Traveling Through Other Minds

Reading is "our consciousness in someone else's mind,"* whether in the literary sense of being within a fictional character or an actual biographical individual, or in the seemingly unending raveling mind of a book's writer.
-verbal image by journalist and novelist Anna Quindlen

“Books are love letters (or apologies) passed between us, adding a layer of conversation beyond our spoken words.”
-Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader...

"In books, I have traveled not only to other worlds, but into my own. I learned who I was and who I wanted to be, what I might aspire to...the difference between good and evil, right and wrong."

“Part of the great wonder of reading is that it has the ability to make human beings feel more connected to one another, which is a great good...”
-Anna Quindlen, How Reading Changed My Life

Of course, it can have the opposite effect, depending upon who is doing the reading. Some of the most evil-acting humans in history have been avid readers. Napoleon was a voracious reader, as was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili (birth name of the Georgian leader who adopted the noms de guerre of Stalin)
The latter amassed a library of 25,000 books! And he was a poet.

(Side Note: And that's another humanistic fallacy--that poets are somehow more sensitive and more humane than the average human, than business leaders and engineers, and other non-literary types. Yet not only was Soso a published poet, so was the murderous Ho Chi Minh, etc.)

Since, I mentioned Stalin and Napoleon, maybe that is a strong place to start listing powerful books which have dynamically affected me:

BIOGRAPHIES:

NAPOLEON by Alan Schom

YOUNG STALIN by Simon Sebag Montefiore

LOST PROPHET: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BAYARD RUSTIN by John D'Emilio

THE OUTPOST: JOHN MCLOUGHLIN AND THE FAR NORTHWEST by Dorothy Nafus Morrison

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN by Gregg Cantrell

THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS by Rebecca Skloot

THE PASSION OF AYN RAND by Barbara Branden

WADE HAMILTON by Rod Andrew Jr.

FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph J. Ellis

FOOLS GOLD: CAPTAIN JOHN SUTTER by Richard Dillion

THOMAS PAINE: APOSTLE OF FREEDOM by Jack Fruchtman

CITIZEN THOMAS PAINE by Howard Fast

NO ONE GETS OUTSIDE by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman

STEVEN JOBS AND EINSTEIN by Walter Isaacson

THOMAS JEFFERSON by Fawn Brodie

THE FIRST MUSLIM by Lesley Hazelton

MACHIAVELLI by Ross King

ONCE UPON A COUNTRY by Sari Nusseibeh

FREEDOM AT MIDNIGHT by Larry and Dominique Lapierre

FRANCO by Paul Preston

CARL SAGAN: A LIFE IN THE COSMOS by William Poundstone

SUBTERRANEAN KEROUAC by Ellis Amburn

ERASMUS OF CHRISTENDOM by Roland Bainton

MICHAEL COLLINS by James Mackay


NOVELS:

THE BONESETTER'S DAUGHTER by Amy Tan

ALASKA by James Michener

11/22/63 by Stephen King

DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch

SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD by Orson Scott Card

THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand

OPEN SEASON by C.J. Box

THE COLONIALISTS: HISTORICAL NOVEL OF AUSTRALIA by William Stuart Long

ST-NG: GHOST SHIP by Diane Carey

THE CHILDREN OF HAMLIN by Carmen Carter

THE ALTAR OF EDEN by James Rollins

FACE TO FACE by Karleen Koen

THE ORIGIN by Irving Stone

BLUEHEART by Alison Sinclair

WEST OF EDEN by Harry Harrison

FAILURE TO APPEAR by J.A. Jance

BIRTHRIGHT by Nora Roberts

ILL WIND by Nevada Barr

MIST by Miguel de Unamuno

GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell

FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keyes

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS by Ernest Hemingway

LISTENING WOMAN by Tony Hillerman

HYPERION by Dan Simmons

MIDNIGHT by Dean Koontz

HISTORIES:


ALBION'S SEED by David Hackett Fischer

BEAR FLAG RISING by Dale L. Walker

GOD'S ALMOST CHOSEN PEOPLES by George C. Rable

THE PRINCE OF THE MARSHES by Rory Stewart

JESUS WARS by Philip Jenkins

TEXAS AND TEXANS IN THE CIVIL WAR by Ralph A. Wooster

AMERICAN NATIONS by Colin Woodward

A HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY by Martha Sonntag Bradley

POLK by Walter R. Borneman

ZEPHANIAH KINGSLEY JR. AND THE ATLANTIC WORLD by Daniel L. Schafer

A GLORIOUS DEFEAT: MEXICO IN AND ITS WAR WITH THE U.S. by Timothy J. Henderson

RINGSIDE SEAT TO A REVOLUTION by David Dorado Romo

TO END ALL WARS by Adam Hochschild

THE FIRST WORLD WAR by John Keating

LONDON: A HISTORY by A.N. Wilson

TEAM OF RIVALS by Doris Kearns Goodwin

THE ISLAND AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD by Russell Shorto

MAYFLOWER by Nathaniel Philbrick

THE LIVES OF THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND by Antonia Frazer

HEAVENLY SERBIA: FROM MYTH TO GENOCIDE by Branimir Anzulovic



PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION and ETHICS:

