Average customer rating:
- He's no John Cheever
- Dazzling, a tremendous accomplishment
- Boo
- Wasp Death
- Brilliant. Funny. Heartbreaking.
|
Purple America: A Novel
Rick Moody
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Moody, Rick
| ( M )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Popular Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Book Clubs
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Garden State: A Novel
-
The Black Veil
-
The Ice Storm: A Novel
-
Demonology: Stories
-
The Diviners
ASIN: 0316559776 |
Amazon.com
Purple America begins in a bathtub and ends in Long Island Sound. In between, Rick Moody's latest novel explores the landscape of a family in crisis. Dexter (Hex) Raitliffe, a freelance publicist, returns home to care for his mother, Billie, who is dying by inches of a neurological disease that will rob her of motion, of speech, and finally of thought. Billie's second husband has left her--a fact that Hex is unaware of until he comes home--and her only hope for assisted suicide lies in her son. Unfortunately, Hex is barely able to conduct his own life, much less take his mother's. Purple America takes place over the course of a single night; in that night, Hex gives his mother a bath, reconnects with an old love, gets drunk, and goes after his stepfather to confront him, with tragic results.
As Moody weaves his tale of this fateful Friday evening, he juxtaposes themes of aging, obsolescence, and physical decline with an accident at the nuclear power plant where his stepfather works. What lifts this novel above its rather depressing subject matter is Moody's unsentimental storytelling and the soaring language with which he gives his characters voice. Purple America is by turns lyrical, tragic, ferocious, and funny, and Rick Moody is a writer with a brilliant future ahead of him.
Book Description
Purple America begins in a bathtub and ends in Long Island Sound. Inbetween, Rick Moody's latest novel explores the landscape of a family in crisis. Dexter(Hex) Raitliffe, a freelance publicist, returns home to care for his mother, Billie, who isdying by inches of a neurological disease that will rob her of motion, of speech, andfinally of thought. Billie's second husband has left her--a fact that Hex is unaware of untilhe comes home--and her only hope for assisted suicide lies in her son. Unfortunately,Hex is barely able to conduct his own life, much less take his mother's. PurpleAmerica takes place over the course of a single night; in that night,Hex gives hismother a bath, reconnects with an old love, gets drunk, and goes after his stepfather toconfront him, with tragic results. As Moody weaves his tale of this fateful Friday evening, he juxtaposes themes of aging,obsolescence, and physical decline with an accident at the nuclear power plant where hisstepfather works. What lifts this novel above its rather depressing subject matter isMoody's unsentimental storytelling and the soaring language with which he gives hischaracters voice. Purple America is by turns lyrical,tragic, ferocious, and funny,and Rick Moody is a writer with a brilliant future ahead of him.
Customer Reviews:
He's no John Cheever.......2007-08-25
This is a novel that enraged me. He's been compared to one of my favorites, John Cheever, by many well-meaning critics, but rather than a young writer taking some cues from Cheever's careful and lightly applied poetry and sentiment as regards infidelity, alcoholism, insanity and lurking bi-sexuality, Moody is as effusive as busted water main. All of the previously described elements are there, but without Cheever's wit, irony or craft. None of his grace, either. Moody is one of these young novelists who are in a hurry to cram the world into each paragraph, with the goal being not to persuade the reader to go along with a story but rather to make the telling as intense as possible.
This is the kind of ham handed narrative style that is a prose equivalent of an Oliver Stone movie, the uneasy work of an artist obsessed with keeping their "edge". Moody may have kept his edge, suggested by the jittery run-on disasters this rag of a novel lays out, but it's nothing worth sitting down for. Purple America, though, is worth throwing away.
