Wolf enters a male-dominated political commentary arena dominated by men to make a compelling argument for civil rights. Her analysis falls closer to the bones of political discourse as presented by Emma Goldman, and presents her case with an energetic urgency as she cautions Americans of a dangerous “fascist shift” brought about by the Bush administration.

Chapters outline the “Ten Steps to Fascism” citing historical corollaries (as well as the pigs in Orwell’s Animal Farm), with headings like “Invoke an External and Internal Threat,” “Establish Secret Prisons,” “Surveil Ordinary Citizens,” “Restrict the Press,” and “Target Key Individuals,” making a case for the existence of fascism outside of a dictatorship.

Her book’s publication through the small press, Chelsea Green Publishing of White River Junction, Vermont, which is committed to politics and “sustainable living.” Here is Naomi Wolf, speaking out an this October 2007 videotaping.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I still find this advice helpful in my personal life and in my retirement. In this narrative, I have a recoomendation that you will or will not like.

I am recommending a book that may or may not be your “cup of tea,” a book you may not find agreeable. Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth. It is currently a book of the month selection on Oprah Winfrey’s television show and may be purchased for the low price of $14 (plus tax). Before spending your hard -earned cash on it, remember I do not guarantee that ‘you will like it.” The very opposite is the expected outcome because of provocative insight into our personal lives and what makes us “tick” psychologically, physically and spiritually.

It contains modern interpretations of our dilemma as children of God. Though not exclusively a book on religion, it does provide epiphanies about spiritual experiences, challenges us to a mature faith and discovery of a serendipitous depth to our personal faith.

Reading a few chapters “may or may not” contribute to the development of your theology. A word of caution: Reading A New Earth can only be accomplished through an act of discipline and with pauses every three pages or so to meditate on what was read, It takes more time to read than a popular western such as the Zane Grey novels.

A few intriguing quotes from the book include:

“I assign myself the role of victim.”

“What is commonly called ‘falling in love” is in most cases an intensification of egoic wanting or needing…”

“In the modern world, more and more people are confused as to where they fit in, what their purpose is, and even who they are.”

“The greater part of most people’s thinking is involuntary, automatic and repetitive.”

A New Earth is the text for study/discovery group at the University United Methodist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. This fellowship, meets for discussion, mediation, and spiritual renewal. If you are interested in forming such an interesting, soul enriching activity in Clarksville, e-mail a reply to me via my Clarksville Online e-mail listed below.

Read A New Earth; you may find it a stimulus to your understanding of faith. I am also interested in your opinions of Chapters 1 & 2.

Editor’s Note: The Oprah Winfrey Show is sponsoring a repeat of the ten week online course of A New Earth. Check out the website for details and registration. The book is available at local bookstores. The workbook pages for the Oprah program can be downloaded from the website.

In the Name of God delves into an Eastern world and a culture relatively alien to me, yet it is a culture with probing fingers touching and testing and tasting the culture of a freedom that is uniquely Western.

In this book, 17-year-old Nadia lives in Damascus, Syria, locked into a straight and narrow path of traditional Islam. She has enough exposure to Western ideas to tempt her and rouse her curiosity, and is also bitterly aware of the politics, economy and culture that envelops her own country and neighboring Iraq.

Nadia is religious, holding deep and living true to the opening phrase that graces every chapter of the Qur’an: In the Name of God. But this is not a story told with a western insight or desire; it is a story about a struggle to be the best and most faithful within one’s own religious beliefs, a personal journey toward what becomes, in Western eyes, a potentially tragic destiny. For Nadia is religious, and that the depth of her spiritual commitment in tangled with her curiosity and political ideology. For Nadia is a teenager, with all the turbulence of emotion that accompanies those volatile, questioning years.

Nadia is intrigued by the “resistance,” by the underground of political thought, rebellions, ideology and spiritual consequence.

Jolin weaves this story with an abundance of dialogue and a complex mix of characters that move through a world unfamiliar to Westerners: the odd mix of the donning of traditional burkas and a desire to wear high heels, of living life with the constant of religion as its driving force, of existing under the scrutiny of a dominating political eye.
As Nadia tests the waters and pushes her boundaries, pieces of family life unfold with a solemn horror.

