What are you reading?

[gcdonner]

Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene by Bart Erhman.
Not recommended for the immature Christian, whether chronologically or otherwise.

[mike]

I'm listening to The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great by Ben Shapiro. A great book if you enjoy philosophy.

His central premise is that Athens (reason) and Jerusalem (Judeo-Christian values) made Western civilization great, and that secularism is destroying Western civilization. He gives a brief summary of philosophy over the last 2,000 years. Shapiro (an Orthodox Jew) views Christianity as Judaism repackaged with some secular ideas, but he admits that Christianity has influenced civilization in a way Judaism never could have done.

This book isn't from a Christian perspective, so there's a lot to disagree with. Christians are called to follow Jesus, not spread Judeo-Christian values. But there's no question people who have Judeo-Christian values benefit from doing so.

I'm reading the hard copy of this book also. Interesting so far, and I'm curious how he will tie it all up at the end.

[Robert]

Just finished "One Second After." It is a fictional account of a small community in NC if the US was hit by an Electro-Magnetic Pulse device and knocked out all the electronics in North America. This one was well researched and very realistic. No zombies, just people struggling and trying to survive. Reminds us on how dependent we are on our technology. EMP devices are real and very capable of doing what the book lays out. Almost all mods of transportation would stop. Few communities can feed themselves right now without our massive transportation system.

I do enjoy post-apocalyptic novels. I draw the line at zombies. That just gets ridiculous.

[PeterG]

A lot of the things people get all worked up about seem overblown to me, but EMPs are among the few that truly give me pause. Even more concerning are solar storms like the Carrington Event, which could happen at any time completely independent of any human activity.

Anyway, y'all trust the Lord and keep reading.

[Robert]

Just finished "One Second After." It is a fictional account of a small community in NC if the US was hit by an Electro-Magnetic Pulse device and knocked out all the electronics in North America. This one was well researched and very realistic. No zombies, just people struggling and trying to survive. Reminds us on how dependent we are on our technology. EMP devices are real and very capable of doing what the book lays out. Almost all mods of transportation would stop. Few communities can feed themselves right now without our massive transportation system.

I do enjoy post-apocalyptic novels. I draw the line at zombies. That just gets ridiculous.

I am quite upset at our county librarians. One encouraged me to read this book. Now I was just planning on shelving reading for the summer, she tells me there is a sequel to this book, "One Year After." I ordered it and it should be in this week. Now I have another book to read. These kind of books are interesting to me because I try to consider how we Anabaptists might react and respond in situations like this. Very challenging and no easy answers often, but still good to think it through.

[MaxPC]

Just finished "One Second After." It is a fictional account of a small community in NC if the US was hit by an Electro-Magnetic Pulse device and knocked out all the electronics in North America. This one was well researched and very realistic. No zombies, just people struggling and trying to survive. Reminds us on how dependent we are on our technology. EMP devices are real and very capable of doing what the book lays out. Almost all mods of transportation would stop. Few communities can feed themselves right now without our massive transportation system.

I do enjoy post-apocalyptic novels. I draw the line at zombies. That just gets ridiculous.

I am quite upset at our county librarians. One encouraged me to read this book. Now I was just planning on shelving reading for the summer, she tells me there is a sequel to this book, "One Year After." I ordered it and it should be in this week. Now I have another book to read. These kind of books are interesting to me because I try to consider how we Anabaptists might react and respond in situations like this. Very challenging and no easy answers often, but still good to think it through.

It's a conspiracy to addict you to reading, that is. Seriously, I have a preference for that kind of fiction too. There were a number of Cold War novels in the 1950s that imagined society after a nuclear holocaust. The best ones do make you think about how you would deal with a post-apocalyptic world and still remain a Christian in word and deed. On the Beach by Nevil Shute was one of the better ones.

Here's a thought: if an EMP weapon were to be deployed, the Amish would take over America that much faster since they shun such technology.

[Ms. Izzie]

I just got finished with Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton. This novel about South Africa was published in 1948. Here are some quotes from the book:

"I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power or money, but desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it."

"Which do we suffer, a law-abiding, industrious and purposeful native people, or a lawless, idle and purposeless people? The truth is, that we do not know, for we fear them both."

"The truth is that our civilization is not Christian; it is a tragic compound of great ideal and fearful practice, of high assurance and desperate anxiety, of loving charity and fearful clutching of possessions."

Also, this summer I read The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam by Eliza Griswold. This one is written by a journalist who went there to investigate.

[gcdonner]

I just finished reading "Brutchko" for the second time. Still compelling and inspiring to me.

[JimFoxvog]

I just finished Jim Douglass's JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died & Why it Matters.

Very powerful and quite a peace witness. If you are interested in peacemaking this is highly recommended.

The main thesis is that the CIA and related groups were behind the assassination because JFK was trying to end the cold war because of his Christian faith. It is well-documented. If the "deep state" concerns you, this gives quite the account of how it worked in the 1960s.

Background: In the 1980s I worked tracking the "Nuclear Train" carrying nuclear warheads from the plant in Amarillo, Texas to the Trident base in King's Bay, Georgia. We did this in coordination with Jim Douglass's group, Ground Zero, in Washington state which tracked the train when it went west. We notified peace groups along the tracks that would then meet the train with protests. I already had quite a respect for Jim Douglass.

[Szdfan]

I find myself reading multiple books at once (and struggling to finish them), but one I’m currently reading is Brujerias: Stories of Witchcraft and the Supernatural in the American Southwest and Beyond by Nestor Garcia. It’s an anthropological collection of folk stories and beliefs among Hispanics in the Southwest, particularly New Mexico.

I’m reading it because I have an interest in folklore and I’m trying to understand the culture in my region better. Many of my co-workers were told stories growing up about monsters like “La Llorona” — the wailing woman who kidnaps naughty children who don’t listen to their parents.