Isaac's age is uncertain in the biblical account, this exploration of religious sacrifice also spans childhood and adulthood. In his final analysis, the author calls on the faithful to "come down from Mt. Moriah" and have faith that "Abraham's curse," or the need for sacrifice in human blood, is not inevitable.It seems that Chilton forces more blame on the Abraham story than it can reasonably bear, but his careful look at the contemporary problem of religious violence merits attention. Copyright Kirkus 2007 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
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Sep 1, 2014
Buddhist Boot Camp - Timber Hawkeye
Buddhist Boot Camp - Hawkeye, TimberSummary: Brief chapters introduce mindfulness-enhancing techniques that draw from Buddhist philosophies and practices to help improve aspects of life ranging from love, relationships, and success to understanding, fear, and gratitude.
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A Song for Issy Bradley - Carys Bray
A Song for Issy Bradley - Bray, CarysSummary: A devastating tragedy challenges the close family bond and faith of a convert to the Mormon religion, her ministry-driven bishop husband and their three children, who respectively balance, rebel against and embrace their father's beliefs. A first novel by the award-winning author of Sweet Home.
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* The members of the Bradley family are close. They have to be, as committed members of the Mormon faith in a decidedly secular British neighborhood. When an unexpected tragedy suddenly hits the family, each of the Bradleys reacts in very different ways. Ian, the patriarch and respected church elder, sees the tragedy as an opportunity to grow his family's faith and looks to holy texts for guidance. Claire, the matriarch and a convert to the Mormon way of life through marriage, questions not only her place in the church but also her importance to the family. The three Bradley children, Alma, Zippy, and Jacob, ponder morality, purity, and loss in their own distinct ways. While the family slowly attempts to rebuild after the tragedy, the possibility that they may never fully recover simmers quietly just below the surface. Bray was raised in a strict Mormon household, and her unique perspective colors this emotionally driven, poignant novel. Bray fully inhabits each of her characters, displaying an admirable range of narrative talent rare in a first novel. Fans of The Lonely Polygamist (2010) and Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012) will savor this thrilling glimpse behind the scenes of a family in crisis.
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Mar 1, 2014
Zealot - Reza Aslan
Summary: Presents a meticulously researched biography of Jesus that draws on biblical and historical sources to place his achievements and influence against the turbulent backdrop of his time.
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Aslan brings a fine popular style, shorn of all jargon, to bear on the presentation of Jesus of Nazareth as only a man. What's more, as he pares the supernatural or divine away from Jesus, he refrains from deriding it. He isn't interested in attacking religion or even the church, much less in comparing Christianity unfavorably to another religion. He would have us admire Jesus as one of the many would-be messiahs who sprang up during Rome's occupation of Palestine, animated by zeal for "strict adherence to the Torah and the Law," refusal to serve a human master, and devotion to God, and therefore dedicated to throwing off Rome and repudiating Roman religion. Before and after Jesus, such zeal entailed violent revolution, but Jesus proceeded against Rome in the conviction that zealous spirit was sufficient. It wasn't, and Rome executed him. This depiction of Jesus makes sense, as we say, though many Christians will find holes in its fabric; indeed, Aslan grants one of the largest, the fact that no one who attested to the Resurrection recanted. But you don't have to lose your religion to learn much that's vitally germane to its history from Aslan's absorbing, reader-friendly book. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.
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The book of Mormon original Broadway cast recording (CD)
The 2011 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and nine 2011 Tony Awards® say it's the Best Musical of the Year. Vogue says, "It's the funniest musical of all time." And The New York Times says, "It's the best musical of this century." It's THE BOOK OF MORMON, the Broadway musical from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q co-creator Robert Lopez. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart calls it "A crowning achievement. So good, it makes me angry."