Dazzling, a tremendous accomplishment.......2006-02-22
There are a number of valid complaints to make about the rigmarole that characterizes Rick Moody's distinctive type of writing - it's long-winded, it's morose, it's prone to sometimes arbitrary shifts into italics. Yet after finishing Purple America in record time, I realize that Moody's baroque and intricate hyperacute sense of detail and syntax (its 298 pages cover barely 12 hours) allows for an incredibly close understanding of his characters' consciousness, and leads to an experience of such precise sensory understanding, it transcends simple ideas of setting and location - it fully and specifically inhabits a life. It also, amongst all the Moody works I've read, renders his love of italics in the clearest light - each phrase hammering home the notion of phrases and words repeated in public consciousness, rendering the way voices, echoes, and ideas become essential in the formation of thoughts, emotions, and identity. Purple America seems destined for a few possible outcomes, and for a while you feel yourself inching closer to them, only to be thwarted, leaving certain threads dangling - a choice frustrating to be certain, but in the most rewarding way - you'll be left to agonize over Moody's precision of ideas and circumstances, tiny details leading to any number of enormous everyday outcomes. His final image of Hex Raitliffe is far from conclusive, but it is unshakeable, a precarious desperation given vivid charge and dimension.
Boo.......2005-09-12
Moody's novel, Purple America bored me. There is a sure reason for the low price.
Yes, his character's are dysfunctional. Yes, they bleed strange characteristics,but i wasn't entertained. I give it three stars because Moody's reoccuring mood resembled a tainted Palahniuk novel. I wouldn't reccommend this novel and don't plan on reading anything else written by Moody, as harsh as it sounds.
Wasp Death.......2004-08-10
Reading Rick Moody's Purple America is like spying on a dysfunctional family's bathroom, you see everything. Read this novel at your own risk, for you will experience decay and destruction with little catharsis. The writing is as well done as you could ask. The characters are well rounded and believable. My only issue with this novel is that I came to the table ill prepared to handle the depressing narration. So, read it but realize what you are in for.
Brilliant. Funny. Heartbreaking........2004-01-06
This is the most complete, nuanced, and beautiful work I've read by Rick Moody. It's jammed with his witty observations, scathing cynicism, and ironic beauty, and it's a great introduction to his memorable character development and unique writing style.
Customer Reviews:
ENJOYABLE CONCLUSION!.......2003-05-01
Who is that cover guy? I have tracked him on more than several covers. Best part of the book [grin]
The murder mystery of Frannie Granger, "Mom Fran" rolls on - a bit light on clues and threats but nicely damaging.
Tessa comes across as a bit wishy, being under her mother's thumb a bit much and is willing to settle for an affair?
Will McClain came across as a stronger character, enough to tone down Sheriff Fielder. Logan Fielder tended to mellow out in this story. Got a bit of a chuckle on Amanda Jennings attempts to pick up again with Will. Did she think she was still back in high school?
Then there was Ray Jennings snobbish attempts to put down Will and others in his town. Joleen Berber finally got in her two cents worth and settled everyone's hash.
Loved the final tie-ins that brought together Jed Louis and his wife Gwyn, Emmy-M, Riley Gray Wolf and Alanna & Will and finally Tessa. They all had learned the value of the family circle.
The mystery was pretty decent, the action was good but the romances were kind of like wet noodles. I have found that denial and frustration lends to a more passionate build-up and makes you want more. These three "ladies"? just didn't promote very strong romantic feelings. [The characters not the writers]
The series is a good read and will recommend but not keep.
The perfect finale to this mini-series.......2001-06-13
Texas Ranger Will McClain learns two months after the newspaper published the story that the bones of Frannie Granger were found near Uncertain, Texas. Unable to ignore what happened to his beloved foster mother, Will travels to Uncertain where he stops archeologist Tessa Lang, discoverer of the remains of Frannie,from continuing her dig.
The real shock to Will is to realize Sheriff Fielder believes his foster brother Jed Louis killed Frannie. Will refuses to believe that and plans to learn the truth about who killed Frannie. Still, Will admits all the evidence makes it seem as Jed is guilty, and though it alienates him from his foster sister Emma, he will do the job, even arresting his foster brother. However, to his and her amazement, Will and Tessa soon fall in love, but even that will not stop Will from his obsession to find out who killed Frannie.
