I find myself feeling troubled when I read that you seem to completely believe in evolution, when frankly there’s no proof for it. The entire educational system has incorporated this “false proof” and teach the children at very young ages that it is fact and that fact completely denies the idea of God. Categories: I Have a Bone to Pick with You!, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Christian, Ecumenism, Education, Evolution, Religion| Read More
Ultimately, I see Jesus himself as a Leaver (evidenced by his lifestyle and attitudes). Do you agree? Categories: Here's My Opinion; What's Yours?, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Christian, Ecumenism, Prophets, Religion| Read More
Are you saying that the Israelis and Arabs, the Irish Catholics and Protestants, the Indians and Pakistanis would do better to NOT try to settle their differences at all, but just draw a line and ignore each other? Forget peace talks–simply live and let live, with an occasional assault as a reminder to not mess with the other . . . Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Christian, Evolution, Prophets, Religion, Revolution| Read More
Do you think that God recognizes the problems of the world and therefore plants occurrences such as AIDS, cancer, and natural disasters in our society as a way to keep the population in check? Categories: Here's My Opinion; What's Yours?, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Christian, Education, Population Control, Religion| Read More
How do I discuss the problems of our Taker culture with bible-beaters? They seem threatened by Ishmael and B’s point of view, and accuse me of questioning God. They say the future is in God’s hands and we don’t have to worry about it. Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I'd Like Some Advice|Tags: Christian, Education, Religion| Read More
I work at a small, conservative high school, and am trying to organize a new course for next year. The course I have in mind is designed to teach students about ecology and our country’s national heritage in wilderness areas and natural resources. We would like to use Ishmael as one of the texts to challenge students’ concepts of nature. Our school administration is very concerned about this text. shocked and appalled that a district would allow such texts as Mythology, Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, to be used and still consider censoring a text like Ishmael. I have gone through the Ishmael website and read your response that, “Christianity is meaningful to our culture because it CONDEMNS the selfish, greedy, destructive lifestyle” of the takers. Can you offer any other response to help get your text approved? Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I'd Like Some Advice|Tags: Christian, Education, Ishmael, Religion| Read More
Ishmael says he knows of no biblical scholar who interprets the Genesis stories of the Fall and Cain and Abel the way he does. Is it “established” that these stories originated among Semitic witnesses to these events, or did you arrive at this hypothesis by deduction? I ask not because I find the explanation unpalatable by any means but, rather to find out if there are any fairly digestible books on that subject which you could recommend. Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Christian, Ishmael, Quinn's Motivations, Religion| Read More
I consider myself an animist, but whenever I tell people this they seem confused. When I try to explain animism to them they often equate it with paganism. How can I articulate my beliefs in an effective manner? Categories: I Need Some Clarification, I'd Like Some Advice|Tags: Animism, Christian, Religion| Read More
I wonder if you can elaborate on the idea in My Ishmael of the similarities between cult and tribal mentality. I agree that people who join cults are looking for a sort of tribal fulfillment for which we all may be looking. I can also see your reasoning in asserting that the word ‘cult’ has bad connotations in our culture and that we are predisposed to believe that cult leaders are crazy. However, I believe there is a psychological control element to cult behavior that I don’t imagine is present in tribal behavior. I know that often people involved in a cult want to leave and can’t which also doesn’t translate to the dynamic within a tribe, in my opinion. Also, I don’t think the self-destructive aspect of cults translates to tribal thinking. I can’t imagine a tribe destroying itself because of perceived threats from other tribes. I guess what I’m saying is that I think cults are bad. I can see that the desire to join one is a symptom of our non-tribal society and I think this is a valid point. The rest of the argument in My Ishmael is a bit of a stretch for me. Categories: Here's My Opinion; What's Yours?, I Have a Question About the Books/the Characters, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Anthropology, Antichrist, Christian, Education, Evolution, Ishmael, My Ishmael, Prophets, Religion, Revolution| Read More
You don’t make your beliefs clear in Ishmael. Do you believe in God or Gods or not? Categories: I Have a Question About the Books/the Characters, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject|Tags: Christian, Ishmael, Religion| Read More