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Oct 1, 2013
Jerusalem: the biography - Simon Sebag Montefiore
Summary: Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the prize of empires, the site of Judgment Day and the battlefield of today's clash of civilizations. From King David to Barack Obama, from the birth of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to the Israel-Palestine conflict, this is the epic history of three thousand years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and coexistence. How did this small, remote town become the Holy City, the "center of the world" and now the key to peace in the Middle East? In a gripping narrative, Simon Sebag Montefiore reveals this ever-changing city in its many incarnations, bringing every epoch and character blazingly to life. Jerusalem's biography is told through the wars, love affairs and revelations of the men and women -- kings, empresses, prophets, poets, saints, conquerors and whores -- who created, destroyed, chronicled and believed in Jerusalem. As well as the many ordinary Jerusalemites who have left their mark on the city, its cast varies from Solomon, Saladin and Suleiman the Magnificent to Cleopatra, Caligula and Churchill; from Abraham to Jesus and Muhammad; from the ancient world of Jezebel, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod and Nero to the modern times of the Kaiser, Disraeli, Mark Twain, Lincoln, Rasputin, Lawrence of Arabia and Moshe Dayan. Drawing on new archives, current scholarship, his own family papers and a lifetime's study, Montefiore illuminates the essence of sanctity and mysticism, identity and empire in a unique chronicle of the city that many believe will be the setting for the Apocalypse. This is how Jerusalem became Jerusalem, and the only city that exists twice -- in heaven and on earth.-- Publisher.
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* If, as some have maintained, the word Jerusalem means "city of peace," it is a grand historical irony. For, as this beautifully written, absorbing, but often grim account shows, there are few stones of the city that have not been stained with the blood of its inhabitants during the past 3,000 years. Acclaimed historian and biographer Montefiore views Jerusalem as a living, breathing organism bearing the genetic imprint of many conquerors, including Jews, Greeks, Arabs, crusading Franks, Turks, and the British. Although his Jewish family has strong links to the city, Montefiore scrupulously sustains balance and objectivity in the book's chronological presentation of the development of the city from the prebiblical time of the Jebusites to the present. For Jews, Christians, and Muslims, Jerusalem truly is a holy city, yet that status has been tragically used to justify bigotry, fanaticism, and appalling massacres, some of which Montefiore describes in horrifying detail. While sometimes painful to read, this is an essential book for those who wish to understand a city that remains a nexus of world affairs. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
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May 1, 2013
Going clear - Lawrence Wright
Going clear - Wright, Lawrence
Summary: "Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with both current and former Scientologists--both famous and less well known--and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative skills to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology: its origins in the imagination of science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard; its struggles to find acceptance as a legitimate (and legally acknowledged) religion; its vast, secret campaign to infiltrate the U.S. government; its vindictive treatment of critics; its phenomenal wealth; and its dramatic efforts to grow and prevail after the death of Hubbard"--From publisher description.
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Immersed in this book, the reader is drawn along by tantalizing revelations while simultaneously exhausted, longing for escape from its cloistered world—mirroring the accounts of many former Scientologists on the record, here. In efficient, unemotional prose, Wright begins with the biography of founder L. Ron Hubbard: his days as a prodigiously prolific writer of pulp fiction, his odd military career, the publication of his breakthrough self-help book Dianetics (1950), and the influence, riches, and controversy that have followed since he founded the Church of Scientology in 1954. For those aware of Scientology through its celebrity adherents (Tom Cruise and John Travolta are the best known) rather than its works, the sheer scope of the church's influence and activities will prove jaw-dropping. Wright paints a picture of organizational chaos and a leader, David Miscavige, who rules by violence and intimidation; of file-gathering paranoia and vengefulness toward apostates and critics; of victories over perceived enemies, including the U.S. government, won through persuasion, ruthless litigation, and dirty tricks. Even more shocking may be the portrayal of the Sea Org, a cadre of true believers whose members sign contracts for a billion years of service, and toil in conditions of indentured servitude, punished mercilessly for inadvertent psychic offenses. Their treatment is a far cry from the coddling afforded to the much-courted celebrities. (Wright does point out that, for whatever reason, most Sea Org members remain in service voluntarily.) Page after page of damaging testimony, often from formerly high-ranking officers, is footnoted with blanket denials from the church and other parties (e.g., "The church categorically denies all charges of Miscavige's abuse" and "Cruise, through his attorney, denies that he ever retreated from his commitment to Scientology"). Readers will have to decide whether to believe the Pulitzer-winning author's carefully sourced reporting, or the church's rebuttals. But, quoting Paul Haggis, the Academy Award–winning film director and former Scientologist whom Wright first profiled in the New Yorker: "if only a fraction of these accusations are true, we are talking about serious, indefensible human and civil rights violations." Going Clear offers a fascinating look behind the curtain of an organization whose ambition and influence are often at odds with its secretive ways. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The publisher's announced first printing of 150,000 seems right on the money. Wright will be promoting the book on a seven-city tour, but its reputation precedes him. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.