The Third and final Tale in the "Return to East Texas" miniseries, A MAN OF HIS WORD, is a powerful climax to a strong romantic suspense mini-series. The story line combines a warm relationship drama with an engaging police procedural. Lead characters and other cast members return to round out a terrific book and trilogy.
Harriet Klausner
An intricate tangle of murder, lies and love.......2001-06-12
Fans of the Return To East Texas series will enjoy this final segment, A MAN OF HIS WORD by Eva Gaddy. When Will McClain, the third foster child of Frannie Granger, returns to Uncertain, Texas, loose ends are tied up and the mystery of Frannie's death, as well as Emmy Monday's birth, are finally resolved.
Remembered more as the prodigal son than an admirable character, Texas Ranger Will McClain arranges to investigate his foster mother's murder twenty years after the fact when an archeologist unearths Frannie's bones. His foster brother stands accused of the murder and its up to Will to prove Jed's innocence, despite the circumstantial evidence. Questions of loyalty to family and to one's sworn career make Will's job even more challenging. And there's also the matter of the gorgeous red head with the temper to match that wants back on the archeological site.
Tessa curses the day she uncovered the old bones on her Caddo Indian burial mound dig. The project that was supposed to allow her to complete her degree and insure her career comes to a screeching halt while local law enforcement crawls over the site and refused to allow her to continue her work. As time slips away, so do her grant and her future. Then, on the day the sheriff finally agrees to let her back on site, the Texas Ranger had to arrive and put her on hold again.
However, Tessa gets her wish, in a round about way, when Will visits the site and realizes the devastation the sheriff's department has wrought. The site looks like a nuclear explosion rather than the scene of a crime, and valuable evidence could have been destroyed. Consequently, Will convinces Tessa to work for him, excavating the crime scene while her students return to the Indian Mounds. As their feelings draw them closer together, however, career and dreams prove to be a conflict of interest.
This intricate tangle of murder, lies and love creates a satisfying conclusion to the Return To East Texas series. As family ties and loyalties are questioned, Gaddy gracefully questions the meaning of family and arrives at rather unconventional conclusion, proving the bond of love strong than blood. The growth of the heroine as she learns to define her own values, based on her own desires rather than her family's values, also provides a sound lesson. And I must admit a soft spot for a hero not afraid to admit his emotions long before the heroine resolves her own feelings. A MAN OF HIS WORD is highly recommended.
An intricate tangle of murder, lies and love.......2001-06-07
Fans of the Return To East Texas series will enjoy this final segment, A MAN OF HIS WORD by Eva Gaddy. When Will McClain, the third foster child of Frannie Granger, returns to Uncertain, Texas, loose ends are tied up and the mystery of Frannie's death, as well as Emmy Monday's birth, are finally resolved.
Remembered more as the prodigal son than an admirable character, Texas Ranger Will McClain arranges to investigate his foster mother's murder twenty years after the fact when an archeologist unearths Frannie's bones. His foster brother stands accused of the murder and its up to Will to prove Jed's innocence, despite the circumstantial evidence. Questions of loyalty to family and to one's sworn career make Will's job even more challenging. And there's also the matter of the gorgeous red head with the temper to match that wants back on the archeological site.
Tessa curses the day she uncovered the old bones on her Caddo Indian burial mound dig. The project that was supposed to allow her to complete her degree and insure her career comes to a screeching halt while local law enforcement crawls over the site and refused to allow her to continue her work. As time slips away, so do her grant and her future. Then, on the day the sheriff finally agrees to let her back on site, the Texas Ranger had to arrive and put her on hold again.
However, Tessa gets her wish, in a round about way, when Will visits the site and realizes the devastation the sheriff's department has wrought. The site looks like a nuclear explosion rather than the scene of a crime, and valuable evidence could have been destroyed. Consequently, Will convinces Tessa to work for him, excavating the crime scene while her students return to the Indian Mounds. As their feelings draw them closer together, however, career and dreams prove to be a conflict of interest.
