Ameritopia–A Review

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books, quotes, history, government, politics, reading, book review, conservatism, Mark Levin, Ameritopia, Progressivism

“Tyranny, broadly defined, is the use of power to dehumanize the individual and delegitimize his nature. Political utopianism is tyranny disguised as a desirable, workable, and even paradisaical governing ideology.”

Thus begins Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America, by Mark R. Levin. If you are familiar with Mr. Levin as a conservative radio talk-show host then the first thing that may amaze you about this book is the very measured tone. As opposed to the very acerbic rhetoric that is often taken “on-air” Ameritopia is somewhat cerebral and academic.

The book is divided into three sections with the first two being very helpful reviews of the appropriate political/historic literature in the field. In “Part I: On Utopianism” critical attention is paid to Plato’s Republic, More’s Utopia, Hobbe’s Leviathan, and Marx’s Communist Manifesto. In “Part II: On Americanism” he does much the same with the writings of John Locke, Montesquieu, and de Tocqueville, dealing with the influence of this material on the thinking of both the Founders and the Framers. If one does not have at least a minimal working knowledge of this material the book is worth reading for that education alone.

While the author certainly is laying out the dangers of a utopian dream throughout the text most of that is saved for the last section “On Utopianism and Americanism,” which is made up of the last two chapters and his epilogue. These final pages describe both the Progressive utopian dream and the disdain for the Constitution which has accompanied it.

Be forewarned that if you are accustomed to reading any of the slew of Conservative diatribes (and I am a Conservative) that get published and think this is another one of those, you will be duly surprised. It is very well written and fairly rich in content–for many readers it will be quite elucidating.

Aside from all those descriptions it is also a very important book. I would go as far as to say it is both discomfiting and necessary. Most readers will find it to be chillingly relevant. I will even confess that while I read a library copy (as I normally do with this kind of book), I will go out and buy a copy for myself–it matters that much. I would like to recommend it very highly–even though I wish a book like were not needed as it clearly is. This title is one that is ignored at our peril.

Mindset–A Review

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book review, books, Carol Dweck, leadership, mentoring, Mindset, quotes, reading

I came across Mindset: A New Psychology of Success through a reading requirement my wife had as a Teacher Assistant in a local school. The author, Dr. Carol Dweck, is considered one of the leading voices in the field of the intersection of personality and psychology through her work at both Columbia and Stanford University.

The message is not only that ability and talent alone will be insufficient for success but that our approach to the everyday challenges we face will actually make the difference. Dr. Dweck focuses two different attitudes or “mindsets” that we will most likely choose to use–a fixed mindset vs. a growth mindset. And that choice can be life altering. That is to say that with the growth mindset there is the understanding that people can change and the leader can help that positive change take place, or with the fixed mindset the leader works with the perception that people are the way they are and nothing can be done about it. In this text the examples are myriad. That is one of the reasons it reads so well. The reader will find this book to be instructional, motivational, and maybe even a bit discomfiting.

Many of the examples used in the book will be familiar to most of the readers while many will not. But if the names do not resonate the situations most likely will. You will read of people like Michael Jordan, Bobby Knight, John Wooden, Jack Welch, Lee Iaccoca, along with a host of others that you never met and some of them you will have wished you had.

Being quite a student of leadership I have read quite widely on the subject. This title is one that has taken a place pretty near the top of my favorites. It hardly matters the leadership role you find yourself in this is a book that will be very relevant. So for the teacher, coach, parent, business leader, etc. there will be much to motivate, encourage, and correct you.

Let me give an aside for just a moment. Being both a Civil War student and having a rather intense interest in the life of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson my family stopped in Lexington, Virgina as part of a vacation. Part of that visit was some time spent at VMI. While there we could not help but notice a rather ubiquitous quote from the famous military leader: “You may be whatever you resolve to be.” 

Traveling in Florida and making one of our numerous stops at the Kennedy Space Center a quote made famous through the movie “Apollo 13″ was almost as ever present as the Jackson one in Virginia–“Failure is not an option.”

We obviously know that in fact we cannot always be whatever we resolve to be and that failure is always an option. But both of these statements speak to a mindset that will drive us to be “more” that we otherwise could have been or would have been.

I will highly, highly, recommend Mindset. It will most likely change the readers way of thinking. I may change their life.

“As One Devil To Another”–A Review

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book giveaway, book review, books, C.S. Lewis, christianity, humanity, religion, Richard Platt, screwtape letters

I am not sure where The Screwtape Letters ranks among C.S. Lewis readers in terms of a favorite, but my guess is that it would be pretty close to the top. Being a pretty serious Lewis student/fan I was glad for the opportunity to read and review As One Devil To Another by Richard Platt. A book of which Walter Hooper says, “It reads as if C.S. Lewis himself had written it.”

