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#2257By DawnSunrise on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 7:27 pm

WHY RELIGION HARMS & WHY IT HEALS

"Religion that Harms, Religion that Heals" by Celia M. Murray Dunn speaks to a rather difficult subject - the extent to which our religions in conjunction with their sacred books may have unwittingly created the conditions which have fed the very prejudices which they now condemn, this book takes a hard, but well-needed look at some of religion's hidden messages.

Using Christianity as the template, and from the personal experience of the author, "Religion that Harms, Religion that Heals," speaks of her
experience with Biblical stories portraying a God of unrelenting cruelty toward the morally imperfect (homosexuals, non-believers, the unsaved) and how these may have set the stage for the problems of prejudice towards groups who are "different."

With topics ranging from "Who benefits from a Diety with a history of cruelty?" to "How love, compassion, forgiveness and acceptance are displaced by moral/religious imperatives" this book faces squarely the question most would rather avoid: why, in the face of love, religions' practitioners still exhibit the bigotry and prejudices we so abhor.

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#2258By DawnSunrise on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 7:30 pm

WHY RELIGION HARMS & WHY IT HEALS

For more information see post below.

www.ReligionThatHarmsReligionThatHeals.com

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#5572By Melissa Brown Levine on Wednesday, May 05, 2004 - 7:13 pm

NEW NOVEL, PROBLEMS IN LIVING, OFFERS INSIDER VIEW OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN


(Hampton, Georgia, May 2, 2004) The plight of the black woman has been sparsely addressed in mainstream/contemporary fiction. PROBLEMS IN LIVING (Publish America, Summer 2004), by new author, Melissa Brown Levine, allows a window for observation of the complex experience of the black woman in relation to family, love, sexuality—her place in American society and the African American community.

The story’s protagonist, LANA HOWARD, refuses to give her husband children after being pushed to have an abortion prior to their fourteen-year marriage. In lieu of motherhood, Lana nurtures her extended family by playing rescuer to her brother’s battered wife, comforter and counselor to her chronically depressed, pregnant sister, and punching bag to her briskly cold mother. Lana speaks in a candid voice about her passion and pain, displaying the difficulty involved in keeping up the appearance of unwavering strength while simultaneously battling with feelings of vulnerability and inadequacy.

Levine has worked in adult mental health and forensics counseling focusing on women’s issues. She holds a master’s degree in counseling.

The full media kit, including a sample chapter, is available online at http://problemsinliving.tripod.com/. Media reviewers and booksellers may contact the publisher by email: support@publishamerica.com or fax: 301-631-9073 to request review copies or place orders.


Problems in Living
Melissa Brown Levine
PublishAmerica, 2004
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 1-4137-2333-0





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#6950By hugo on Tuesday, October 19, 2004 - 9:18 pm

From: Hugo Dell, web editor, Simply Great Books.

On: How to Write Modern Poetry by Geoff Tims, 100 pages, PDF Format, ISBN 1 84481 101 8, published by Cool Publications (www.coolpublications.com), £4.99. Also available in CD format with extra files and screensavers, ISBN 1 84481 102 6, £11.99.


An expert guide on how to get beneath the skin of poetry

Modern poetry is a literary minefield. Its seeming disregard for all the obvious rules of more traditional poetry forms has often made it an easy target for critics who found it hard to understand and a difficult arena for budding poets who struggled to adequately find the form needed to bring their thoughts to life.

As a journalist I’m wary of How-to books because they tend to marginalise the true effort required to create anything that’s remotely adequate, let alone good. Their prescriptive approach tends to favour a “now we do this and next we’ll do that-“ formula that rarely works.

All of which makes Geoff Tims’ How to Write Modern Poetry the exception that proves the rule. A working poet who never stops seeking ways to improve his craft Tims’ book has forsaken the formulaic approach on How-to do anything for a compressed masterclass on the writing of modern poetry.

Opening with ‘What is Modern Poetry’ Tims analyses not just the genre but the form itself. He makes the point that good poetry is good poetry irrespective of style and draws real parallels between the different art forms, asking the reader to first look inside themselves before they think of putting pen to paper.

As you’d expect in a How-to book there is the inevitable step-by-step approach that, in this case, feels entirely natural, chatty and unforced. The exercises at the end of each chapter have a specific aim: to bring out the poet inside the reader. To sensitise us to the world around us, to make us aware of the potent power of words and to teach us the secrets of the craft of modern poetry that successful poets find out about the hard way.

Taking the unusual, and very brave, tact of developing a poem alongside the reader Geoff Tims explores what exactly makes a poem great and then goes on to give examples, create crisis points the budding poet must resolve and offer advice.

Watching the poem develop is akin to taking an apprenticeship beside a master craftsman. The digital format of the book makes it perfect for skipping around through all its bookmarks and, for once, I was able to read three chapters on the train and do the exercises without having to suffer the supercilious glances of fellow travellers prepared to make judgement about anyone trying to be a poet.

Geoff Tims’ book is thoroughly exhaustive of its subject as only a How-to book can be and passionately personal in its arguments as you’d expect from a poet who’s very much at the centre of his art. It is also tremendously helpful, full of insight, occasionally witty and always gentle in its guidance. If all How-to books were like this the genre itself would see a revival beyond anyone’s expectations and…there would be fewer badly-attempted poems about.