This intricate tangle of murder, lies and love creates a satisfying conclusion to the Return To East Texas series. As family ties and loyalties are questioned, Gaddy gracefully questions the meaning of family and arrives at rather unconventional conclusion, proving the bond of love strong than blood. The growth of the heroine as she learns to define her own values, based on her own desires rather than her family's values, also provides a sound lesson. And I must admit a soft spot for a hero not afraid to admit his emotions long before the heroine resolves her own feelings. A MAN OF HIS WORD is highly recommended.
Book Description
There's no fun in dysfunctional
Small-town laundress Josie Toadfern has her own fair share of dirty laundry -- namely the Toadfern clan! Ostracized from the family unit ever since her parents dumped eight-year-old Josie in a local orphanage, the stain-busting dynamo's stunned to find herself invited to crabby old family matriarch "Mamaw" Toadfern's Thanksgiving celebration -- and too curious to refuse.
But an even bigger shock is waiting for her there: Josie's long lost mom and pop, blandly unapologetic and full of new -- probably illegal -- get-rich-quick schemes. And when a dead body is tossed into the already explosive chaos of bitter feelings, intra-family feuding, and incinerated turkey meat, Josie finds herself in the most uncomfortable position of having to prove her disreputable dad innocent of murder. But cleaning up messes is Josie's business. And sometimes blood is thicker than cranberry sauce -- and a much more difficult stain to eliminate.
Customer Reviews:
Dysfunctional family and murder.......2007-01-04
Josie Toadfern has been separated from her family since she was eight. Her parents dropped her off in the local orphanage, and her dad's family refused to have anything to do with her.
Now her grandma "Mamaw" Toadfern wants her to come to Thanksgiving dinner. Against her better judgment, she accepts. Once there, she regrets going. Even more so when her long lost parents show up for dinner. Things go from bad to worse when she finds a dead relative while out walking with a friend.
Her mom begs her to help clear her father's name. She doesn't want to do it. But to keep peace in the town, she decides to help. Can she clear her father's name and keep them from ruining the town with their new get-rich scheme? Can she do all this without putting herself in danger?
In the meantime, she is having second thoughts about her situation with her boyfriend.
Josie is a great character. I always enjoy reading a book in this series. She is so down to earth and likeable. It doesn't surprise me all the situations she gets into.
The author has done a great job of creating a town full of quirky but likeable characters. I can't wait for the next book. I highly recommend this book and the whole series.
Better Than The Last One.......2006-11-29
I really didn't enjoy the last book in this series much, so I was glad to find this one a much better read.
The thing I didn't like about this one was how wimpy Josie seemed. Her parents left her when she was a child, but she never stood up to them about it...she just kept going along meekly with whatever her mother said or wanted. She never stood up to her grandmother about cutting her off from the family. And she never stood up to Owen for basically ending their relationship, instead talking and acting like they were still a couple.
I'd like to see Josie grow a backbone in future installments, and stop allowing herself to be everyone's doormat.
fun family drama .......2006-02-01
In Paradise, Ohio Josie Toadfern was two when her daddy abandoned her; not long afterward her mother dumped her in an orphanage. Whereas her paternal side led by her grandma said she was dead, her maternal Uncle Horace and Aunt Clara raised her as if she was their offspring. Twenty-two years later, her father's mother septuagenarian Mamaw Toadfern wants to allegedly see her after all this time when she only lived on the other side of the river from where Josie grew up and now runs Toadfern's Laundromat while claiming to be the national expert on stain removal.
Thus that is why she is having Thanksgiving with the Toadfern brood when her parents arrive. They want to forget the past offering a deal involving a flea market. However, unforgiving Uncle Fenwick Toadfern rejects the peace offering with the two men threatening to kill one another. Not long afterward someone kills Fenwick trying to make it seem like a suicide, but local officials think hid death is a homicide and hone in on Josie's daddy as the prime suspect. Josie believes someone else killed her uncle after removing a stain from his favorite shirt.
