Comments on: Jesus Camp http://celera.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/jesus-camp/ Read. Comment. Relax. Sun, 16 Aug 2009 02:11:11 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Rachel http://celera.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/jesus-camp/#comment-251 Rachel Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:47:54 +0000 http://celera.wordpress.com/?p=95#comment-251 <blockquote>it bothered me most that the kids learned a lot about how abortion is wrong, and evolution is wrong, but apparently not very much about the more mundane duties of faith — being honest and helpful and considerate and humble</blockquote> Exactly.

it bothered me most that the kids learned a lot about how abortion is wrong, and evolution is wrong, but apparently not very much about the more mundane duties of faith — being honest and helpful and considerate and humble

Exactly.

]]> By: celera http://celera.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/jesus-camp/#comment-250 celera Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:00:52 +0000 http://celera.wordpress.com/?p=95#comment-250 I heard that writer in some interviews, Tom, and the book does sound interesting. One point that evolves is that of course nobody follows the Bible literally, and to do so isn't really possible. Even the most fundamentalist Christians skip certain things, saying they pertain to different cultures or different "dispensations." Jacobs talked in one interview about his experience stoning an adulterer. It is one of the Levitical requirements, although I recall the stoning was of the mildest sort imaginable. It sounds like the book is funny and thought-provoking, which is a great combination. I heard that writer in some interviews, Tom, and the book does sound interesting. One point that evolves is that of course nobody follows the Bible literally, and to do so isn’t really possible. Even the most fundamentalist Christians skip certain things, saying they pertain to different cultures or different “dispensations.”

Jacobs talked in one interview about his experience stoning an adulterer. It is one of the Levitical requirements, although I recall the stoning was of the mildest sort imaginable. It sounds like the book is funny and thought-provoking, which is a great combination.

]]> By: Tom Twaiten http://celera.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/jesus-camp/#comment-249 Tom Twaiten Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:36:49 +0000 http://celera.wordpress.com/?p=95#comment-249 Hi Julie: A very interesting post. By coincidence, I've been reading a book about religion with a very different approach. It's "The Year of Living Biblically," in which the author relates his experience in trying to follow all the rules in the Bible as literally as possible for a whole year. While the book is very entertaining and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, it is not an attempt to belittle religion or make fun of it. The author, A. J. Jacobs, is a staff writer for Esquire, and his motive in writing the book is literary and monetary rather than religious. He's just looking for a good topic for a book. While he isn't trying to make any points, some appear anyway. One is that religions evolve over time. Another is that the Bible is complicated enough to require interpretation. Jacobs has a list of experts he consults at times. One is a retired Protestant minister, referred to at times as the pastor out to pasture, and another is an Orthodox Jew from Minnesota, who is referred to once as a Jewtheran (combining Jewish guilt and Lutheran repression). The author describes himself as an agnostic Jew, but he makes a real attempt to get inside his subject, and not just analyze it from the outside. I've gone on at such length because the book makes an interesting (to me, anyway) counterpoint to the experience you describe in your post. Hi Julie: A very interesting post. By coincidence, I’ve been reading a book about religion with a very different approach. It’s “The Year of Living Biblically,” in which the author relates his experience in trying to follow all the rules in the Bible as literally as possible for a whole year. While the book is very entertaining and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, it is not an attempt to belittle religion or make fun of it. The author, A. J. Jacobs, is a staff writer for Esquire, and his motive in writing the book is literary and monetary rather than religious. He’s just looking for a good topic for a book. While he isn’t trying to make any points, some appear anyway. One is that religions evolve over time. Another is that the Bible is complicated enough to require interpretation. Jacobs has a list of experts he consults at times. One is a retired Protestant minister, referred to at times as the pastor out to pasture, and another is an Orthodox Jew from Minnesota, who is referred to once as a Jewtheran (combining Jewish guilt and Lutheran repression). The author describes himself as an agnostic Jew, but he makes a real attempt to get inside his subject, and not just analyze it from the outside. I’ve gone on at such length because the book makes an interesting (to me, anyway) counterpoint to the experience you describe in your post.

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