Mark's #45 - A Free People's Suicide by Os Guinness

Os Guinness is an astute social critic, historian, Christian apologist, Irishman born in China and educated in England. Os has also long been an admirer of America's founders and their commitment to ensuring American freedom.  A Free People's Suicide serves as a prophetic warning cry to Americans to take heed, learn from their past, or else be buried in the inevitable decline that has overtaken every other world super power.  Or, as he closed each chapter:

Those who aspire to be like Rome in their beginnings must avoid being like Rome at their ending.  Rome and its republic fell and so too will the American republic - unless...

Guinness argues that "the greatest enemy of freedom is freedom"  (19), meaning that our freedom we enjoy turns out to be a sort of assumed freedom that does not press us to persevere in our freedom.   For example, in the name of 'freedom' we will go to great lengths to remove our private freedoms in a scary and dangerous world, thus justifying increased government intrusion in a wide variety of surveillance and 'safety' measures (see the full body scans at the airport these days).

More concerning than these infractions however, Guinness argues that the greatest threat to American freedom is the loss of a culture of virtue, honesty, and integrity that was present and necessary at our nations founding  (with the exception of obvious blind spots such as slavery).  In other words, a nation may have freedom on the constitutional level (which is necessary), and yet not have these ingredients necessary on the individual level... thus there is increasing legislation to protect us from ourselves because there is no longer an ethos of virtue in America... Unless we recover this ethos, we as free people will commit a type of freedom suicide.

What is necessary to persevering in freedom is what Guinness calls the "golden triangle of freedom"

The cultivation and transmission of the conviction that freedom requires virtue, which requires faith, which requires freedom, which in turn requires virtue... and so on, like the recycling triangle, ad infinitum."

Thus secularism and postmodernism threatens freedom because concepts such as virtue, truth, and freedom are ultimately meaningless within these worldviews.

And so Guinness critiques modern Amercians,

You have turned to alternative visions of freedom that are seductive but lazy-minded and empty, and are now proving disastrous.  And all the time you are turning yourselves into caricatures of your original freedom in ways that are alternatively fascinating and repellent to the world (204).

However clear the signs of decline are at this point in history, the final nail in the coffin has not yet been driven down.  As Americans we must go forward (which we love) by reviving the past (which we're not so good at).  We must return to virtue and faith.  In our educational systems we must reclaim the essential role of training in virtue and not just skill sets.

Guinness sets forth the steps necessary for American freedom to persevere in the decades and centuries to come:

1. America must strongly and determinedly restore civic education (192).
2. America must strongly and determinedly rebuild its civil public square (194).
3. America must strongly and determinedly reorder the grand spheres that make up American society and its powerful cultural influence in the world (194)
4. Americans must restore the integrity and credibility of the faiths and ethics of the citizenry (196).

On the night of President Obama's reelection, the big idea of his acceptance speech as captured by most of the news headlines was "The best is yet to come"... this may be true (I hope it is), but let's all hope, pray, and fight that it is more than our dying mantra... Otherwise the dystopian vision of the likes of Orwell (Animal Farm, 1984) or Huxley (Brave New World) may shift from the category of fiction to nonfiction.

Mark's #44 - How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley

This book is a series of essays about the author's life.  I was looking for a light read, and I've enjoyed reading similar books by the likes of David Sedaris.  In Fact, many reviews compared Crosley's writings to Sedaris, and David himself endorses the book on the inside cover. To be clear, this is not must read literature, though it is, at times mildly entertaining to read about the life of this Jewish girl from the suburbs, moved to Manhattan, and taking trips to places like Alaska, Lisbon, and Paris.  I enjoyed her dry sense of humor and curious analogies.   There's stories about being convinced by her friend to go to the confessional at Notre Dame in Paris, only to get the priest who speaks only Japanese and French.  Another story recounts her love found and lost in NYC by a dude who, as it turns out, had another girlfriend the entire time - all this tied to the time when she had a connection at a very expensive furniture store who would sell her 'used' items at an extreme discount through various shady meetings on NYC street corners... At times I felt sad for her as she lives out a postmodern worldview and worldly values.

JRF's #27 - The Master Mind of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Yes there are more of these books and yes I'm still reading them. And loving them!  After five books in the John Carter of Barsoom series Burroughs' plot lines had become somewhat formulaic.  This 6th book breaks the formula a bit and introduces not only a different plot arch but an entirely different protagonist - Ulyssees Paxton, an American killed on the battlefield of World War I only to wake up on Mars.

Paxton finds himself in the custody of Ras Thavas, a mad scientist who runs a brain transplant laboratory.  As is apt to happen to anyone who travels to Mars, Paxton falls in love with a beautiful Martian, unfortunately his love's brain is trapped inside of the evil queen's body that has stolen her beauty.  It is here that that the tale plunges back into the familiar romance and adventure that is the signature of Burroughs.

There is an interesting subplot that satirizes both militant atheism and blind fundamentalism, adding another level to an already enjoyable read.   If you are a fan of Barsoom you will want to read this.

Ron’s #27: Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper

John Piper writes the collection of 30 short essays addressing topics affecting pastors today. Some of them are excellent (“Brothers, Read Christian Biography”; “Brothers, Fight for Your Life”), and some of them are duds (“Brothers, Pray for our Seminaries”). They all capture what we love about John Piper: creative insight, Scripture-based, and passionate pleas pointing us to Christ.

We read this book for our leadership meetings at church this year, taking one chapter to read and discuss. I enjoyed that way of reading this book.

My copy is well underlined, and I’m sure to return to it in the future.

I’m embarrassed to say that the part that I’ll always remember from this book is the fact that the Puritan Richard Sibbes was referred to as “The Sweet Dropper.” Piper never elaborates on why he is called that, or what that even means.

Pure gold.

Ron’s #26: Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

I wanted to read this to see if it was a book I could teach to my sophomores. I thought that it may have themes relating to the current politic season. While it was good to read it, I thought that it was perhaps too dull for teenagers.

The book focused on the struggle that Brutus has (does he help kill Caesar for the good of the Empire?), as well as how he is manipulated by the first “special interests” group, twisting the truth for their own nefarious ends.

Even though he kills his leader and friend, Brutus is the hero of the story. As Marc Antony says of him:

This was the noblest Roman of them all: All the conspirators, save only he, Did that they did in envy of great Caesar; He, only in a general honest thought And common good to all, made one of them.

Ally's #43: A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent

This little book might end up in all of my friend's Christmas stockings. It can be easily read on a rainy afternoon, and certain sections are so brief that they can be read on a daily basis to remind oneself of the glories of the gospel.

The book is separated into three parts. The first, and longest section, is entitled "Reasons to Rehearse the Gospel Daily." There are 31 reasons the author covers. I really appreciate that the lower half of nearly every page is filled with scripture references to substantiate the author's claims.

Section II is called "A Gospel Narrative." It's a 41 point recap of the gospel. As a bullet-point-minded kind of girl, I found the author's succinct, matter-of-fact points easily digested. It's so brief that this mini-narrative would also be easily memorized or tucked away in one's pocket for frequent access to the truth of which we need to be constantly reminded.

Section III takes the bullet points from the previous section and puts it in the form of poetry. It was so beautifully and simply written that I found myself trying to maintain my composure in the middle of the busy coffee shop where I was studying.

I'll be keeping this book my bedside. I also think it will be a great resource to have on hand to share with friends who are curious about what the gospel means and entails. I'll close with one of my favorite quotes:

The gospel is the one great permanent circumstance in which I live and move; and every hardship in my life is allowed by God only because it serves His gospel purposes in me.