BUDDHISM
"'Customized' Spirituality" by Hieu Tran Phan -- an interview with Lama Surya Das (formerly Jeffrey Miller), "the highest-trained Tibetan Buddhist in the United States" and "a leading proponent of the 'customized' approach to spirituality." Surya Das explains: "My last book (Awakening the Buddha Within [Broadway, 1998, paperback, 414 pages, ISBN 0-7679-0157-6]) synthesized and distilled old-school Buddhism for the West. It emphasized practice and a practical format. [My] new book [Awakening to the Sacred (Broadway, 1999, hardcover, 288 pages, ISBN 0-7679-0274-2)] is really my next step. It tries to transcend all isms and schisms to embrace a vision of personalized, customized, contemporary spirituality. My word for this movement is post-denominational faith."
Surya Das offers his definition of Buddhism: It is "a way of life -- an ethical, psychological philosophy of awakening. It has no dogma, conversion clause, theology, creator, creed or missionary activity." Orange County Register, Jun 29 '99, p16 (News).
(You might also be interested to know that the Los Angeles Times included a brief, positive review of Awakening to the Sacred in its June 19, 1999 edition [pB8].)
ETHICS
"Recovering Moral Order" by Michael Cromartie -- this interview with Francis Fukuyama, author of The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order (Free Press, 1999, hardcover, 336 pages, ISBN 0-6848-4530-X), addresses the question: "Is morality rooted in human nature?"
Regarding his book, Fukuyama explains that the great disruption noted by its title "is a disruption of social norms and values that has taken place all across the developed world, beginning in the late sixties and continuing through the midnineties. It is reflected by cultural indicators such as rising crime rates, family breakdown, and decreasing social trust between people. It is quite remarkable for the speed with which it has happened and the breadth in terms of the number of countries affected."
In this interview Fukuyama explains why he argues in his book that "for contemporary liberal democracies, excessive and unbridled individualism 'is perhaps their greatest long-term vulnerability.'" Books & Culture, Jul/Aug '99, pp26-7.
HINDUISM
"The Conceptual Foundation of Missionary Hinduism" by Torkel Brekke -- "considers the development of the idea of a universal and missionary Hinduism in the writing of Swami Vivekananda," founder of the Ramakrishna Mission in India and the Vedanta Society in the USA. Notes that "Hinduism became a missionary religion with Swami Vivekananda as its most famous and most successful protagonist." Journal of Religious History, Jun '99, pp203-214.
HISTORY, GENERAL
"History Wars II: Intellectual Fallout" by Mark Noll -- defending his thesis that "the Christian stake in the modern history wars is immense," Noll describes the "current debates over the meaning and uses of history, which are antagonistic enough to justify being called at least guerrilla war." He finds that "extensive disputes over what it means to study the past have engaged and enraged historians, philosophers, cultural critics, literary scholars, and the occasional learned amateur." In this bibliographic essay Noll points out nine key texts in these debates. Part of a series. Books & Culture, Jul/Aug '99, pp22-5.
HOMOSEXUALITY
"How to Be True to the Bible and Say 'Yes' to Same-Sex Unions" by Bennett Sims -- the former Episcopalian Bishop of Atlanta responds to Romans 1:26-27 by arguing that homosexuality is natural. Gay Theological Journal, May/Aug '99, pp25-7.
ISLAM
The April 1999 issue (rec'd June 18) of Muslim World has "Islamic Ethics of Killing and Saving Life" as its theme. The primary areas of application are that of abortion and war. Articles include: "The Islamic Ethics of Abortion in the Traditional Islamic Sources" by Therisa Rogers, The Right Not to Be Born: Abortion of the Disadvantaged Fetus in Contemporary Fatwas" by Vardit Rispler-Chaim, "The Rules of Killing at War: An Inquiry Into Classical Sources" by Khaled Abou El Fadl, and "Saving and Taking Life in War: Three Modern Muslim Views" by Sohail H. Hashmi.
NEOPAGANISM
"Bewitching Readers With Pagan Lore" by Michael Kress -- an updated look at the occult book sales boom finds that, by the end of summer, one leading provider in this category, Carol Publishing, "will have 27 titles relating to the neo-pagan religion of Wicca, or witchcraft, which is based on European pre-Christian practices. ... The company generally prints first runs of 25,000 for its Wicca titles, about 10,000 more than for its non-Wicca offerings. Just a few years ago, [Keri Cappadona, Carol's publicity manager] said, publishers generally would not touch Wicca titles, but that has changed with the growth of paganism's popularity in general and its increasing acceptance in the mainstream. Over the past year, Cappadona added, the field has gotten a boost from the television show Charmed and the movie Practical Magic, both of which feature characters who are witches.