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Mar 1, 2013
Going clear - Lawrence Wright
Summary: "Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with both current and former Scientologists--both famous and less well known--and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative skills to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology: its origins in the imagination of science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard; its struggles to find acceptance as a legitimate (and legally acknowledged) religion; its vast, secret campaign to infiltrate the U.S. government; its vindictive treatment of critics; its phenomenal wealth; and its dramatic efforts to grow and prevail after the death of Hubbard"--From publisher description.
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Immersed in this book, the reader is drawn along by tantalizing revelations while simultaneously exhausted, longing for escape from its cloistered world—mirroring the accounts of many former Scientologists on the record, here. In efficient, unemotional prose, Wright begins with the biography of founder L. Ron Hubbard: his days as a prodigiously prolific writer of pulp fiction, his odd military career, the publication of his breakthrough self-help book Dianetics (1950), and the influence, riches, and controversy that have followed since he founded the Church of Scientology in 1954. For those aware of Scientology through its celebrity adherents (Tom Cruise and John Travolta are the best known) rather than its works, the sheer scope of the church's influence and activities will prove jaw-dropping. Wright paints a picture of organizational chaos and a leader, David Miscavige, who rules by violence and intimidation; of file-gathering paranoia and vengefulness toward apostates and critics; of victories over perceived enemies, including the U.S. government, won through persuasion, ruthless litigation, and dirty tricks. Even more shocking may be the portrayal of the Sea Org, a cadre of true believers whose members sign contracts for a billion years of service, and toil in conditions of indentured servitude, punished mercilessly for inadvertent psychic offenses. Their treatment is a far cry from the coddling afforded to the much-courted celebrities. (Wright does point out that, for whatever reason, most Sea Org members remain in service voluntarily.) Page after page of damaging testimony, often from formerly high-ranking officers, is footnoted with blanket denials from the church and other parties (e.g., "The church categorically denies all charges of Miscavige's abuse" and "Cruise, through his attorney, denies that he ever retreated from his commitment to Scientology"). Readers will have to decide whether to believe the Pulitzer-winning author's carefully sourced reporting, or the church's rebuttals. But, quoting Paul Haggis, the Academy Award–winning film director and former Scientologist whom Wright first profiled in the New Yorker: "if only a fraction of these accusations are true, we are talking about serious, indefensible human and civil rights violations." Going Clear offers a fascinating look behind the curtain of an organization whose ambition and influence are often at odds with its secretive ways. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The publisher's announced first printing of 150,000 seems right on the money. Wright will be promoting the book on a seven-city tour, but its reputation precedes him. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.
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Jan 1, 2013
New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance - Elna Baker
Summary: In this hilarious, tongue-in-cheek memoir, writer, actress, and gorgeous stand up comedian Elna Baker tells what it's like to be the Mormon "Tina Fey"--the girl who distresses her family when she chooses NYU over BYU; the girl who's cultivating an oxymoronic identity as a bold, educated, modern, funny, proper, abstinent, religious stand-up comic, equal parts wholesome and hot.
