DD 206-210.999 (Tony) Religious America by Philip Garvin (209.73 GAR)
As only my second coffee table book to have been read up to this point of my Dewey Decimal Project- I've hardly took the easy way out. But after reading that doozy of a book DKMA: Mythology, I deserved a much needed break.
Religious America almost stopped my at the introduction. In it, there is a picture of the photo=journalist's beloved dog, sitting on a desert plain looking out as the sun sets. I instantly knew that couldn't be good. And by page 2, I learned that the dog, named Charlie" dies shortly after the research for the book is complete. My beloved Eddy (The Boneless Wonder) had just recently passed- and it still stung.
So, I ended up taking a short break from this book (and dove into some lighter fare- namely, The Fantastic Four). But, a few days- and several cries- later, I picked up the book again- and I was instantly transformed.
For those of you who might be amazed how "Jesus is Just Alright" and "Spirit in the Sky" or Bob Dlyan ended up being symbols of Christianity in the 70s- Religious America is an interesting look at how the "Jesus Movement" transformed not only the Christain church- but other practicers of other faiths.
The JM resulted in Born Again Hippies trying to find a place in the Church that Grandma and Pa built in the 1940s and then promptly invented a time freezing device that prevented their church from evolving and from IN-volving the youth of the 60s and 70s from feeling like they had a place to beleive and fit-in.
The biggest result was community involved church programs and in inner-citys and religious communes in the rural areas of the Mid-West and Pacific. Some churchs interestingly decided to stall "old" like George Allen's Over-the Hill-Gang. Some decided to skip Jesus and find salvation in Eastern Philosophy or at whole with a well-worn Bible and a knee to pray on.
What-ever one finds in this book, it's not a "How To" book in what to believe, but rather a "How Did People" Believe. There's no set formula and amazingly, the author does a remarkable job in being open-minded to the beleives and activities of each group he encounters. That alone, makes this book a welcome surprise and a "Worth Consuming" for anyone interested in religion in 1970s USA.
Religious America almost stopped my at the introduction. In it, there is a picture of the photo=journalist's beloved dog, sitting on a desert plain looking out as the sun sets. I instantly knew that couldn't be good. And by page 2, I learned that the dog, named Charlie" dies shortly after the research for the book is complete. My beloved Eddy (The Boneless Wonder) had just recently passed- and it still stung.
So, I ended up taking a short break from this book (and dove into some lighter fare- namely, The Fantastic Four). But, a few days- and several cries- later, I picked up the book again- and I was instantly transformed.
For those of you who might be amazed how "Jesus is Just Alright" and "Spirit in the Sky" or Bob Dlyan ended up being symbols of Christianity in the 70s- Religious America is an interesting look at how the "Jesus Movement" transformed not only the Christain church- but other practicers of other faiths.
The JM resulted in Born Again Hippies trying to find a place in the Church that Grandma and Pa built in the 1940s and then promptly invented a time freezing device that prevented their church from evolving and from IN-volving the youth of the 60s and 70s from feeling like they had a place to beleive and fit-in.
The biggest result was community involved church programs and in inner-citys and religious communes in the rural areas of the Mid-West and Pacific. Some churchs interestingly decided to stall "old" like George Allen's Over-the Hill-Gang. Some decided to skip Jesus and find salvation in Eastern Philosophy or at whole with a well-worn Bible and a knee to pray on.
What-ever one finds in this book, it's not a "How To" book in what to believe, but rather a "How Did People" Believe. There's no set formula and amazingly, the author does a remarkable job in being open-minded to the beleives and activities of each group he encounters. That alone, makes this book a welcome surprise and a "Worth Consuming" for anyone interested in religion in 1970s USA.
posted by J at 7:57 PM
0 comments