"Patricia Telesco, one of the most prolific neo-pagan writers and author of the recent Your Book of Shadows: How to Write Your Own Magickal Spells (Carol), ... a Wiccan for about the past 15 years, said the trend toward more focused books indicates the maturation of a movement that was started by relatively young people in the 1970s."
Confirming other reports Kress notes that "teens are among the newest target audiences for pagan titles. Teen Witch by Silver RavenWolf, a Wiccan priestess, published late last year by Llewellyn, is in its fourth printing and has sold more than 50,000 copies, according to Von Braschler, Llewellyn director of trade sales.
"Shamanism -- ancient African, Asian and Native American belief systems in which a central religious figure bridges the spiritual and material worlds -- also is gaining wide popularity." A number of new releases in related categories are briefly mention here as well. See <http://www.bookwire.com/> for the full text. Publishers Weekly (online) PW Spotlight, Jun 14 '99.
(Also see the parallel feature "Bewitching Readers With Pagan Lore" also by Kress in Publishers Weekly, Jun 14 '99, p24.)
NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS
"Agency May Be Formed to Track Activities of `Dangerous Sects' in Europe" by Ira Rifkin (Religion News Service) -- reports that "the Council of Europe's parliamentary body has recommended creation of a central Europe clearing house to keep tabs on "dangerous sects. ... Meeting in Strasbourg, France, the council's 286-member Parliamentary Assembly voted unanimously ... to call for a 'European Observatory' that would gather information on 'groups of a religious, esoteric or spiritual nature.' A report submitted with the recommendation ... noted the need to head off further 'serious disturbances of law and order' and 'carnage' associated in recent years with groups such as Japan's Aum Shinri Kyo cult and the Order of the Solar Temple in France and Switzerland." Brief. Salt Lake Tribune, Jun 26 '99, n.p.
OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCE
"Scientists Offer Explanation for Alien Abductions" by Nicholas D. Kristof -- the suspected culprit is called sleep paralysis. Kristof observes that: "this disorder (the result of a disconnect between brain and body as a person is on the fringe of sleep) is turning out to be increasingly common, affecting nearly half of all people at least once. Moreover, a growing number of scholars believe that sleep paralysis may help explain many ancient reports of attacks by witches and modern claims of abduction by space aliens. ... 'I think it can explain claims of witchcraft and alien abduction,' said Kazuhiko Fukuda, a psychologist at Fukushima University in Japan and a leading expert on sleep paralysis. Research in Japan has had a head start because sleep paralysis is well-known to most Japanese, who call it kanashibari, while it is little-known and less studied in the West." A patient describes the experience as being "transported upward and looking down on his body, or else sent hurtling through a long tunnel."
"...Sleep paralysis was once thought to be very rare. But recent studies in Canada, Japan, China and the United States have suggested that it may strike at least 40 percent or 50 percent of all people at least once, and a study in Newfoundland, Canada, found that more than 60 percent had experienced it. ... Sleep paralysis researchers say that as many as 60 percent of intense abduction experiences were linked to sleep, and some of the reported symptoms -- noises, smells, paralysis, levitation, terror, images of frightening intruders -- are very similar to those of sleep paralysis." New York Times, Jul 6 '99, ppD1-2.
PHILOSOPHY
"The Triumph of the Irrational in Postenlightenment Theology" by Paul Fisher -- the essay "advances the idea that a dualism between faith and reason has come to characterize the postenlightenment theological enterprise." Andrews University Seminary Studies, Spr '99 (rec'd Jun 26), pp5-22.
REVISIONISM
"Is a Holocaust Skeptic Fit to Be a Historian?" by D.D. Guttenplan -- focuses on British writer David Irving, "praised by some of the most eminent scholars in his field [of World War II history]." However, Deborah Lipstadt, author of Denying the Holocaust (Plumsock Mesoamerican Studies, 1994, paperback, 278 pages, ISBN 0-4522-7274-2) says Irving is "a propagandist -- 'one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial.'" New York Times, Jun 26 '99, ppA17, 19.
