Nothing Sacred Books

The essays in "Nothing Sacred" are a great antidote to the simplistic mainstream thinking about the "war on terror" [sic]. From Katha Pollitt's fantastic introduction through all of the various essays, I learned a lot about the feminist perspective on religious fundamentalism.

The essays seemed expertly chosen to represent a widely divergent set of opinions. With an intro by the extraordinary Pollitt, how could you not get pulled in?

This collection of essays by scholars and journalists East and West gives a fascinating and detailed picture of the threat every kind of religious fundamentalism poses to women's human rights. But it does more -- it offers fresh ways of understanding the appeal of fundamentalism to men and women both. We think of fundamentalism as ancient -- actually it is a modern response to rapid and uneven social change, including modern roles for women. Karen Amstrong makes this argument in "The Battle for God," but she is mostly interested in theology. I learned more from "Nothing Sacred," because it explicitly describes the worlds from which fundamentalism emerges, the hopes it exploits and the damage it does-- not just in the Muslim world, but in "Christian" America, in Israel, and in India. Wherever religious movements seek to restore a lost and imaginary pristine past, women are the big losers.

This is a really terrific book, confronting some of the most urgent questions in our world today. Is secular feminism a purely Western phenomenon? is religious fundamentalism always at odds with women's equality? should American power be used to free women in other countries, as Bush claimed he was freeing Afghani women from the Taliban? With fundamentalist Islam -- and repression of women -- on the rise in post-war Iraq, and fundamentalist Christians opposed to women's freedom of choice running the USA, the questions this book raises are tragically timely. The authors bring fascinatingly diverse perspectives to the table. Some are strongly committed to the secular, others committed to more humane, egalitarian interpretations of their faith. This book contains writing by some of the sharpest living female intellectuals, and represents a wide range of experiences, political and religious views and nationalities. Betsy Reed has done a wonderful job of culling and shaping this work into a beautifully conversational whole. Katha Pollitt's introduction is, like all her writing, brilliant: elegantly irreverent and clear-headed. Provocative and absorbing -- everyone should find something to disagree with! Buy it now!!!!

Martha Moore is the single mother of four living in Shelter Valley Arizona. Her four children are good, but one day her eldest daughter Ellen gets raped after her car broke down after work.

Martha and her daughter turn to the new preacher in town David Cole Marks to help them. Martha and David spend time trying to investigate the rape and in that time sparks start up between the two.

Even though they have sparks there are many things that they need to work out before they can get together such as his mother, her ex who left her for a woman half her age who is now pregnant, as well as her other daughter who is using drugs.

What happens with the two of them and will they catch the guy who raped her daughter? Read Nothing Sacred

Martha Moore's forty-something year old professor husband left her for a twenty-something old student. Consequently, she cannot help treating the new minister's sermon on love with cynicism. But David Cole Marks is the first minister in Shelter Valley not to hide behind his robe and his pulpit. He is determined to earn Martha's trust and confidence, patient with her even if he must pay for the transgressions of another man. Who better, he believes, given that he ministers because he carefully protects a secret that keeps him from marrying and having his own family.

Martha's twenty-year old daughter Ellen hitchhikes when she runs out of gas. Unthinkably for Shelter Valley, a stranger picks her up and rapes her. The shock ripples through the small town that once considered itself totally safe. Suddenly people find themselves locking doors and looking over their shoulders. Indeed, no one is left untouched, especially David, who suspects that the rape is tied to a much bigger crime wave that threatens to overwhelm the peace and serenity of Shelter Valley. Now he and Martha must combine their efforts to make a difference for the town they both love.

Author Tara Taylor Quinn captures the horrors of life as well as the power of faith and love to transcend all in NOTHING SACRED. Quinn deftly creates the painful nuances of a family devastated by infidelity and the loss of a father. The impact on the four children is profound from the eldest daughter whose determinate to not be a burden leads her to the wrong place at the wrong time to the teen daughter who seems bent on a path of self-destruction. Consequently, trust issues dominate this family and the minister determined to reach them. But his own painful past threatens to overwhelm the beauty of the place where he comes to find love and acceptance. Quinn does not shy away from the darker side of life, but she does balance with a promise of happiness. Both Martha and David are the kind of people we would all like to know and would feel compassion for as they fight their individual demons. As they confront the disillusionment that nothing may be sacred, their transformation will touch readers deeply. One of the most powerful Superromances I have had the privilege to review, NOTHING SACRED earns the WordWeaving Award for Excellence.