If you are not familiar with this genre, this is a collection of letters written from a Sr. Devil (Slashreap) to a Jr. Tempter (Scardagger) giving advice on how to keep Scardagger’s “client” from becoming a Christian. It is a fascinating to look at human nature from the underside.

It can take a little while to get accustomed to the reverse vocabulary maintained throughout. For instance, the “Adversary” is God, while “His Majesty” is Satan. Even while evil is good, good is evil. And yet our eyes get opened to what the Bible calls “the wiles of the devil.” At the end of the chapter dealing with the whole issue of vice and virtue the letter closes like this:

“For further reading, I suggest the following articles in the “Encyclopaedia Diabolica:” Cowardice, Excess, Injustice, Lassitude, Doubt, Despair, Arrogance. You will find them cross-referenced under the headings of Courage, temperance, Justice, Fortitude, Faith, Hope, and Charity respectively.”

While the author deals with a series of pertinent subjects like true joy, friendship, the Bible, technology, and the like, my favorite section must be in letter XV as he addresses the subject of art through a visit to a gallery. Here is the passage that literally caused me to “laugh out loud:”

“Art no longer need be something whose merit has been evaluated by highly educated, civilized people, versed in the standards of excellence which have been valued for centuries. thus, anything which can drip or be thrown from a brush to a canvas becomes a painting. Excrement becomes sculpture. Bestial grunting which is utterly devoid of melody or to tonality becomes music. The trend is clear. Telephone directories, as I have previously predicted, will become literature. Soon, spitting on the sidewalk will be theatre, profanity will be oratory, belching will be opera, and digging a ditch in which to sleep will be architecture.”

For me this book had a slow start which most likely was because of all the comparisons to Lewis and Screwtape.However that quickly began to fade and this material began to shine in it’s own right. While I will not spoil the ending there are enough Lewis references to make the tie-in quite enjoyable. However, whether you are a Lewis aficionado or not, you will find this read very profitable. I highly recommend it.

Congratulations to Scott Johnson as the winner of a copy of As One Devil To Another. I will be in contact via email with the details on how you can receive your book.

If you are interested in how the “drawing” was done, this was the process. On the site “random.org” I placed all the names in a sequence based on the order they responded and then used their “randomizer” tool. The name that appeared at the top of the random list was the winner.

There will be more giveaways coming. Stay tuned.

This book was provided to me by Tyndale House Publishers for the purpose of review.

Book Giveaway Reminder

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As One Devil to Another, book giveaway, books, contest, literature, reading

Just reminding everyone that I will be giving away a copy of “As One Devil To Another” on Tuesday. If you want to be entered into the drawing you need to leave me a comment letting me know.

The Stranger–A Review

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agnosticism, Albert Camus, Atheism, book review, books, literature, morality, quotes, reading, religion, The Stranger

I believe the last time I read The Stranger by Albert Camus was approximately 33 years ago. It was a joy to do so again. As a writer Camus is simply interesting to read.  If you per chance have never read this work or it has been decades since you have I would strongly recommend doing so again. I think you will find it fascinating.

As you are probably aware it was a philosophical stroke of genius at the time of it’s publishing. What I did not know was even though the book and it’s author are both celebrated for their elucidation of both existentialism and nihilism, Camus eschewed them both. And yet it was Sartre who gave the book it’s greatest publicity by an essay he published.

The story is quite compelling in it’s mundane reporting of extraordinary events and the emotionless response of the narrator. We pick this up in the very first line of the book:

“Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I got a telegram from the home: ‘Mother deceased. Funeral tomorrow. Faithfully yours.’ That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was yesterday.”

Or when Meursault’s (the protagonist) lover, Marie, asks him if he would like to marry her: “I said it didn’t make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to.”

The reader finds the very same tone being maintained whether the subject is death, abuse, love, sex, murder, or execution. It is as if the protagonist is viewing a play about himself from a distant, objective position and has little interest in what transpires. Interestingly enough the one subject in which we see Meursault get exorcised is religion. While the atheism of the protagonist is somewhat understated throughout the novel he has nothing but disdain for the chaplain, and, as it were, explodes on him.

One might think that is what would be expected from Camus, but he did not divorce himself from the religious to the extent that one might think. Leland Ryken points out that, “in an interview on the occasion of his receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, Camus said, ‘I have only veneration and respect for the person of Christ and for his life. I do not believe in his resurrection.’” It seems this is indicative of a spiritual seeking that went on for much of his brief life.

The Stranger is a very brief book (a mere 128 pages of text) and easily read but full of material to reflect on and even possibly discuss. Remind yourself of this very important philosophical classic.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

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book sales, books, literature, reading, used books

I am sorry, but this post has nothing to do with Christmas. Not only that, but I don’t really consider it the most wonderful time of the year–but it certainly is somewhere at the top of the list.

