"The Year of Living Biblically," A. J. Jacobs
This was a great (and by great I mean funny, entertaining, and appropriate) follow-up to "The Abstinence Teacher". After all, the sub-title is "One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible," and that sums it up pretty well. But I have to give Jacobs a lot of credit - he dove right in, head-first, doing his best to take his task seriously, and learned a lot about what it takes to be a decent person. He had a ton of advisors, which I think was key, and divided his time between the Old and New Testaments. It's just a great book - interesting, funny, and human.
I don't own a rod or a paddle. In fact, corporal punishment of any sort is deeply counter to my parenting philosophy. I've always considered walloping your kid the H-bomb of childcare--it's in the arsenal but shouldn't be deployed.
My alter ego's behavior points to one of the biggest mysteries of the Bible. How can these ethically advanced rules and these bizarre decrees be found in the same book? And not just the same book. Sometimes the same page. The prohibition against mixing wool and linen comes right after the command to love your neighbor. It's not like the Bible has a section called "And Now for Some Crazy Laws." They're all jumbled up like a chopped salad.
I think it's important to note that I was raised informally Protestant, but haven't really been a practicing anything for quite some time, and am not remotely "of the Book." I was learning most of what I read along with Jacobs (who's Jewish by extraction, so spent the Old Testiment going back and forth between Christian and Jewish traditions, which I really liked). Some of the small observances seem especially touching - I really like the idea of blowing a horn on the first day of every month, although since I get up at six AM, I don't think my roommates would appreciate it.
I don't own a rod or a paddle. In fact, corporal punishment of any sort is deeply counter to my parenting philosophy. I've always considered walloping your kid the H-bomb of childcare--it's in the arsenal but shouldn't be deployed.
My alter ego's behavior points to one of the biggest mysteries of the Bible. How can these ethically advanced rules and these bizarre decrees be found in the same book? And not just the same book. Sometimes the same page. The prohibition against mixing wool and linen comes right after the command to love your neighbor. It's not like the Bible has a section called "And Now for Some Crazy Laws." They're all jumbled up like a chopped salad.
I think it's important to note that I was raised informally Protestant, but haven't really been a practicing anything for quite some time, and am not remotely "of the Book." I was learning most of what I read along with Jacobs (who's Jewish by extraction, so spent the Old Testiment going back and forth between Christian and Jewish traditions, which I really liked). Some of the small observances seem especially touching - I really like the idea of blowing a horn on the first day of every month, although since I get up at six AM, I don't think my roommates would appreciate it.