Divorced mother of four Martha Moore loves raising her children in Shelter Valley, Arizona where she was born and has lived her entire life though the teen years have become tiring as the older ones have begun to challenge her authority. She also enjoys her work as a production assistant at Montford University's TV station. Perhaps the only blemish on her life is the betrayal by her former husband Todd.

However, a worse tragedy occurs when a so called Good Samaritan picks up Martha's daughter Ellen, who ran out of gas, and rapes her. The town's new minister David Cole Marks of the Shelter Valley Community Church tries to help the family especially Martha and Ellen cope and understand how this could happen to a good person, but even he doubts the angel inside his head. However though he and Martha are attracted to one another, she rejects his overtures as a man and as a minister as she lost faith in everyone but herself long before Ellen's rape.

This exciting character study focuses on the relationships between Martha and her four teenage children and with David as well his weird one with the voice inside his head. The story line is cleverly designed so that the audience can taste teen angst made geometrically worse by the rape. Fans will appreciate this fine tale as they wonder whether a permanent relationship between the adults can go the distance with so much to tear it asunder.

Harriet Klausner

Is Nothing Sacred?: The Non-Realist Philosophy of Religion by educator and philosopher Don Cupitt is an outstanding selection of informative and challenging essays examining a "non-realist" interpretation of Christian doctrine. Persuasively arguing for a "kingdom" version of Christianity that resonates more strongly with the original Jewish Jesus Christ, Professor Cupitt draws his philosophy and theology in part from the wisdom of Kant and Kierkegaard, while also accepting insights from Buddhism and the contemporary philosopher Richard Rorty. Is Nothing Sacred? is a provocative, intriguing discussion, and highly recommended for academic philosophy, theology, and Christian Studies collections and supplemental reading lists.

Is Nothing Sacred?: The Non-Realist Philosophy of Religion by educator and philosopher Don Cupitt is an outstanding selection of informative and challenging essays examining a "non-realist" interpretation of Christian doctrine. Persuasively arguing for a "kingdom" version of Christianity that resonates more strongly with the original Jewish Jesus Christ, Professor Cupitt draws his philosophy and theology in part from the wisdom of Kant and Kierkegaard, while also accepting insights from Buddhism and the contemporary philosopher Richard Rorty. Is Nothing Sacred? is a provocative, intriguing discussion, and highly recommended for academic philosophy, theology, and Christian Studies collections and supplemental reading lists.

NOTHING EXISTS THAT IS NOT SHIVA includes jewels of wisdom from Shiva Sutra, Gurugita, Vijnanabhairava and few other texts with Muktananda's enlightening commentaries.

Muktananda keeps on reminding the reader that Shiva is everywhere present and that a spiritual aspirant has to keep this always in his awareness. Here is an example related to working successfully with mantras:

"The one who repeats the mantra is Shiva, the mantra Namah Shivay is Shiva, and the Lord of the mantra - its goal - is Shiva. The secret of the realization of a mantra lies in repeating it, having identified oneself completely with Shiva. In the Svacchanda Tantra, Lord Shiva says:

'O Goddess, only he who knows that Shiva is within himself as himself realizes the goal of the mantra.'"

The book is to be read, re-read, savored, absorbed and, of course, applied. As I read it once I found joy bubbling within me. I'll be reading it many more times.