Kirkus Reviews
Debut memoir from a 20-something Mormon stand-up comedian.Baker was once just a funny fat girl weighing in at nearly 250 pounds. Then she rapidly shed the pounds ("In five and a half months I lost eighty pounds, which is the equivalent of pooping out a fourth grader") and emerged as a slim beauty, still funny and ready for romance—up to a point. The author writes that she was ready for some kind of amorous encounter, but as a practicing LDS believer, sex before marriage is prohibited—as is drinking. "Mormons are known for saying no," she writes. "No sex, no drugs, no alcohol and no caffeine. NO." So she relates, in unrelenting cuteness, her romantic adventures—not having sex with lots of dreamy guys, but kissing and telling all. For New York Mormon singles events, Baker concocted some truly unfortunate costumes, including a fortune cookie that got crushed and looked like a certain part of the female anatomy. She discusses her situation with The Almighty (a largely one-way discussion) and her struggles to suppress her sexuality while defending her spirituality: "I thought, he only wants to see me naked because I lost weight and I look more attractive now. And this only happened because I prayed and asked God for a miracle. Misusing my new body would be like taking a gift from God and defiling it…Is it right to suppress my sexuality? Or do religious choices just make me happy because I was trained to feel this way?" For the most part, Baker spins a witty girly-girl story, a romantic caper for ladies about trying to find a job, a boyfriend and, ultimately, herself.A sexy, lubricious outing by a formerly zaftig comic. Copyright Kirkus 2009 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
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Oct 1, 2012
The open road - Pico Iyer
Summary: An illuminating account of the Dalai Lama explores his diverse roles as a politician, scientist, philosopher, and religious leader; discusses his ideas about religion, Tibet, peace, and world events; and examines his hidden life, often pragmatic messages, and the daily challenges he confronts. - (Baker & Taylor)
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* A mindful world wanderer and renowned travel writer, Iyer has a 30-year connection to the Dalai Lama stemming from a meeting between Iyer's philosopher father and the Dalai Lama shortly after his dramatic escape from Tibet in the wake of the Chinese invasion. Iyer has often arranged to be in the same place at the same time as the Dalai Lama, and he now reports on the beloved "spiritual celebrity" in action. His coverage includes vivid descriptions of the highly charged atmosphere of Dharamsala, the capital of Tibet-in-exile; surreal aspects of the Dalai Lama's ecstatic reception at his numerous appearances; and the profoundly mysterious elements of the Dalai Lama's "private and almost unimaginable Tibetan world," the realm of oracles and reincarnation. In the book's most inquisitive passages, Iyer offers rare insights into contradictory roles the Dalai Lama plays as a monk with a passion for science; a philosophic, exiled leader of an occupied nation that is threatened with extinction; and an icon espousing "global ethics." The combination of Iyer's exacting observations, incisive analysis, and frank respect for the unknowable results in a uniquely internalized, even empathic portrait of one of the world's most embraced and least understood guiding lights. Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews.
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Jul 1, 2012
Unholy night - Seth Grahame-Smith
Summary: Depicts the lives of the Three Kings of the Nativity, casting them as a set of infamous thieves who accidentally happen upon Joseph, Mary, and the newborn king and help them escape to Egypt.
Booklist Reviews
Blasphemous or brilliant? That was the buzz surrounding Grahame-Smith following his auspicious arrival on the New York Times best-seller list in 2009 with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a clever literary mash-up that launched a new "historical revisionism" genre of popular fiction. Blockbuster authors don't grow on trees, so it wasn't a huge shock when Grahame-Smith made headlines last December after Warner Bros. paid him $2 million for the film rights to Unholy Night before its publication. The twisted plot revolves around the biblical story of the Three Wise Men, depicted here as thieving scoundrels who—through a series of outrageous set pieces—end up aiding Joseph, Mary, and the little baby Jesus as they escape from the evil King Herod. There's no way of knowing if Grahame-Smith wrote this would-be epic with the intent of having it become a big-budget Hollywood movie, but it's not hard to visualize someone like Jake Gyllenhaal in the role of the murderous yet charming Balthazar. It's a rollicking, swords-and-sandals yarn that could easily have been subtitled "in 3-D." Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.
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Jun 1, 2011
Nine lives - William Dalrymple
Summary: Examines how traditional religions are observed in present-day India through the experiences of such individuals as a Tantric practicing middle-class woman from Calcutta, a prison warder from Kerala who is worshipped as an incarnate deity, and a Jain nun who watched a friend ritually starve.
