Saturday, June 7, 1997

Religion in the media: a look at recents books and magazines

The Dallas Morning News

BOOKS

"Everyday Evangelism: Making a Difference for Christ Where You Live," by Randy Becton (Baker, price not listed). Maybe some common evangelical spirit is perpetuating it, but it seems that the interdenominational exchange of encouragement and strategies has never been so evident - at least on the printed page. Becton, had he been in the music business instead of evangelism, would certainly be one whose widespread appeal would have gained him the label of "crossover artist." He is a writer who has achieved an audience outside his own Churches of Christ denomination, a body not always noted for its ecumenical enthusiasm. The crossover idea is not only evident in readership but also apparent in Becton's choice of quotes, examples and anecdotes. His sectarian spectrum, used to good effect, is diverse enough to include Christian sources that range from a Quaker evangelical theologian to a Catholic thinker-writer-priest. This most recent offering from Becton is a short primer about sharing one's faith with potential converts. The fear of failure keeps many from witnessing to nonbelievers, but Becton is mindful that the believer is to show and tell, not sell. The book, which can also be used as a study guide, discusses styles of evangelism and illustrates ways in which they can be put into action. -Terry Kelly

"Jumping Hurdles: Illustrations of the Simple & Profound Ways God Delivers Hope," by Steve Brown (Baker, price not listed). This is a paperback reprint of Brown's "Jumping Hurdles, Hitting Glitches, Overcoming Setbacks" that contains essays of encouragement meant to strengthen and help readers overcome problems that beset them every day. Brown believes that God allows hurdles "to come into our lives so we can experience Him in our midst" and that by acting with God's power the believers can leap over the obstacles. Each of the devotional readings points to relevant Scripture verses and ends with a meditation or exercise. -Terry Kelly

MAGAZINES

Psychology Today (May/June) searches for the soul. Michael Ventura, a columnist for The Austin Chronicle, takes along a box of current books on the soul ("instructional manuals ... as though it were a Toyota") as he makes the customary pilgrim's journey to the desert - in this case, Las Vegas. Why Las Vegas? Here he quotes a stripper: "Just because you can do any ... thing you want in this wild town - well, man, then you'd better have your own boundaries, and they'd better be really yours, or you'll lose your ever-lovin' soul." There is another interesting article revealing "The Truth About Lying." Included in that subject is everything from "Nice hairdo" to medical deception with terminal patients. Writer Allison Kornet cites studies that we all lie once or twice a day. In the process, we "remain at least somewhat conflicted." -Robert Plocheck

U.S. News & World Report (May 19) suggests in a cover story on premarital sex that we should be troubled by it. The emphasis is not on teenage sex but adult activity, "The 'sin' Americans wink at." Accompanying the principal article are photos and lengthy quotes from well-known figures willing to talk about chastity. There is Dallas Mavericks' A.C. Green, and Lisa Schiffren, who wrote the "Murphy Brown" speech for Dan Quayle. She says, "Among the elite there is more public posturing about not smoking, or not being fat, than about not having promiscuous sexual relationships." -Robert Plocheck

Hinduism Today (June) devotes its issue to the human cloning controversy. An editorial asks President Clinton "to restrain cloning of humans and we emphatically urge him to engage spiritually-minded people to guide and control the process." Several Hindu leaders interviewed say science should not be stopped, but urge caution. One leader, Chakrapani Ullal, raises the issue of prana (vital life energy). She wonders how a normal being could be born from a "conception" devoid of love. -Robert Plocheck

REVIEWER'S CHOICE

"Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt," by Christine Leigh Heyrman (Knopf, $27.50). It may be hard to imagine the South without a Baptist church on every other corner and a Methodist or Presbyterian church sitting across the street. Once upon a time, however, the evangelical denominations that produced and have dominated the so-called Bible Belt were looked upon as an unwanted "exotic import" into a region of colonial America where the vast majority of residents were either churchgoers affiliated with the Anglican church (a k a the Church of England, or Episcopalians after the American Revolution) or non-churchgoing "worldings."

The earliest preachers of the three insurgent evangelical groups were denounced from colonial pulpits, scorned and worse by the "genteel" laity and on occasion jailed by the authorities. The road from loathing to leading was helped by missionary zeal, by circumstances (the Anglican church lost its state-approved status when England lost the war and many of its pastors fled the country) and by the cultural compromises that the evangelicals eventually made.

To describe the Bible Belt's birth pangs in the late 18th century, Heyrman uses contemporary observations and accounts of those living through the era, rather than reciting dry statistics (although figures are provided). She examines the roles that blacks, women, the young and the poor played during the beginnings of the movement and how those were diminished after the turn of the century as the church leadership changed: The hierarchy was increasingly more white, more male, more middle-aged, more middle class and more worldly, and began to make compromises in tenets that had set the evangelicals apart from surrounding society in order to broaden the sects' appeal.

Heyrman provides a valuable and fascinating look at how the three evangelical denominations changed the South - and how the South changed them. The effects are still with us. -Terry Kelly

(Writers are staff members of The Dallas Morning News. Write to them in care of: the Religion Section, Dallas Morning News, Communications Center, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas 75265.)

(c) 1997, The Dallas Morning News.

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