The first half of the tale is a soap opera family drama that introduces the audience to a horde of Toads and a heroine struggling with a sudden rash of relatives who never recognized her as alive until now including her biological parents. The interrelation dynamics are interesting to follow as the audience gain insight mostly from the baffled heroine who understands stain removal a lot better than blood relatives. The suspense comes in the latter half as fans along with Josie will learn that family is inside the heart, not the blood.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
Many years before he formed the Mag Force 7 team of commandos-for-hire, Xriswas a government agent, betrayed by one of his own while invesigating the galaxy-wide crime explosion which killed his partner and left him a cyborg. Now, while the rest of the Mag Force 7 is on a mission to overthrow a small planet's despot, Xris has been set up on false charges and sent to a prison planet where he's blackmailed into helping the Hung leaders escape. But who engineered Xris' imrisonment and why? And can he find the answers without getting himself killed...
Margaret Weis is the author of 12 New YorkTimes bestsellers Margaret Weis is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times bestselling author Fast-paced action and dialogue appeals tospace opera readership Hung Out is the third book in the Mag Force 7 series following Knights of the Black Earth and Robot Blues Knights of the Black Earth is a Main Selection of the Science Fiction Book Club Margaret Weis and Don Perrin have their own website.
Customer Reviews:
Aww..........2007-05-22
It ended. Sad to see it come but I am glad to have been able to read it.
I LOVE Raoul.
Hung Out wraps up the Mag Force 7 series.......2000-06-28
Xris and Mag Force 7 have been hired by someone unknown for a mission. However, right when the mission is to start, Xris is arrestd.......for murdering Dalin Rowan. Everyone knows this charge is fake....but he gets sent to jail for another mission....to break the Hung leaders out of Jango. But Xris must do this by himself, while the rest of the group completes the mission. There is a rat in FISA, but who is it, and why do they want Xris dead?
The Knights of the Black Earth.......2000-01-12
The Knights of the Black Earth (Margaret Weis is a fantastic book, which I could not drop for three days. It includes Sci-fi, drama, action and much more.
It features wonderful characters, with a huge variety and even introduces old favourites from the Star of the Gaurdians series (also Margaret Weis). It is a must read.
Outstanding!.......1999-10-17
Instead of writing a detailed review, I will will just defer to my one-line summary. OUTSTANDING! You really must read the other novels in the Mag Force 7 series. And the Star of Guardians series too.
Very Entertaining.......1999-07-31
The Mag Force 7 Series is very enterataining stuff, and Hung Out moves quickly with well developed and likeable characters.
Product Description
Detailed account of the defense of Corredgidor, including examination of the controversy surrounding its surrender.
Average customer rating:
|
Hung Out to Die (Center Point Premier Mystery (Lage Print))
Sharon Gwyn Short
Manufacturer: Center Point Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Women Sleuths
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Literature & Fiction
| Large Print
| Formats
| Books
Mystery & Thrillers
| Large Print
| Formats
| Books
ASIN: 1585477648 |
Book Description
Whitten outlines what Christians need to know about proper relations between religion, Christian or otherwise, and government. Far from being a "myth" or a "lie," church-state separation is a constitutional principle and philosophy that is enshrined within the First Amendment.
Written in an accessible, popular style, The Myth of Christian America provides sound scholarship in defense of the exposition of constitutional church-state separation.
Whitten argues against the popular, but ill-founded thesis that America was constitutionally and institutionally founded to be a "Christian nation." He argues for a robust, yet properly advanced constitutional separation of church and state and full religious liberty for all.
The "wall of separation" metaphor expresses an important truth and ideal. However, it is not always helpful in considering specific cases of church-state relations. Civility and wisdom are required for often complex and controversial issues of the relations between religion and government, church and state.
Customer Reviews:
Very balanced.......2005-12-15
This book is very balanced, and is not hostile to religion. It argues very fairly for the separation of church and state in the U.S., and explains why it is important, and all the Supreme Court cases over the years that have established this principle very clearly in the U.S. I highly recommend this well-researched, and balanced book.
