Events Books

It's emphasis is interpretation of the text, not preaching material. Wood interprets objectively and with reason, always with reverence for the Word of God. Like most thorough commentaries, this is a reference book and not intended for popular reading, though understandable by serious laymen. Highly recommended.

Based on his years of experience, Bill Moyer knows how to design effective nonviolent social change movements that can challenge entrenched power, overcome resistance, and implement positive alternatives. Moyer explains how grassroots democracy really works and shows how to build powerful change movements that uphold widely held values like honesty, democracy, fairness, compassion, and protection of the envionment. He also shows how conventional politics meshes with grassroots organizing.

The section on how Moyer's ideas fit in with the sociology and polictical science literature is easy to read and interesting. The current scholarly literature on social change movements is quite meager and Moyer's model makes a big contribution to change theory.

Finally, the examples at the end of the book are enlightening and heartening.

Read this book and then go out and make the world better!

This book is both a strategic orientation to, and a tactical primer on, how to develop and manage non-violent social movements at the grassroots or "people power" level.

The reason this book is important is because it solves the most important problem or gap facing all social movements: the lack of strategic models and methods that help activists understand, plan, conduct, and evaluate their social movements. I have read this book from cover to cover and it fulfills the objective. Had Howard Dean and Joe Trippi read this book six months ago, they would not have blown the lead and come in a sorry fourth (less than half of what Kerry had, less than a quarter Kerry and Edwards combined), to guys that did *not* figure out MoveOn.org and the Internet as a collective consciousness tool.

This is among the most heavily marked up books I have read in the past four years, and instead of summarizing it in detail, which may cause some of you to avoid buying it, I will simply endorse the primary author's view that social movements are needed now more than ever, for the simple reason that the powerholders are making life on the planet unsustainable--everything they do (think Dick Cheney here) to increase profits, control, and power, is also "increasing unemployment, the gap between rich and poor, violence, ecological collapse, and unsustainability".

There are four aspects of the book that are especially valuable as we all find ourselves in a "world war" between fundamentalist groups (both Islamic and extremist Americans of the religious right falling prey to neo-conservative doctrine) and progressive individuals seeking the common good:

1) the author's focus on sub-movements, on creating a strategic campaign that specifically embraces each sub-movement as a distinct but coordinated element, is the "aha" factor in leaping forward.

2) the author's specific discussion of negative rebels and how much harm they can do to the larger movement is compelling, to the point of actually suggesting that we need to create a counterintelligence service within social movements to address this. The few violent protesters in Seattle got all the media coverage, and the non-violent mass lost a great deal of credit.

3) the eight-stages of social movements are extremely detailed and the case studies help to explain why the "slump" must be overcome in the fifth stage, when success has been achieved but there is a perception of failure.

4) the importance of having an economic strategy for where the social movement's vision needs to go, is not understood by most presidential candidates. This book is valuable to anyone who would be president, or senator, for it explains not only how to organize and lead a social movement, but how to govern resources to its desired ends after the fact of victory. Real world budgeting is a neglected aspect of leadership during the electoral process.

I would say that this book (together with Tom Atlee's "The Tao of Democracy: Using CO-INTELLIGENCE to create a world that works for all"), is core reading for anyone interested in saving his or her neighborhood, his or her country, or the world at large. The primary and secondary authors are also to be commended for making the point that it is possible to be effective *regardless of who is President or what party is in charge in the capitol*--they emphasize local grass-roots effectiveness that is non-partisan.

Juliette Beck and Nancy Gregory make contributions that should have been acknowledged on the cover. Juliette Beck especially, with her focus on globalization and the sub-movements and stages of the aggregate movement, provides a most satisfactory case study that concludes the book.

I went to Notre Dame and really felt this insightfully reflected what it was like to be there and what makes this place so special to its alums.

I'm sure I will read it again.

The layout and print quality of this text is remarkable. The colours leap from the page, even given the relatively muted tones and darker tones Rembrandt often used in his sacred topics. Some of the paintings in this small text are the most famous of Rembrandt's; besides his self-portrait on the cover, the book includes the following:

Two Scholars Disputing; Woman Bathing in a Stream; The Sacrifice of Isaac; Jacob Wrestling with the Angel; Jacob Blessing the Children of Joseph; Moses Smashing the Tablets; Hannah and Samuel; The Reconciliation of David and Absalom; Simeon with the Christ Child; The Head of Christ; Christ and the Woman of Samaria; The Return of the Prodigal Son; The Apostle Peter Denying Christ; Christ on the Cross; Christ at Emmaus; Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul

Rembrandt had an art for taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary; he also brought the biblical stories into his own time period, in architecture, decoration, style of dress. McEntyre similarly brings the biblical stories and paintings into relief in words that are both timeless and current for the present. One cannot tell if the paintings adorn the poems or the poems adorn the paintings. The details brought out of the paintings, both in McEntyre's words and the highlighted sections of paintings assist in setting a mood of reflection that includes both the big picture and the details.

McEntyre's poetry sometimes seeks the thoughts and emotions of Rembrandt. Other times, the poetry seeks to elaborate upon and seek the meaning brought out in the paintings themselves. Her words invite emotional reflection, spiritual growth, theological inquiry, and a search into the mysteries of life, particularly life with God. God is in the shadows of the paintings; God is in the deep-etched faces of the people; God is in the verse.

God is also in the questions. Perhaps the most powerful piece here, and one of the most famous painting accompanying, is the Sacrifice of Isaac. McEntyre's verse speaks of the questions: 'What kind of God would require such appalling fidelity?' Of course, Abraham was faithful, but not without cost, as McEntrye continues that 'some madness will always haunt him', and Sarah his wife will always mistrust him, her eyes darkened with suspicion.

Further in the text, McEntyre explores another famous painting, the Return of the Prodigal Son. Here she speculates on the painter's gaze, as well as the human condition -- so little in life is private, and even reconciliation comes with a great cost. The prodigal son receives forgiveness, but the painting, like the gospel parable, is just a snapshot. The prodigal now returned will continue to bear his brother's enmity and be in his father's debt. McEntyre compares this with the attire of the prodigal -- that he will wear his past as a hair shirt regardless of the more festal vestments he dons over himself.

In all, this is a fascinating and wonderful text, a great meditation tool, and great for new insights into these important paintings.