We have an organization in our fair city that mainly caters to the needs of the senior community. Probably the thing they are best known for though is their year long collection of book donations which on the first Thursday-Saturday in May are put on  display in the huge education building of our fairgrounds for the annual used book sale. This sale will consist of approximately 100,000 books of all sorts. This time I only spent about 2 1/2 hours at the sale and came out with about $27 worth of books.

Two things that I find happening at this specific sale. First, I don’t buy everything I might possibly use in this life or any future one . I usually collect a fairly healthy pile and then end up whittling it down when I actually decide what I am going to buy–although I didn’t put as many back this year as I normally do. Second, the realization that I am a rank amateur when it comes to these kind of sales (even though I have been attending them for a very long time). People are walking past me at the entrance (and I mean a lot of people) rolling very large carts which are either full of books or soon will be. These folks take their book shopping really seriously.

So here is what I actually walked out with. Let me know if you think I got a good buy:

4 hardback volumes in excellent condition of Sherlock Holmes from The Peebles Classic Library set: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, A Study in Scarlet/The Sign of the Four

An old, green, cloth covered (in quite good condition) volume of Coleridge’s Poems

The Constitution and What It Means Today, Edward S. Corwin. What drew me to this volume is that it was written in 1924 and thus should provide some interesting contrast as to how that same document was understood then and how it is understood today.

John Maxwell’s The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. I need to confess the reason that I bought this is because I have loaned mine out and I have no idea where it is. Remember the post the other day about loaning books?

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Doris Kearns Goodwin

My last two won’t mean much to you if you don’t live in the biblical/theological world:

The Story of the Cross, Leon Morris

Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament, Fritz Rienecker & Cleon Rogers–This was in a rather strange vinyl binding and I must admit that I don’t need it. I have one in perfectly good condition. However, this is such a great language study tool and in such great shape that I had to get it. I will probably give it away–$2–imagine that. I think I must have been like the dog lover who sees a stray animal along the side of the road and must pick up the puppy to make sure it gets a good home.

$27.00–How did I do?

There are two more days of the sale. I will try my best not to go back again.

Budding Apologists

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book clubs, books, Budding Apologists, Christian apologetics, christianity, discussion, goodreads, reading, truth claims

I mentioned the other day that I had just re-activated an account on goodreads. After looking around for a good online book club dealing with apologetics and finding most of them pretty inactive I decided to try to start a new one of my own–which I did. It is called “Budding Apologists” and is just in it’s very beginning stages. Through the help of a newly formed online friendship we have been able to make contact with a pretty divergent group that have expressed interest. We are giving it a few days to see who else might join before we decide on a format, a book, etc.

Let me make it clear this is not a group for Christians to learn how to do apologetics. It is a group dedicated to reading and discussing ideas pertinent to the defense of Christianity. In other words, as long as the views are brought forth with respect for one another you are welcome to join us.

If this is something you might be interested in being a part of then here are the steps. If you already are a member of goodreads simply search for the group called “Budding Apologists.” If you are not a member of goodreads then you will have to set up an account and follow the same protocol. Also to assist in the formation and ongoing operation of the group there has been a facebook page set up also under the name of “Budding Apologists.”

If you have any questions feel free to direct them to me and we are looking forward to a time celebrating the life of the mind especially as it has to do issues pertinent to the Christian faith.

Goodreads

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book clubs, books, friends, goodreads, reading, social media

I will be posting another book review a little later on today so this is just a short note. Actually more of a request. If you are on goodreads and you would like to “friend” me there that would be great. I am using the same “pastorjeffcma” in that setting.

If you are not familiar with goodreads and are a bit of a “book hound” you might want to check it out. It is mainly a huge social media/online community committed exclusively to all things books, reading, readers, and writing.

I will look forward to possibly “seeing” you there.

Bibliosnobbery

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bestsellers, bibliosnobbery, book buying, book snob, book suggestions, books, fiction, goodreads, literature, non fiction, pastoral library, personal library, reading

A number of years ago, when I lived in a different part of the country, I had a friend who played bass guitar and loved bluegrass. So we would often make a trek to Borders, which for us was about a 45 minute drive, where we would temporarily part ways–I would head to the books, and he to the music. But while he loved bluegrass music he would never stoop to listen to, let alone purchase, what he simply referred to as “commercial” music–only the little known and independent bands would merit a listen from him. I would often tell him, and it was in great fun, what a musical snob he was.

