Iowa author Mike Palecek has recently released his newest book, "The American Dream."
Review of "The American Dream" by Marie Jones "Palecek is fearless, skewering religious extremism, political right wing fundamentalism, gung-ho patriotism and the use of fear to play upon the innocent...and ignorant. And it works. I finished the book in one night...but it's been in my brain ever since, like a song that won't go away...haunting." http://www.bookideas.com/reviews/index.cfm?fuseaction=displayReview&id=3767
Funny..wonder what it is about 'Catholic" that wakes some of us up? Guess its the stuff they want to force feed us and make us believe, and then when we question, well, we get no answers.
I questioned from the time I was very young, it made no sense. Even the Adam and Eve thing, seemed weird. Going to church and listen to Latin by strange men in robes....confession, what the hell does a kid have to confess. I had to make stuff up. Now, of course, I see religion as a way to put fear into everyone.......do this or go to hell. Seemed like everything that felt good was wrong. We were supposed to deny all the wonderful human feelings that 'god' gave us for what...made no sense.
Great read, I enjoyed it....and I think many people are starting to question why its ok to go to wars and kill anyone who does not go along with the 'christian' way, steal what ever we want, keep poverty going, deny affordable health care, etc etc.
Poverty, like religion, is a tool by the rich and powerful. It keeps corporations rich, paying low wages, keeps people down, so that we do not have the energy or the will to fight for what is right.
What a sad world, this could have been Heaven. Everything was here. The beauty of the land, the sky, the oceans, animals and birds. Enough beauty and resources to go around.......days filled with joy, love, helping each other, farming, sharing.......wealth for all.....in the form of pure joy!
So, now I do not believe in God because this would not have been allowed to happen in 'Gods' world. Now we are ruled by the most lawless bunch of filth the world has ever seen....and we do not seem to have the will to fight and get it back. Sad Sad Sad.
by
joyce (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 73 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 10:16:03 AM
In your piece I hear echoes of Dylan-esque English songwriter David Gray:
"Maybe it would do me good/If I believed there were a God/Out in the starry firmament./As it is it's just a lie/and I sit here eating up the boredom/On an island of cement."
And of Booker-Prize winning author Yann Martel, in Life of Pi:
"There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were weak and helpless. These people walk by a widow deformed by leprosy begging for a few cents, walk by children dressed in rags living in the street, and they think, "Business as usual". But if they perceive a slight against God, it is a different story. Their faces go red, their chests heave mightily, they sputter angry words. The degree of their indignation is astonishing. Their resolve is frightening. These people fail to realize that it is on the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside. They should direct their anger at themselves. For evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefied for good is not the open ground of the public arena but the small clearing of each heart. Meanwhile, the lot of widows and homeless children is very hard, and it is to their defense, and not God's, that the self-righteous should rush"
by
Todd Huffman, M.D. (80 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 109 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 10:36:59 AM
I too was raised Catholic, so your story is a familiar one. The main thing I remember is that when I was 15 or so, a priest informed me that if I didn't stop masturbating, I'd have to spend eternity in Hell.
So I was forced to give it up...
by
Daniel Geery (26 articles, 74 quicklinks, 123 diaries, 750 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 2:12:16 PM
The story of Adam and Eve makes perfect sense, if you read it right. I will explain in my article "What the Bible Tells Me: Adam Was a Slacker, Eve Got a Bum Rap and Darwin Was Correct" should I decide to post it on OpEdNews.
Also "Christ died for our sins" makes perfect sense, if you also read that correctly. That explanation will also be presented in a yet-to-be written article intended for OpEdNews. Just have patience.
by
tabonsell (29 articles, 0 quicklinks, 24 diaries, 263 comments)
on Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 5:28:17 PM
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