In one such discussion, Samira, her sister, says:

“The Qur’an needs to be re-interpreted by modern scholars, men and women. And for the record, nothing in it says women have to cover their heads…
“It’s the best way to say ‘fuck you’ to a government that could be killing my brothers as we speak.”

The government hates the scarf on a woman’s head, proof that allegiance to God is more important than allegiance tot he ruling party. A vivid reminder, however silent, that Islamic resentment throbs in every corner of the city.”

It’s a belief that rests on a precipice of old ways and new thought, of tradition at war with change. Nadia has a hand in each in a game of tug of war, and war is slowly winning with incremental shards of shrapnel.

The strongest image and insight in this novel, though, is the highly personal conversation between Nadia and her mother about marriage, her mother’s arranged marriage at the age of 12.

“…my parents … didn’t even sleep in the same room. My mother said nothing to me the night before.
“He was older than me, of course, much older, but he was religious, and he had no experience either. I remember looking at him, standing there, in the light of a candle, and listening to explain he was going to stick…stick it in my most private place. I was so scared. That big thing in this tiny space? He’s going to break me in two, I thought, he’s going to break me in two.
“…well, after you can imagine things were very different…”

Nadia is stunned by the stark and unusual revelation, by her mother’s verbal validation of the control men in her society hold. She retreats to her room, lost in thought.
The urge to rebel surges, and manifests it in response to a strange note she holds that reads “meet me at midnight.” It is the first step toward terror.

Much of Jolin’s novel is written in simple language, it drops these little bombs of conversation that offer insight and understanding even as they raise more questions about this culture. Why have women ceded so much control to men? What makes that belief in this religious-based society so strong?

The text is rooted in conversations (dialogue) and the ramblings in Nadia’s mind, the twists and turns of her thoughts as the modern world, the world outside Syria, reaches in slowly, with elongated fingers, to tempt one to further dissatisfaction. Nadia’s balancing act, her wavering between rebellion and training is in many ways “typical teenager” behavior, a time to challenge, explore and determine an individual path. Hard to do, especially in a country rooted in religious and paternal control.

The only visible rebellions are grounded in home-grown terrorism and that becomes attractive to Nadia.

At 208 pages, In the Name of God is a fairly quick read and the story itself moves quickly, perhaps too quickly. Told in the first person, Jolin (at left) moves forward through the extensive use of all-revealing dialogue, but it tells us too quickly and simplistically: we are left wanting more, wanting a deeper probe beneath the surface. It was almost too busy on the surface. We as readers don’t quite understand the depth of Nadia’s passion, hate or love. We have an idea, but it is not enough.

Too, I prefer more description in the stories I read and do not like to have that come solely through dialogue. I wanted to feel the heat of the dessert sun, the starkness of the cityscape, the vibrancy of the market places, the pulse of fear as this young girl navigates the fringes of a subculture, the warning goosebumps that accompany the dark unknown. I wanted to feel it leap from the page and envelop me, and that didn’t quite happen here.
My own style of storytelling has been called lyrical and poetic, and I prefer that in my own choices of reading. Stark, raw edges and simplistic movement of plot lose me along the way.

I read the entire book, drawn to the story and seeking a bit more understanding of a culture that is alien to me. Given the author’s research and background (she has lived in the Middle East for a decade and has a master’s degree in Islamic Studies), I knew I would get a hefty dose of Islamic culture in this book. I did. I still found myself wanting more.

In the Name of God by Paula Jolin
New Milford CT: Roaring Book Press 2007

I’m not sure if I can adequately relate just how refreshing it was to read a book that so accurately portrays the struggle that young gay Christians endure. I’ve seen so many stories about young gay teens and adults that are all about the sex, drugs, and clubbing that is so often associated with the gay community.

To me, “refreshing,” is neither accurate nor appropriate to describe my feelings as I read through its pages. A far better word is “living.” This is a story about life, faith, and love in a way that is as crisp as it is timely.

From the book cover:

High-school senior Paul has dated Angie since middle school, and they’re good together: they have a lot of the same interests, like singing in their church choir, and being active in Bible club. But when a new boy, Manuel, transfers to their school, Paul has to rethink his life. Manuel is the first openly gay teen anyone in their small town has ever met, and yet he says he’s also a committed Christian. Talking to Manuel makes Paul reconsider thoughts he has kept hidden, and listening to Manuel’s interpretation of Biblical passages on homosexuality causes Paul to re-evaluate everything he believed. Manuel’s outspokenness triggers dramatic consequences at school, culminating in a terrifying situation that leads Paul to take a stand.

