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LIVING IN THE CHILDREN OF GOD

A curious volume about the cult known as the Children of God, from Van Zandt, a sociologist (Law/Northeastern) who infiltrated a British branch. The Children of God was one of the cults that sprang up in the 1960's and 70's, part of an evangelistic movement known collectively as the Jesus People (or, more irritably, as ``Jesus freaks''). It drew attention initially, says the author, because it required members to drop out of the system and join ``Family'' communes and later because its leader, David Berg (``Moses David''), espoused sexual activity for its members that went far beyond even the new freedom of the flower children. Introducing children to sex (usually, although not always, with other children) at an early age, using sex to lure new members in a proselytizing gambit called ``Flirty Fishing,'' Berg directed the sexual activity of his followers through pastoral letters known as ``Mo letters.'' The author joined one group covertly for a month, spent another two months with another colony with the permission of the leaders, and kept in touch with members and leaders (not Berg) for another several years, ending in 1978. His aim was to find out what it was like living within a so-called ``programmed'' community—boring, for the most part, it turns out, even to some believers. Days were spent reading the ``Word'' (of Bible or Berg), ``litnessing'' (distributing literature to unwary pedestrians), and doing chores. All that sex sounds more uninhibited than it was, since many of the members weren't enthusiastic about the policies and didn't participate. And although massive verbal efforts were made to restrain them, there was no physical force used to keep members from leaving the group. Overall, despite some interesting anecdotes, Van Zandt's presentation is flat, his observations thin, his conclusions amorphous. The ``Mo letter'' reproduced in an appendix has a lot more punch. (Nine halftones—not seen.)

Pub Date: Nov. 30, 1991

ISBN: 0-691-09463-2

Page Count: 236

Publisher: Princeton Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1991

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THE MYTH OF SISYPHUS

AND OTHER ESSAYS

This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.

Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955

ISBN: 0679733736

Page Count: 228

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955

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THE ART OF SOLITUDE

A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.

A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.

“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.

A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.

Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0

Page Count: 200

Publisher: Yale Univ.

Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019

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