For such an argument, see John van der Zee’s Agony in the Garden (Feb. 2003).
A flabby account of a dispiriting matter—namely, sexual abuse at the hands of priests.
In the 1980s and before, writes journalist France (Bag of Toys: Sex, Scandal, and the Death Mask Murder, 1992), without offering much in the way of evidence, little attention was given to instances of such abuse “thanks to cozy relationships among the Church, courts, and media.” That that priestly crime now commands the front pages of so many newspapers owes much to laypeople who, disgusted at what they perceived to be inaction and even cover-up on the part of the Catholic hierarchy, took matters into their own hands in communities across the country. American Catholics have effected such rebellions in the past, France suggests, offering as a useful example their overwhelming rejection of Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical on birth control, “the most disastrous for the Church in modern times,” which even the national conference of bishops opposed. That encyclical, France argues, was symptomatic of the Church’s unrealistic attitude on matters of sex, particularly in light of the sexual revolution sweeping the outside world at the time. The “generation of clerics who entered seminary in the buttoned-up 1950s and reemerged in the 1960s” behaved badly, so much so that a psychological report to the 1971 synod of bishops estimated that only “10–15 percent of all priests in Western Europe and North America are mature.” The bulk of France’s account is given over to campaigns on the part of the laity to remove “immature” priests from office, very often against the wishes of the Church itself, which has instead sought to protect the good name of bad people. His narrative, however, is excessively anecdotal and too often unfocused; a tighter, more economical argument would have been more useful, especially on so controversial a subject.
For such an argument, see John van der Zee’s Agony in the Garden (Feb. 2003).Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2004
ISBN: 0-7679-1430-9
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Broadway
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A meandering, uneven fire-and-brimstone sermon.
America’s post-war cohort should repent its godless ways before it’s too late, according to Winley’s jeremiad.
Writing in the persona of “Baby Boom Prophet” Jonah Ubiquitous, Winley, a minister at Harlem’s Soul Saving Station for Every Nation, subjects those born between 1946 and 1964 to a serious scolding. His demographic rationale is two-fold. First, the boomer generation authored the culture of sexual permissiveness, abortion, homosexuality, drug abuse, violence, welfare dependency, personal irresponsibility and unorthodox spirituality that he blames for America’s moral rot and the travails of the African-American community. Second, a recap of four decades’ worth of boomer-dominated history, from the 1960s assassinations to Monica-gate and the war in Iraq, serves as a framework for viewing modern times as a parade of depravity, war, natural disaster and apostasy, all of it leading inevitably to Armageddon. Winley’s manifesto interweaves disparate themes, stories and registers. There is a murky digression into a failed publishing venture, a confusing discourse on the structure of Heaven (the fourth heaven is the paradise where saved humans go, while hell itself is “a type of heaven”) and a dash of end-times numerology (“June 6, 2006, represents forty years from the symbolic birth of the Anti-Christ world ruler (6-6-66)”). There’s some religious-right politics—Winley denounces materialism and money-grubbing while defending George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the rich and decides that the Christian injunction to turn the other cheek need not apply to Al Qaeda. And there is a persistent voice crying out in the wilderness, warning that “racial hatred, murder of innocents, political corruption, family disintegration, killer children, home-grown terrorism, violence, greed, lust, and every imaginable evil dwell within the borders of the United States.” Winley’s message is standard Christian Fundamentalist doctrine, but in some passages—especially during a long, affecting parable about a black man who, after an abusive upbringing, lands in prison, where Jonah tries to bring him to the Lord—he writes with real pathos about the moral chaos that ravages men’s souls.
A meandering, uneven fire-and-brimstone sermon.Pub Date: April 30, 2007
ISBN: 978-0595417636
Page Count: 175
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Believers may recognize their own Odd or Even behaviors in this succinct portrayal of living a life of faith in the modern...
In his short guidebook Ololo (The Shepard Leader, 2013), a “Bible-reading, Bible-believing, and Bible-living son of God,” offers a concise collection of spiritual wisdom for fellow believers.
Believers, according to Ololo, can be separated into two categories: the Odd and the Even. The Odd are those sincerely motivated and guided by faith in every aspect of their lives. In opposition, the Even may call themselves believers, but their motivations lay in the secular world and sincere faith isn’t evident in their actions. Each chapter focuses on a specific area where the Odd are expected to let their faith shine. Beginning with the first chapter, “Service,” the Odd recognize that serving others is a fundamental charge given by God; as Jesus served, so must believers serve with a willing and humble heart, says Ololo. To serve with the expectation of reward or to be motivated to serve by the desire for gratification is to stand with the Even. Subsequent chapters on talent, niceness, godliness and other core traits are presented in a similar manner. Ololo describes the Odd’s way of infusing life with faith and how to distinguish these actions from those of the Even. The comparisons he draws between the sincere and insincere aren’t without merit, and scriptural references help support Ololo’s version of faithful living. Acknowledging the difficulty in resisting temptation, Ololo makes the effort to avoid sounding judgmental; however, the effort isn’t always successful. As such, some readers may be reminded of the parable of the Pharisee and the publican in Luke’s Gospel, (Luke 18:10–15) in which the Pharisee counts his deeds as evidence of his superior faith. As Jesus points out, “[A]ll who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Believers may recognize their own Odd or Even behaviors in this succinct portrayal of living a life of faith in the modern world.Pub Date: May 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-1770679726
Page Count: 144
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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