AMONG THE DEAD CITIES by A.C. Grayling

GOD AND THE REACH OF REASON by Erik J. Wielenberg

INVENTING HUMAN RIGHTS by Lynn Hunt

50 VOICES OF DISBELIEF Edited by Blackford and Schuklenk

HOW JESUS BECAME GOD by Bart Ehrman

UNDERSTANDING THE APOCALYPSE by Wilfrid J. Harrington

A SHORT HISTORY OF MYTH by Karen Armstrong

WHEN GOD TALKS BACK by T.M. Luhrmann

ADAM, EVE, AND THE SERPENT by Elaine Pagels

FEELING GOOD by David Burns

SCALING THE SECULAR CITY by J.P. Moreland

A REFUTATION OF MORAL RELATIVISM by Peter Kreeft

SOPHIE'S WORLD by Justein Gaarder

WHAT THE BUDDHA TAUGHT ME by Walpola Rahula

THE MIND'S I by Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel C. Dennett

WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS by Michael Shermer

LEAVING THE FOLD by Edward Babinski

THE TRUE BELIEVER by Eric Hoffer

PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY by John Dillenberger and Claude Welch

THE HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE by Stephen R. Covey

DYNAMICS OF FAITH by Paul Tillich


SCIENCE:

HOW IT BEGAN and HOW IT ENDS by Chris Impey

THE ANCESTOR'S TALE by Richard Dawkins

FAITH VERSUS FACT by Jerry A. Coyne

WHY EVOLUTION IS TRUE by Jerry A. Coyne

FINDING DARWIN'S GOD by Kenneth R. Miller

THE BIG QUESTIONS IN SCIENCE AND RELIGION by Keith Ward

THE ROCKS DON'T LIE by David R. Montgomery

DARWIN'S DANGEROUS IDEA by Daniel C. Dennett








In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

"So many gods, so many creeds..."

Against 7 Bad B's: Part 2 The Battle Axe of the Heart

So what is The Battle Axe of the Heart?


It is the wonder of meaning-centered transcendence.

Awaking to the awareness that all humans have inherent value, that everyone is of worth, that human rights and justice and truth are real.

The wonder that we conflicted and ethically mixed-up humans with our 7 Bad B's, can find hope.

I used to greatly admire the famous evangelist Billy Graham of the Christian religion because he emphasized the inherent worth of every single human being.I didn't agree with some of Graham's social views in the 1950's, but Graham grew in his understanding of what the love of God meant for social and political situations. And thank God for his witness for integration and racial equality

Graham strongly insisted on the equality of all people even during the 1950's during Segregation in the U.S. Furthermore, when other religious leaders were supporting Apartheid in South Africa, he stood up strongly against that racism, too.

And he was willing to dialog with every one, including humans totally opposed to his views, even dictators such as the leaders of the Soviet Union.

In many of his famous speeches, Graham stated, "God loves you. You may be at the very gate of hell itself, but God loves you with an everlasting love."

He often quoted the good news verse of the Bible:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
John 3:16 NKJV

Of course the huge irony and tragedy now is that while Graham still walks such a talk, his huge religious organization denies his central message!

The leaders promote the exact opposite of what Graham preached for many years. According to the BGA, God only loves a limited number of humans; their leaders say Jesus came for only a "limited atonement"!

NO WAY!

Eliminate such horrific theology.

Cut it down with the heart of kindness toward all.

If you remember (and especially if you don't;-), last time, we discussed the fixated tendency of religious humans to treat women as things, one bad action of the Seven Bad B's.

Destroy sexism and abuse with the "battle axe of the heart."

What about the other Bad B's--brawn, brains, and belief?

How we men use their best--their best mind, best skills, best physical strength, best values--to commit the worst acts of war and other injustices.

For now, let's just say no, NO to 'unjust' wars and even 'just' wars.

Cut them down with the axe of compassion!

What country has ever gone to war that didn't think its own cause was 'just'?

Instead, let us commit to the Lamb's War where Christ's love is the only armament--

The ARMS OF HUGGING!

The "mouthed-sword" of the Good News the only weapon--

Sharing, giving, empathizing, helping, caring!

The battle axe of the heart--

That is the only destroying agent!

It seeks to destroy wrong-doing, selfishness, abuse, injustice and war.

By witnessing to the heart of ever person.

But what about police? What about defense?

Like Quakers of old in the government in Pennsylvania, I would separate the atrocity of war from the defensive and protective action of policing.

Good police officers (which on occasion include soldiers who are assigned to peacekeeping, not invasion killing) focus on protecting not attacking.

For instance, I knew an officer who worked in one of the major cities of the United States who in many years of law enforcement only needed to draw his gun several times!

Instead, in most criminal situations, he used commanding authority, persuasion, and non-lethal force to stop criminal actions and to protect the innocent.

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Inclusive or Exclusive?

"It is true that I have tried to make sure applicants understood that the Society of Friends they want to join is at its heart a Christian movement, but I DO NOT believe that retaining or recovering our Christian focus is a matter of policing who can join our meetings. Our spiritual clarity will not come from defending our "borders" with the outside world, but from affirming our Center from within."
Brooklyn Quaker

This Friend speaks to our condition. His statement reminds me of Thomas Kelly's comments in A Testament of Devotion and The Eternal Promise and
the many words of the Good News beginning in the New Testament that God is love and does not wish anyone to perish.