Great Book for Study and Group Discussion.......2005-06-27
The book includes eight appendices with excerpts of important historical documents, making it easy to read original source material and form one's own judgments concerning the intent of the Founding Fathers. The authors proceed through nine short chapters (each followed by excellent discussion questions) to demonstrate that regardless of what the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers may have been as individuals, they did not desire that the Constituion create a Christian Nation. Indeed, they demonstrate quite persuasively that the notion that the United States was founded as a Christian Nation is a myth. More and more conservative Christians today seem to argue that separation of church and state is not found in, or founded upon the Constitution. I wish I could get them all to read this easy to read book, because as a conservative Christian myself, it worries me that there are so many uniformed people ready to believe leaders who tell them that separation of church and state is a myth.
Clarify a lie.......2005-04-26
While I recommend this book, it is not without reservation.
Mr. Whitten states his objective is to "communicate the constitutional philosophy and principle of church-state separation to pastors, laypersons, and anyone who is not conversant with the discipline of church-state studies." Mr. Whitten wants his fellow Christians to embrace the legacy of Baptists at our founding and build their ideology on America's ideals rather than falling for the propaganda spewing forth from today's religious right hungry for political power.
While I admire the accuracy of Mr. Whitten's claims, I'll grade his effort an incomplete regarding his providing his target audience sufficient evidence that our founders were intent on creating a secular government whose leaders had the freedom to embrace what they termed "freedom of conscience".
I admit I'm not part of Whitten's target audience because I'm quite conversant on the relationship between church and state at the time of our founding and already knew that the creation of our government was based on the objective to eradicate influence by religion on civic matters to ensure America was truly free. Though those principles weren't perfectly executed at our founding, just like "privileges and immunities" rights weren't protected beyond propertied white men upon ratification of the Constitution either; we aspire to the principle; execution in an environment of prejudice is always challenging. I read the book because I wanted to understand how well Mr. Whitten communicated with the religious right so intent on revising history and pushing to mutate our government into a form of theocratic fascism and whether he provided an adequate argument to cause those that really care for our country to reconsider their attempts to extend the government power and reduce our religious freedom.
First off, while the title of the book is provocative, it will most likely immediately alienate his target audience. I doubt most evangelicals and fundamentalists define "myth" the way a historian or scholar would, instead believing it to mean "lie". Since most people seek out books to re-affirm their beliefs rather than challenge those beliefs, the title alone will significantly reduce the number of people who will buy and read Whitten's book that are a member of Whitten's target audience.
The book is structured into 9 distinct essays, some of which I will expound on:
Religious Liberty for Thee, But Not for Me?
Whitten make the case that religious liberty can only be assured if the government is unable to endorse a particular religion. A short well-written argument that is self-evident to any rational person; Whitten also expounds the point that it is irrelevant to the leaders of today's religious right since its not religious freedom they want, they already have that, it is the desire to use the power of the government to transform their dogma into law depriving Americans of some of their freedoms.
The Facts of Church-State Separation
While Whitten provides some evidence that our founders' objective was to create a wall, he depends too much on subsequent Supreme Court rulings rather than source material from our founders themselves. I would have added the text within the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli since it was formal U.S. policy signed by President Adams and unanimously ratified by Congress, which stated: "As the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen [Muslims] ... it is declared ... that no pretext arising from religious opinion shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries....
"The United States is not a Christian nation any more than it is a Jewish or a Mohammedan nation."
I would have also added numerous policy decisions by early Presidents reinforcing our secular government, along with providing information regarding the enemies of the framing of our Constitution, like Patrick Henry mentioned in a previous reader's review.
I believe this chapter also needed a discussion on the difference between the framers' verbal comments regarding their support of religion in Americans' lives and why their policy decisions (like the Tripoli Treaty or Madison's veto of government funding of faith-based charities) came down squarely on reinforcing an institutional separation between church and state. Recently Justice Scalia dissented in a 10C case (McLeary v. KY) where Scalia ignored founding policy and used verbal rhetoric providing evidence that our framers had faith; as if that somehow equated to their intent to institutionalize their faith by extending government power to endorse a particular sect.
