A smooth weave of oral histories and scholarly analysis that shows that Catholic women are just like everyone else. Redmont, Northeast regional director of the National Conference of Catholics and Jews, draws on interviews with 110 women, aged 17 to 92, rich and poor, conservative and liberal, single, married, divorced, and widowed. The survey, then, is small but ``purposefully inclusive.'' By and large, these Catholic women echo the national mood: evenly divided on abortion, to mention the hottest topic, but with the same appealing idiosyncracies that one finds in America at large (pro-choice Republicans, pro-life feminists). Most oppose capital punishment, are uneasy about homosexuality, reject radical feminism but have a deep respect for the ``innate wisdom'' of women. On Catholic-oriented issues, where Redmont places most of her attention, results run the same. Half of the women pray regularly, go to confession, claim a devotion to Mary; the rest shrug off these traditional practices. The loudest argument with the Church is about divorce; the highest praise, for the Church's work against poverty. Two surprises: widespread ambivalence over ordination of women, and support from many Hispanics for the Church's ban on birth control. The oral histories have the ease and directness of chats with a backyard neighbor. Marlene Jones says that ``Jesus is the man who got me through my divorce.'' Nancy Vitti thinks the Pope ``should stay home a bit.'' Sylvia Park, 92, says, ``I thank God every day that I had my religion.'' Redmont celebrates this ordinariness and suggests that Catholicism is the most feminine of religions, pointing out that the belief that ``God is present in the ordinary life is characteristically Catholic. It is also characteristically female.'' An admirable survey, above all for its refusal to follow an ideological agenda. As such, far more valuable than recent agitprop on similar topics, such as Sherry Anderson and Patricia Hopkins's The Feminine Face of God (1991).
Pub Date: Sept. 18, 1992
ISBN: 0-688-06707-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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