This book is composed of brief commentaries by Baba Muktananda of individual lines of various sacred texts as noted in the title. Sometimes it may only be a paragragh or two; sometimes a page. But I found this simple format and these brief explanations to be profoundly moving and enlightening. As I would read a commentary, and I would only read a few a day, I would find myself drawn naturally into a profound contemplative orientation towards my thoughts and actions and notions about myself and my life. It always felt very healing and as if unnecessary burdens were dissolving on the spot. I would at times be moved to tears of gratitude, to meditative silence, to joyful realizations. This book is indeed food for the heart, soul, and mind. It is alive with blessings. It is literally, not metaphorically alive, and if you relate to it with care and attention, you will find yourself in a sacred and precious relationship.

At first, I was cautious, because this book was not something I would normally read. However, the book quickly drew me in, and it has become one of my favorites. Very re-readable.

This book was fast paced and very well written. Numerous characters yet all individual and very real. Really enjoyed learning about Tibet and some of its fables and history. A good story, you won't want to put the book down!! I'm so glad there is a sequel "Last Refuge" so I can continue reading more about this facinating culture!

This book deals with the growing problem of male pastors sexually abusing their parishioners. What is intended to be a position of trust , is used in ways that can destroy lives. The pastor uses his power and pastoral office to victimize parishioners. The result is destruction of lives, marriages and sometimes congregations. I know the damage this can do, and of the problems people struggle with to put their lives back together. Ten years ago I left parish ministry in a congregation in the Midwest. I had spent two years there, following a pastor who had not only been sexually abusing that congregation, but also had been doing the same sexual abuse in his former parish. At that time the Bishop's office let him move, perhaps in hope against hope that he would not offend again. Now a strict policy has been formed to deal with the problem . There is also an effort to screen pastors to prevent such abuse by pastors. While it is not a poplular explanation today, some clergy are evil. This book is helpful and well worth reading, as are all her books. A few years ago, I heard Marie Fortune give a guest lecture at a Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. There were both male and female seminary students at the lecture, as well as a few pastors who had experienced the effects of a pastor who had sexually abused them or their congregation. Sadly, some of the male seminarians walked out of the lecture withn the first 15 minutes. August 9, 1999

BOOK REVIEW

"Nothing New Under the Sun", Paul Culp, Author
Universal Publishers, Boca Raton, Florida, 2007

October 30, 2007

"Nothing New Under the Sun", Paul Culp, Author, is a "must read" book for every human on Planet Earth...especially for Americans of any "stripe" (Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheist, whatever). It is particularly important reading for every American Politician. I would ask every Presidential Candidate: "Have you read "Nothing New Under the Sun", Paul Culp, Author?" If the answer was "No", my answer to them would be "Not, Next!".

And, I believe, Paul Culp MUST be retained by the likes of CNN, FOX, NBC, etc. as an ongoing analysis and commentator on matters of vital importance today and the years ahead in the world struggle with Islamic extremist. Too often we, and our media, focus only on, and address, the tactical matters (Military: Gen. Wesley Clark; Political: Newt Gingrich; Medical: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, etc.) and fail to address the most important elements, root cause and strategy. The root cause of the subject current struggle, be it identified with Osama Bin Laden (terrorism), the Taliban (radicalism), Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-Iran (extremism), Turks vs. Kurds or Israel vs. Palestine (nationalism), and on and on, began over 2000 years ago continuing uninterrupted to this day. Unless we understand this history, "the players", the philosophy, the ideology, the similarities and differences and variations thereof we have little or no chance "getting through this mess" without considerably more death, cost and destruction in the days, months and years ahead. This book by Paul Culp explains the root cause of these struggles and their related current events..

Theological scholar and world observer, Paul Culp has both the credentials and personal experience to organize, explain and add reality to the very complex subject of Islam and the relationship of its many (1.3 Billion) Muslim believers to the "rest of us". This book is a mixture of heavy reading and lighter dry wit, as those who know Paul will especially note and appreciate. It will give the dedicated reader who follows its pages, even often returning to reread passages and reconsidering Arabic words and meanings, to the end a working knowledge and perspective that is critical to both our individual and American futures and to understanding the "Nightly News". It may even help you decide for whom you vote, realizing they too must understand this subject because there is so much more to our world struggles than hiding in the sand, lobbing a few bombs or wishing it would, or will, all just go away.