The chapter where Mr. Whitten really shines is in the chapter commenting on the relationship between the two 1st amendment religion clauses and whether the original intent was to have equilibrium or whether one clause should be interpreted more broadly than the other term. I learned quite a bit from Mr. Whitten's analysis and believe this was the best commentary on this subject I've ever read. Mr. Whitten appears not to favor either of the three arguments, instead providing a fair analysis of all three and thus pushing me into a new area of interest. This would be an excellent topic for a new book by Mr. Whitten.
In the year 2005, the propagandists have been provided an even larger forum to distort our true legacy without rebuke; books like these are needed more now than ever before. I'd love to see Mr. Whitten republish this book, only with a new title and more evidence of the radical tact our framers took in creating a government of "We the People" with a government unable to govern our spiritual life or create 2nd class citizens of those that don't subscribe to the majoritarian sect or faction.
Regarding a below review by Mr. Tooley; his review states, "America was not founded by religionist but by Christians. It was not founded upon religions but upon the gospel of Jesus Christ" Patrick Henry"
While Patrick Henry helped America greatly to revolt against King George III, Henry did NOT advocate ratification of our Constitution partially based on its inherent secularism. Not only did Henry decide not to attend the Philadelphia Convention though he was invited, additionally he actively lobbied his state of Virginia NOT to ratify the Constitution. Previous efforts by Henry to establish the Christian religion in Virginia also failed, James Madison led an effort (culminiating in Madison's "Memorial and Remonstrance" essay) where Virginia's General Assy overwhelmingly defeated Henry's bill to establish Christianity as the State Religion and one year later, 1786, guaranteed Virginia's citizens religious freedom by a vote of 67 to 20.
So while Mr. Tooley's quote may be correct, I didn't verify it, it is certainly true that Mr. Tooley is quoting someone who is assurdely NOT a framer of the Constitution, the highest law of the land and the document which dictates the structure of our secular government whereby Americans claim certain rights and deprives the government of certain powers - like establishment of religion.
"Myth" makes its own myth.......2004-07-06
Whitten deals very little with documents, court cases, and ordinances which clearly show that the framers valued and sought to foster religious moral principles as beneficial to the nation. The moral priciples of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. were influences recognized as beneficial by the framers. Whitten argues that the idea of "Christian America" is a myth, but does not define "Christian America" as the framers would have. The focus of "Christian America" is the major moral influence of Christianity upon the nation. For example, an avowed Christian, Benjamin Rush is quoted "Such is my veneration for every religion that reveals the attributes of the Deity, or a future state of rewards and punishments, that I had rather see the opinions of Confucius or Mohamed inculcated upon our youth than see them grow up wholly devoid of a system of religious principles..." Although these religions are wholly incompatible in their specific doctrines they do share moral priniciples superior in benefit to the governance of the nation than any produced by a subjective secular society.
Whitten makes the implication that the bugaboos of the Religious Right intend to make the case that America was a specifically "Christian Nation" to force its agenda on others. I don't think his assertion is accurate or well supported.
Whitten upholds the thinking of the Everson court regarding separation doctrine. He does accurately point out that excising religious expression from the public square is not the intent of "separation of church and state". The framers clear intent was that the federal government did not have the power to restrict the exercise of religion or to fund/favor a particular sect or denomination(or other religion) as England and other governments had done previously.
The current separtion doctrine of the Supreme Court is at odds with the Constitution and usurps the rights of States and individuals. Our secular ayatollahs now exercise power over religion never intended for them.
Through the Looking Glass.......2004-04-09
The author of the book, Mark Whiten is the president of The Greater Houston Area Chapter of American United for Separation of Church and State (AU). The AU is a organization that borders on being a strict separationist group. However, Mr. Whiten in his book, portrays himself as a middle of the road seperationist, this false duality however bleeds through making one wonder why the façade.