***
Hugo Dell is a freelance journalist, film critic and author. He is a regular contributor to Fighting Fit Online magazine and Simply Great Books website where he acts as guest web editor. He can be reached at: Hugo.Dell@simplygreatbooks.com

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#7801By RAJEEV on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 6:35 am

RUHANI MANDAL IS ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL THINGS. ONLY FOR THE SPIRITUAL PERSONS PLEASE......

RAJEEV MAHAJAN
9868216810

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#7802By DSK on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 6:37 am

HI RAJEEV JI

PLEASE SEND ME THE SAME. AND BELIEVE ME THAT I WILL TAKE CARE OF ALL THE NOTES.

D S K

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#9153By Igor Semenov on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 1:13 pm

Obadiah Shoher's Samson Blinded: A Machiavellian Perspective on the Middle East Conflict

Shoher writes not for idealists. He is veteran politician, and knows how the things really work. If Chomsky sits on top of ivory tower, Shoher is in the swamp of daily affairs.

Samson Blinded is lucidly written, and its mini-chapters make it an easy read. But it is not your typical novel or inspiring historical fiction. Many people want the literature to carry them away from truth into the skies of high moralism. Shoher rejects that.

Machiavelli is the author's hero: sad and ugly hero, to be sure, who chose truth instead of romantic morality. Likewise, Shoher tells naked truths; and truth hurts. He believes, however, that lies hurt even more, prolonging the suffering on both sides. So to say, no hubris.

I don't see Shoher as racist or hateful. He writes about terrorists with unusual respect. Perhaps he is right: people ready to die for their values are hardly criminals as media paints them. It is this respect that leads Shoher to suggest his often-opposed measures. He wants to deal with terrorists as with enemy soldiers, not criminals: kill, not try. He believes that Palestinians will not forget the humiliation in their small state, and doubts that that state will bring peace to the land.

A large part of the book is devoted to the issues of ethics, principally ethics of state and war, and how those could be fitted into the ethics of Torah. I wish these discourses be more extensive; Shoher's articles on the biblical ethics are, in my opinion, brilliant, walking a thin line between Jewish fundamentalism and Reconstructionism. Shoher embraces neither; he believes in the Ten Commandments, and treats the other 603 as extremely authoritative human interpretation of the Ten.

One chapter thoroughly refutes Huntington's thesis about the clash of civilizations. No wonder that Shoher, the ultimate rationalist, despises Huntington's idea that mere cultural differences cause wars. To Shoher, wars are caused by real interests, veiled in whatever ideological clothes. When no suitable ideology is readily available, such as in post-Cold War world, conflicts take random paths of least resistance, such as cultural lines.

Perhaps a fifth of the book demolishes Edward Said theses. Shoher goes literally line-by-line, and shows multitude of factual errors and incoherent interpretations by his long-time adversary.

Shoher, as always, approaches his subject from a variety of angles. Speaking of terrorism, he analyzes religious and ethical grounds, raison d'etat, political considerations, raw realpolitik, military and general security matters, international attitudes, effects on liberties, and psychological and many other issues.

Samson Blinded is parable, in a sense. It uses the example of Israel to show the things important for people of every country: the extent of crime and punishment, the cost for others of one's self-preservation, and the strength we need to maintain peace.

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#9475By robert maniscalco on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 3:30 pm

the new novel by robert manisclco. donald michael spinelli located the man who sexually assaulted him as a boy. now, he is on a murderous trek into the dark inner sanctum of new orleans society to avenge himself upon his assailant. the fishfly is the debut novel by artist, gallerist and noted television host (art beat on pbs), robert maniscalco.the fishfly is the inner monologue of donald michael spinelli, a portrait artist, turned hit-man. fishflies are a rich existential metaphor for spinelli, who, like the tiny little bugs, is on a desperate mission to do or die. we find ourselves inside the mind of an artist with a secret inner life. the actual story takes place over a period of about 18 hours in new orleans, with frequent flashbacks and digressions to new york city and the suburbs of detroit. it culminates in a dramatic collision of the past, present and future.

though he has developed into a formidable artistic talent, spinelli discovers he has spent half his life, incapable of taking real action. using the internet he has located the man who sexually assaulted him as a boy. now, he is on a murderous trek into the dark inner sanctum of new orleans society to avenge himself upon his assailant. the precarious act of trying to correct his lifes course sets into motion a series of events, encounters and recollections that peel away years of denial and pretense. the reader follows, moment by moment, as he deals with the twists and turns of being in action, for the first time in his life. consumed by his guilt and obsession for revenge, he finally comes face to face, not just with the man who molested him but with his own inner demons as well.

through each turn of events, he is forced to confront the veracity of his stories and the impact and meaning they have had on his life. as a result of this nervous breakthrough, donald comes to realize hes made himself the victim of his own life story.

http://maniscalcogallery.com/essays/fishfly.htm

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#9615By rajeev on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 12:12 pm

i am going to publish a series about the spiritual & social issues. the name of this magazine w'be GUJARISH. anyone who is interested to know about this magazine may feel free.

rajeev

179231133
#9615By rajeev on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - 12:12 pm

i am going to publish a series about the spiritual & social issues. the name of this magazine w'be GUJARISH. anyone who is interested to know about this magazine may feel free.

rajeev

Yeah rajeev tell us more about your magazine. Is it going to be in a regional language or english? what social issues are you looking at?