Two passages from this power packed book, "Nothing New Under the Sun", Paul Culp, Author, sums it up for me:

"Today the American predilection for willfulness and self-gratification has "Biblical" sanctions for its un-mortified appetites---and has run headlong into the Islamic belief in the Manifest Destiny of Muslims. Hallelujah. Allahu akbar. Whatever." And,

"Yes, our own community has spoken, and its consensus is clear: we are mostly either Christians who don't actually believe in the Cross, or materialists who have a pretty weak grasp of how to make good use of our material capabilities, or liberals who misuse our liberties, or conservatives who seldom conserve much of anything because that's bad for business---and millions of other folks who are along for the ride, sitting in some fetid mishmash of the above or not powerful enough to make their countercultural convictions (if any) count. And, then we export it all, loudly asserting that the Muslims attack us because they're jealous."

From the beginning, the reader will think "if only the author had used simpler words, defined each big or strange word, or just made the Qur'an simple". Then you realize that putting 2000 years of history, multitudes of complex philosophy nor even explaining the Bible (Old and/or New Testament) simply has never been done in 210 pages. Smile, read, read on and be a part of the solution rather than just hoping the problem doesn't exist or will go away. Read "Nothing New Under the Sun" by Paul Culp, Author. You may even help save the planet. At the very least, you will feel good about yourself and be very glad you did!

It's hard to believe. In fact, for all I know, some of it may not even be true! But the shaded topics and colorful caricatures of bigger-than-life personalities sure ring loud with entertainment if nothing else. Vollbracht's writing is as vibrant as his pictures - witty and pointed with big splashes of color. His Elizabeth Taylor story is almost worth the price of the book. His pictures certainly ARE worth the price of the book -they're flat-out gorgeous.

Great for the biggest table in your house. You'll look at it many times over.

In his fast paced, action packed, dazzling take on a future time alarmingly close to our present, Tom Flynn skewers religion as it's never been skewered before, as he also takes on philosophy.

Philosophy may never recover.

I laughed so hard that it took me at least five attempts to get through Chapter 5, the introduction of Enva Corglinu, the Prophetess of Nullity, who takes Nihilism to it's illogical conclusions. Which hasn't stopped me from re-reading it again and again as a quick "pick me up" since.

It wasn't the only chapter (or verse) in Nothing Sacred that I was happily forced to reread because I was laughing so loud, I couldn't hear myself. On top of that, I had to fight my husband and three children (1 in high school, 2 in college) who keep "borrowing" the book once they figured out the source of my mirth. It was easy to track the book; they weren't quiet either.

There isn't a computer geek or gamer alive who won't envy the relationship between Gram Enoda and Computer, his philosophical, biochip based computer that insists on calling him "Bucko." They're a pivotal part of the intrigue, which includes a quarantine of Terra (earth) by the Galactic Confectory to stop the further spread of its major export: the religions that have created major problems throughout the Galaxy. Meanwhile, drugs, the substitution of "reality" for life, business and media based religions, and so many other topics are satirized with such great wit and style, the seriousness of what Flynn has to say about our time is almost painless. Almost.

While the Galactic Confectory fights to regain control of its member planets and deal with the infighting between the various religions and philosophers, it even more importantly has to prevent another devastating attack by the Tuezi devices that periodically enter the Galaxy from another dimension, destroying whole planets in seconds. Everyone converges at the site of the planned attack, and the conclusion is perfect, it just couldn't happen any other way.

Nothing Sacred is actually the sequel to Tom Flynn's scathingly brilliant Galactic Rapture, which eerily predicted reality television, and could well have been part of Mel Gibson's inspiration for The Passion of the Christ, although it's really unfair to blame Flynn for either travesty.

You don't have to read Galactic Rapture in order to thoroughly enjoy Nothing Sacred, but you're definitely going to want to get your hands on a copy soon as possible.

The subtitle is: Sacred Secrets for Getting the Most out of What Seems to be Nothing. Dr. King is also known as Nana Yaa Twumwaa I. Spiritual and motivational book with valuable lessons in transformation. Dr. King was also on the Oprah show! Rare, hard to find. Great deal, recommended.