The book starts off portraying the normal left wing reactionary attack on religion. He incites the ignorant by his rhetoric that religious nuts want to impose a theocracy on us. These wacko's try to achieve this by telling us that the United States of America was started by our founding fathers to create a Christian (theocratic) state. Unfortunately this is a straw man as even finally Mr. Whiten tacitly admits, most clearly, on page 86, the only `Christian' group wanting to impose a theocracy are the Reconstructionist and this group is of minute proportions. So the actual question is what do most members of the mainstream religious right say about the United States and its founders. Well something like this:
"The Christian religion, though its moral and religious teachings and its cultural influences, was a significant personal influence upon the delegates to the constitutional convention of 1787, and thus indirectly upon the constitution they drafted."
That's it, that's those supposed fanatical religious right have to say about the subject. Oh by the way, that quote comes right out of the authors' mouth on page 35. You see he even admits it. The dirty truth that Mr. Whiten doesn't want let out is that the United States of America was founded just as Patrick Henry said
"America was not founded by religionist but by Christians. It was not founded upon religions but upon the gospel of Jesus Christ" Patrick Henry
The crux of the book seems to be the applauding of judicial revisionism that occurred in the 1940's regarding the establishment clause of the 1st amendment. For those who are unaware from when the constitution was written to the 1940's a total of 160 years the establishment clause had been interpreted in one way.
In the 1940's through a liberal activist supreme court they reinterpreted the constitution to mean the opposite of its plain reading and original intent. This broad range and seeping decision created tensions between the establishment clause and the free exercise clause as the author has noted. Before this misinterpretation there was no tension and very little need for any judicial judgments on these matters. Now we have a quagmire of unclear rulings that hinder the free exercise clause while promoting the establishment clause.
What is interesting is this very fear was exactly what the first amendment was created to stop. It is also noteworthy that this issue is exactly what Thomas Jefferson was speaking about when he answered the Danbury Baptists in his infamous letter. So while Mr. Whiten pays lip service to his favorite quote from Thomas Jefferson he in effect works for the antithesis of what Thomas Jefferson wanted. Mr. Whitten views Thomas Jefferson and the panoply of his writings and works through the proverbial `looking glass'.
The very amendment that is crucial to what makes America great has been weakened and the author is gleeful over this. I wonder if Mr. Whiten realizes that freedom of religion and freedom of speech are inexorably linked. As he and others try to impose limits on religion they are also imposing limits on our freedom of speech. Sorry Mr. Whiten, I would rather have this country guaranteeing freedom OF speech along with freedom OF religion. Your goal of freedom FROM religion will logically lead to the pernicious freedom FROM speech.
To sum up maybe we ought to reflect upon the sage advice of Thomas Jefferson: "The Constitution . . . is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please."
Books:
- Quiet As It's Kept: Shame, Trauma, and Race in the Novels of Toni Morrison (Suny Series in Psychoanalysis and Culture)
- Retreating the Political (Warwick Studies in European Philosophy)
- Return of the Damned (Dungeons & Dragons Novel)
- Rocks That Float
- Salvador Dali's Dream of Venus: The Surrealist Funhouse from the 1939 World's Fair
- Sarum: The Novel of England
- ScaLAPACK Users' Guide (Software, Environments and Tools)
- Seek My Face
- Still Holding My Own
- Swimming in the Volcano: A Novel
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Farmhouse: Classic Homesteads of North America
- Life's Missing Instruction Manual : The Guidebook You Should Have Been Given at Birth
- Coping with Aging
- Getting Unstuck: Breaking Your Habitual Patterns & Encountering Naked Reality
- Film Posters of the Russian Avant-Garde
- Introduction to Electromagnetic Compatibility
- Fossil Collecting in the Mid-Atlantic States: With Localities, Collecting Tips, and Illustrations of
- Local government motor vehicle taxation in Indonesia
- Games Bosses Play: 36 Career Busters Your Supervisor May Be Firing Your Way and How You Can Defend Y
- The Day Trader's Quick Reference to the Stock Market
![The purple land: Being the narrative of one Richard Lamb's adventures in the Banda Orientál, in South America, as told by himself. [A novel] ([The readers' library])](http://www.germanelectronics88.com/noimage.gif)