Booklist Reviews
Dalrymple, author of prizewinning works of far-roaming inquiry, including The Last Mughal (2007), knows when to let others speak. Which is what he does with great finesse in this evocative set of portraits of nine spiritual seekers living across India. Nine lives that open doors onto nine of India's many arduous paths to the divine and reveal striking, nearly surreal juxtapositions between the old and the new. There's the haunting tale of a Jain nun who as a girl renounced her life of privilege and the wrenching story of Rani Bai, a devadasi, or servant of the goddess Yellamma, who was forced into prostitution as a girl. Hari Das describes what it feels like "to be taken over by a god" when he performs theyyam, the sacred possession dance of Kerala, only to return to his dangerous work as a prison guard. Dalrymple sets each vivid profile within an intricately drawn history of the ancient and now-endangered tradition each devotee is dedicated to preserving in the escalating battle between holiness and hustle that is transforming India. Copyright 2010 Booklist Reviews.
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Sep 1, 2010
That's funny you don't look Buddhist - Sylvia Boorstein
Summary: Explores the intriguing relationship between Jewish and Buddhist traditions and discusses the reasons why so many Jews are drawn to Buddhism and become practicing Buddhists. 50,000 first printing. $40,000 ad/promo. Tour. - (Baker & Taylor)
Booklist Reviews
Boorstein, author of It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness (1995), is a wonderfully commonsensical Buddhist teacher and an observant Jew. This combination of faiths is not uncommon; in fact, so many Jews are drawn to Buddhism, it is becoming a genuine spiritual movement. Rodger Kamenetz examined this phenomena in The Jew and the Lotus (1994), and now Boorstein devotes her newest book to answering the question, "How is it possible to be both a Jew and a Buddhist?" Warm and direct, she expresses her gratitude for knowing "two vocabularies" of faith: Buddhism is her "voice of understanding," and Judaism is the voice of her heart. Uneasy, at first, about this unsought "dual citizenship," Boorstein slowly realized that she became a more observant Jew because she has a meditation practice, that meditation brought her closer to her spiritual essence, which is, by birth, Jewish. Boorstein's mindful elucidation of her balance of faiths is inspiring and enriching. When it comes to spirituality, more is more. ((Reviewed February 15, 1997)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews
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Aug 3, 2010
The God delusion - Richard Dawkins
The God delusion - Dawkins, Richard
Summary: Argues that belief in God is irrational, and describes examples of religion's negative influences on society throughout the centuries, such as war, bigotry, child abuse, and violence.
Choice Reviews
Dawkins (Oxford), the prolific polemicist who is also a brilliant scientist and erudite writer, has launched another attack on the sacred center of religions: God. He declares God a delusion and devotes 350-plus pages to elaborate on this theme. The book is replete with the absurdities of many self-proclaimed religionists, and disposes of scientific proofs for God with ease. It dismantles the framework in which God becomes plausible, and illustrates how religions have led to war, bigotry, and child abuse. Virulent attacks, whether on belief systems or on governments, whether with words or bloody deeds, arise from moral outrage or the victim complex. They are based on the conviction that their targets represent all that is wrong/evil in the world, and are spurred by the hope that enemies will be eliminated by such words or acts. Their authors are ignorant of, or choose to ignore, anything positive that their enemies might have done. Though it is doubtful that these authors will succeed in completely decimating the adversary, their attacks can have reformatory effects on the enemy and on their own group. For these reasons, more than for any originality in the thesis, this book is a worthy addition to humanity's cultural history. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. Copyright 2007 American Library Association.
May 3, 2010
Mennonite in a little black dress: A memoir of going home - Rhoda Janzen
Mennonite in a little black dress: A memoir of going home - Janzen, Rhoda
Summary: A hilarious and moving memoir--in the spirit of Anne Lamott and Nora Ephron--about a woman who returns home to her close-knit Mennonite family after a personal crisis.
Booklist Reviews
Janzen was raised in a strict Mennonite society, and while she upheld the values as a child and maintained her faith even as an adult, she couldn't help but rebel. However, after marrying an emotionally abusive atheist who leaves her for a man he met on Gay.com, and then barely surviving a terrible car accident, Janzen finds herself back home reliving her Mennonite childhood as an adult. In her compelling memoir, Janzen explores her past and her present with honesty and self-deprecation, and the result is both hilarious and touching. She delves into her relationships with her mother, sister, and ex-husband without holding back, and she explores some of the Mennonite traditions that helped shape her life. No prior knowledge of Mennonite culture is necessary for enjoying and learning from this lively chronicle of the patience and strong sense of humor one needs to go home again. Copyright 2009 Booklist Reviews.
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