I write today in the spirit of confession and humble self-disclosure that I fear I have become a bibliosnob. First, allow me to explain what I do not mean. I am not decrying the need for being a critical consumer. This is best illustrated, in my own experience, by what happens to a young pastor right out of seminary. Every time an older pastor retires and offers books from his well-stocked library he/she will take everything he/she might be willing to give. They will ravage every used bookstore they can find and go on a buying spree as often as they possibly can. I would imagine this same type of behavior is true outside of the world of the clergy. What results is bookshelves lined with volumes that will never be read or referred to and that will most likely either take up needed space or will eventually be sold or given away. Hopefully as this undisciplined reader gets more literary experience under his/her belt the buying habits begin to get more refined and they begin to understand the types of books that are most useful and worthy for money to be budgeted in that direction. That is not snobbery–that is simply spacial and fiscal wisdom.

However, here is where the snobbery comes into play. At least 3 times I have commenced and suspended an account on goodreads. The reason is because I get there and I realize hardly anyone is reading what I am reading. I could not stomach most of what is being read–neither morally nor quality wise. I look at bestseller lists and they are either fluff or mental junk food. As much as I think I would like to sit down and read a brainless novel on occasion just for relaxation purposes I cannot bring myself to do it. If I do possess the wherewithal to start it I will rarely finish it. Every once in a while I will get a fiction recommendation from someone whose judgment I really trust and it is possible that I might read 1 or 2 a year at tops. Because as I start to read this lighter fare I immediately think about all the good books that are waiting to be consumed.Now I might add (and this only further confirms my snobbery) that I do put the literary classics in a category other than mundane modern fiction.

So just as I was about to settle into my spirit of self-aggrandizement I came across an article that made me contemplate my almost-settled literary bias. The article was appropriately entitled, “6 Reasons You Should ‘Waste’ Your Time Reading Fiction.” (http://marccortez.com/2011/05/16/6-reasons-you-should-waste-your-time-reading-fiction/) Here are the reasons:

1. Fiction Reveals Truth

2. Fiction Strengthens the Imagination

3. Fiction Manifests Beauty

4. Fiction Expands Horizons

5. Fiction Makes Better Writers

6. Fiction is Fun

Well, after being thoroughly chastised, I may at least think about a momentary foray down “the other aisle.” Although I wonder if it is too late to teach an old reading dog new reading tricks. Just in case I might be willing to give it another try do you have any good suggestions?

Happy reading to all my fellow snobs

Christian Bookstore Commentary

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books, Christian bookstores, Christian fiction, christianity, fiction, reading, reference, snobbery, The Bible

I spend a lot of time in bookstores–mainline, Christian, used, and online–and they are one of my favorite places to be. As I was in a couple of Christian bookstores today I had two different experiences. First, even though I just published my initial projected reading list for the year, my visit today reminded of one title that I had been wanting to read, Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver, and another that I was unaware of, but quickly pushed it’s way to the top of the list, Bloodlines, John Piper’s new book on racism.

My second experience was not a new one and I have probably written on it before since it is a major pet peeve of mine. I need to give at least one disclaimer–what I am going to say about Christian bookstores is just as blatantly true of the local Barnes & Nobles (or any other store, for that matter).

One of the first things you will notice is that almost half of the stock of books is made up of fiction. Much like it’s secular counterpart, most Christian fiction is poorly written, easily read, and, unfortunately, readily consumed. Next you will see a huge amount of material that is “how-to” in nature–these fall into the financial, marriage, parenting, dating, etc. subject matter. There is also the ample volumes produced by the “big names” throughout the evangelical world– these are written at such speed there can be little material of significant depth. Of course, there are always the profound titles produced and adorned by the smiling face of Joel Osteen (my personal favorites ).

The highlight of my visit today was a book I found on the bargain table called Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse: The Official Field Manual for the End of the World. Yes I am serious. I will give the author the benefit of the doubt than it was “tongue-in-cheek”–at least one would hope.

The obvious question at this point is if I think there is anything in the bookstore that is worth opening the door for–absolutely. There are books by some of the great minds of the church–these are the classics which are normally found in the bargain section. Some of the better bookstores have some fairly decent reference and commentary sections (although this is a fairly small one). There are also a handful of worthy books being written now, but they are few and far between. Then we have the section of Bibles–although one could legitimately question the sheer number of types of Bibles available.

Here is the real problem. I do not blame the bookstore. If these businesses will keep their doors open they will not do so by stocking what people ought to be reading and consuming, but by having what people are consuming. In other words, when most visitors to the store are purchasing poorly written historical (?) fiction, then most of the shelf space will be dedicated to those titles.

I don’t expect that my raving upon my soapbox will change the behavior of the reader or the provider. It is probably nothing more than my wishful thinking in the form of a rant. I would love to know if you see things my way, or if you think I am off the deep end, or is it just “much ado about nothing.”