“I wasn’t sure who was crazier, him or me. During prayers one night, I’d ask forgiveness for hanging out with Manuel, but the next day I’d thank Jesus for bringing him into my life. I couldn’t stop thinking about Manuel, and every time I stormed away from him, swearing never to return, five minutes later I wanted to come running back. How could I choose between my sexuality and my spirituality, two of the most important parts that made me whole?”

It’s rare that I can find myself relating to any young character in any book for teens, and not just because I’m in my thirties. But as I turned the pages I found a part of myself in the lead character, Paul. As a Christian, I wasn’t interested in sex. I wanted something real, a relationship that was meaningful. I thank God every single day for my partner, who still miraculously puts up with all of my shortcomings.

What makes this story so powerful is that it shows the compassionate heart behind evangelical and even fundamentalist Christianity. These are people that genuinely believe they’re working for our very souls, often not realizing just how hurtful their actions truly are. Even as I was angered by their actions, I felt compassion for them because they were just SO close to the truth.

When the characters begin to bond friendships and seek to form a gay-straight alliance, the adults in their otherwise-conservative town are reluctant to embrace it. The new club eventually brings out the best and worst of their classmates and neighbors.

Although most readers can find The God Box to be somewhat predictable, it’s only because of their own life experiences. Anyone who’s gone through the coming-out process can go back into their life and see some of their own story in these pages. The joys, the frustrations, and the tragedies; we all know them too well. Sanchez knows them well too, as he writes from a distinctly gay and Latino perspective.

I’ve read plenty of stories of how young gay and lesbian people eventually come to terms with both their faith and their sexuality. The beauty of fiction is that all of those elements can be wrapped together into one package, and can become a story for all of us.

The God Box is recommended for young adults, teens, and anyone who works with youth.

On the Web: The God Box by Alex Sanchez

Read an excerpt from the book here.

Author J. K. Rowling lived up to her promise to end the series at seven books and did just that in this 749 page whirlwind conculsion, which is not without its tragedies and triumphs. (see review)

“It’s great to see so many people this excited about buying a book,” said teacher Helen Smith, from her seat near the magazine section. Her daughter Rebecca was one of the hundreds eagerly waiting to buy the $34.99 book at the proffered 40% discount. Rochelle LaPlante, sporting a bona-fide sorting hat and bouncing in anticipation, stood watch with friends at the storeroom door, eyeing the cases of books about to be rolled out to the front counter and sold. LaPlante has been counting down the days to the book release for month, checking off a calendar day by day since February.

The book release in England occurred six hours earlier, and local fans were heard cautioning each other not to “watch the news” or go online since the ending to this story was already being exposed around the world via internet and news. True fans want to live the story as it happens, without having the ending spoiled.

Costumes sported for the event ranged from the whimsy of the young Potter with the remarkable scar to the hooded mystery of the death eaters to the schoolgirlish charm of the Hermoine Granger character. Ministry officials, sorcerers and witches, Hogwart’s professors, and even a “Baby Harry” bundled in a blanket made appearances.

Borders personel did their best to keep up with the onslaught of readers, offering music by radio station Q108 and a series of games and trivia questions in tandem with costume contests.  As the excitement built, it was not without stresses: insufficient seating for tired adults and the disabled, and a cafe overwhelm by patrons and scarecely able to keep up with demand for refreshments. Twenty minute waits to order beverages and twenty more to actually get an order in hand were not uncommon. Staff worked valiantly to keep up with demand, and there were no options such as the free “butterbeer” punchbowls that characterize many other bookstore gatherings. It was the only downside to the bookfest.

By 1 a.m., several hundred special and regular editions had been sold, and fans were already sitting curbside reading the opening pages, complimentary “Hallows” posters rolled up and tucked under their arms. Die-hard fans were even collecting the boxes the books came in, complete with their “do not open until…” labels.

Across Clarksville, bedside lamps burned bright well into the night as anxious readers turned page after page, following the heroes they loved through this last grand adventure.