How are you different from the prophets who tell people how to live thier lives? I know it is not your intention to do so, but I feel like through reading other questions and talking with other Ishmael readers, that your ideas revolutionize the way we think about the world. In turn, how we live is ultimately shaped by you. Gutting out our system of understanding and replacing it with that of Ishmael changes how we think and live, right? Categories: I Have a Question About Daniel Quinn, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Christian, Education, Political Correctness, Quinn's Motivations, Religion, Revolution| Read More
I recently finished The Holy, which I found clever and thought-provoking. Had I merely read the book, I’d simply see the many connections between it and your other work, and that would have been that. But I’d read Rennie’s account on your website of the childhood event that partly inspired the book—your encounter with the part-man-part-animal. There is much I don’t know about the world, so the last thing I’d do is just discount this experience of yours.However, I have to admit great surprise. What (admittedly little) I know of you is that you’re a lover of science and a skeptic—this is evident in your work, on your website, and in much of our previous correspondence, in which you have spoken scientifically in general and, in some cases in particular, directly against “new age” or “occult” beliefs and phenomena.I’m very curious to hear how you reconcile this childhood experience of yours with your scientific knowledge—and, by extension, what you might tell your science-loving fans (like me) who might not understand how they should reconcile these two things about you, these two things that, not knowing better, we might see as contradictory. I’m also incidentally curious about the extent to which your portrayal of the “yoo-hoos” is fictional, i.e., simply for the purposes of fleshing out the story, as opposed to things you actually believe. For example, that they themselves represent what ancient cultures thought to be gods and what older Taker cultures thought to be demons/devils—that they are matter-based and yet immortal and possessing of shape-changing abilities, etc. Categories: I Have a Question About Daniel Quinn, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Animism, Anthropology, Education, Quinn's Motivations, Religion, Writing and Publishing| Read More
What steps led you to question the conventional reading of the stories of the Fall and Cain and Abel in Genesis? Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject|Tags: Christian, Ecumenism, Quinn's Motivations, Religion| Read More
You ask a capitalist how he expects to survive without biodiversity, and he calls you a tree hugging communist. Defending yourself against the abuse of a vegan, you point out that you believe you have as much right to eat meat as a lion does to eat a gazelle, and he calls you a capitalist pig.I think, that amidst the war and turmoil of the world at the moment, people are being whipped up into a frenzy of irrationality. It seems to me, that as the water around the frog is reaching boiling point, people are pedaling away at the taker mobile with a renewed, and alarmingly frantic urgency. With extremist voices being heard the loudest in a time of war, I find myself desperately hoping for a period of calm, in which your message can be heard clearly, without being bludgeoned into submission by fear and the blind pursuit of reckless, idiotic leaders like Bush, Howard, etc.What do you think? How can the turmoil of the world show people the inherent flaws in the taker lifestyle, rather than make them pursue it with an increased urgency? Categories: I'd Like Some Advice|Tags: Education, Political Correctness, Religion, Revolution| Read More
According to information found on this website, the prologue to The Holy is based on an experience you had as a young child. From reading Providence, it seems pretty clear to me that other aspects of the book are drawn from your life as well. Some examples: the strong similarity between your experience in the garden at the Trappist monastery, Our Lady of Gethsemani, and Tim Kennesey’s experience in the desert; the Chicago setting; and David Kennesey’s background in educational publishing.I’m curious about the source(s) for other events in the book’s narrative, though, particularly regarding Howard Scheim’s early attempts to discover what happened to the old, “false” gods of the Bible. What experiences/research did you draw on in writing about the rite Howard participated in with the Satanists Verdelet and Delices? What did you draw on for Howard’s meeting with the tarot reader, Denise Purcell? Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject|Tags: Animism, Anthropology, Christian, Quinn's Motivations, Religion| Read More
I have read your response about the Peace Corps and am rather disturbed. I am a Peace Corps volunteer (PCV) and I’m not sure how familiar you are with Peace Corps but corporation expansion is definitely not one of our goals. And PCV’s are expected to integrate into their community not integrate the community to the “American Way.” We are expected to encourage development on a grass roots level. I would even venture to say that Peace Corps encourages a leaver society. I think that your comment might discourage potential PCV’s when your audience is exactly what the Peace Corps needs. I know this is not a question but I encourage you to re-think or at least research more your opinion on the Peace Corps. Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Anthropology, Political Correctness, Religion, Tribal (tribe)| Read More
I’ve noticed that our cultural vision is often self-contradicting. For example, Mother Culture tells us that (1), our destiny is to conquer and rule the earth, yet at the same time (2), we are fundamentally flawed and we cannot help destroying the earth. Am I correct that since these beliefs are mainly subconscious, it is possible for us to fully believe things simultaneously? Are there any similar contradictions found in Leaver cultures? Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Education, Political Correctness, Religion, Revolution| Read More
Every day sees another action or reaction between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East. Sometimes it escalates; sometimes it de-escalates a little. Would their violent exchanges be considered Erratic Retaliation? Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Political Correctness, Religion, Tribal (tribe)| Read More
While I do not mean to overstate the endorsement of Darwin’s theory of evolution in your essay “Our Religions: Are They the Religions of Humanity Itself?” I have a related question. I believe that I understand you correctly to only be specifically advocating Darwin’s theory as the most sort of ‘comprehensive’ theory in light of the evidence available, and in terms of its provision of a sort of workable model to explain an apparent question of somewhat comparable significance to the primary question of your essay regarding the processes relating to the placement of the beginning of humanity at the beginning of the agricultural revolution. I would say that I quite agree with your estimations of the merits of Darwin’s theory, and again I hope that I am not too presumptuous in assuming some greater acceptance in the processes of evolution that he describes. Ultimately my question is whether or not you would describe the sort of ‘religious’ processes you describe in your essay, or the sort of ‘assault’ on animism as a similarly uncontrollable or irreversible process. Categories: I Have a Question On a Specific Subject, I Need Some Clarification|Tags: Animism, Christian, Evolution, Religion| Read More
I was just curious as to if any of Mr. Quinn’s books have been banned anywhere in the United States or elsewhere ever? It seems like it should be expected in today’s society. Categories: I Have a Question About the Books/the Characters, I Have a Question On a Specific Subject|Tags: Education, Religion, Writing and Publishing| Read More
