Saturday, July 5, 1997

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

The Dallas Morning News

BOOKS

"Politically Correct Old Testament Stories," by Robert Martin Walker (Andrews and McMeel, $9.95). This is the second PC take on the Bible to hit the office in the past month. The last one was reviewed here as offensive and un-funny. This one is better. For one thing, the author is an ordained minister. And while he has fun with biblical language, he does not violate the core of the stories' messages. The narrative of each tale - from "The Bestowal of Gender Identities" to "Jonah and the Differently Sized Mammal" - follows the original. The entertainment is in the details. Adam, the first "humyn being," is given the title Head Horticulturist. When Moses goes up to receive the Ten Suggestions, God tells him not to allow anyone else on the mountain or touch it "or they will become nonviable. Moses replied, 'But technically, their feet will be touching the mountain.' 'Don't be such a literalist,' the Lord thundered." -Jeffrey Weiss

---

"The Curse of Cain," by Regina M. Schwartz (University of Chicago Press, $22.95). Schwartz's ambitious thesis is in the subtitle: "The Violent Legacy of Monotheism." The book is largely a tour through the Jewish Bible's less savory parts. The author tries to prove that much of the violent history of what we call Western civilization can be traced to biblical monotheism. Not that there aren't plenty of passages to be found involving sacrifice of animals, massacres of other tribes at God's command, cheating and lying to achieve victory by God's chosen and the like. But she fails to prove that these passages are unique, central or even necessary to explain the subsequent violence of Western history. Sure, some leaders turned to the Bible to justify abuses. But the history of India, China, Japan, Africa, etc. are equally filled with wars, treachery and deceit that have no roots in the Bible. Schwartz pays little attention to the myriad tales available to support an opposite thesis: that much of the honor and nobility of Western civilization can be traced to biblically inspired cultural underpinnings. -Jeffrey Weiss

---

MAGAZINES

Moment (June) does a cover story on matchmaking in Orthodox Judaism. Rabbi David Eliezrie explains the process of bringing couples together and argues that it has a better record of success than dating. He acknowledges that the religious world has shared values on its side. "The secular Jewish world is more of a quilt, pieced together with some ethics from here, some goals from there." Still, he wonders, since contemporary Jews are delving more deeply into Jewish tradition, "Why shouldn't they take a look at the Jewish way of dating?" -Robert Plocheck

---

Mother Jones (May/June) examines the new black faces in the Christian Coalition. Free-lancer Ann Monroe, a liberal Episcopalian from New York, finds that she connects in many ways with Earl Jackson, who is in charge of the new racial reconciliation effort. The article says that "Blacks' loyalty to liberal politics is fading, and it is precisely the faith-based nature of the Christian Coalition that appeals to them." The same issue has a question-and-answer interview focusing on values at odds in work vs. family time. Marilyn Snell interviews Arlie Hochschild about her study of the conflicts. Hochschild wonders about the example we set for children. "I talked to one child, who said to her grandmother on the telephone: 'Grandma, I don't have time to talk to you.' ... Aren't we missing an important emotional piece of the picture?" -Robert Plocheck

---

Bible Review (June) looks at Christian art that abounds in early churches and is based on the so-called "lost" or "hidden" ancient writings not included in the New Testament. In the same issue, editor Hershel Shanks defends those books that are in the Bible against minimalists who raise doubts about historical interpretation. He points out that archaeological discoveries which are said to contradict traditional views are as open to interpretation as biblical evidence is. -Robert Plocheck

---

REVIEWER'S CHOICE

"Faith or Fear: How Jews Can Survive in a Christian America," by Elliot Abrams (The Free Press, $25). Imagine an ant pile poked with a sharp stick. That's how much of the American Jewish community is likely to react to this book. The author's fame and notoriety will guarantee that it gets attention. Abrams was last in the headlines as undersecretary of state and was pardoned by President George Bush for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.

Abrams all but predicts the evaporation of most of American Judaism in another generation or two, citing a welter of statistics that "draw the portrait of a community in decline, facing in fact a demographic disaster."

The numbers tell a tale of increased assimilation. The intermarriage rate is above 50 percent. Only a third of Jews who responded to a 1991 Gallup Poll said that religion was "very important." And these were New Yorkers. And a third of Americans of Jewish ethnic origin no longer report Judaism as their current religion.

Jewishness - a secular Jewish identity - has replaced the ancient faith as the glue that holds much of American Judaism together, he suggests. And Jewishness, he says, has come to be identified mostly with traditionally liberal political causes (that do not necessarily jibe with Jewish religious teachings) and the state of Israel.

As the glue has failed, Abrams says, Jewish leaders have reached to find other ways to maintain the community. Reform Judaism, for example, has turned to a redefinition of what it means to be a Jew.

Abrams spends 191 pages exploring the how and what of the trends in American Judaism. He spends five exploring what clearly is to him the only answer to the question "Why be Jewish?"

Faith.

"They will survive if they cling to their faith - to their Torah. It - and it alone - is for the Jews just what the Book of Proverbs calls it; a tree of life." -Jeffrey Weiss

(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.

Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/

Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.