Believer, Beware

by SHARLET, JEFFMANSEAU, PETER

• ISBN13: 9780807077399
• ISBN10: 0807077399
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2009-07-01
• Publisher: Beacon Press

Summary

For so many these days, the religious tradition we were raised in is no longer working for us. Either we choose to remain in the fold but on the margins, or we leave and feel somewhat adrift. Others have no tradition, yet we all search for a spiritual life that feels authentic to us. This book is for those seekers, whether not-quite-lapsed Catholics, believers fed up with right-wing dogma, Reconstructionist Jews, radical agnostics, modern pagans, converts, or apostates. The spirit of these essays is summed up in the tale of the Zen master who tells a young monk, "If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him," for his appearance is only the manifestation of one's longing for enlightenment, not the real thing. In this second collection to have sprung from religious commentators Sharlet and Manseau's popluar website, we enter a "temple of words" and hear a "cacophony choir" of voices searching for the real thing. Contributors include journalists, playwrights, novelists, rabbis, and ordinary people, telling true tales of striving to understand their relationship with the divine. The works are not categorized, but are preceded by a "Guide for the Perplexed," an index of themes, major religions, and stances.

Author Biography

Jeff Sharlet and Peter Manseau are cofounders of the online literary magazine Killing the Buddha , and coauthors of Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible. Sharlet is also the author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, as well as a contributing editor to Harper's and Rolling Stone. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Manseau's other books include Vows: The Story of a Priest, a Nun, and Their Son and the novel Songs for the Butcher's Daughter. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Apocalypse Is Always Now	p. ix
Jew Like Me	p. 1
The Temple Door	p. 4
Zen Mind, Alkie Mind	p. 10
What's Past Jersey?	p. 18
I Am a Sea	p. 22
My Holy Ghost People	p. 27
God Is Electric, Jesus Electrochemical	p. 32
Everybody Has a Mother, and They All Die	p. 39
To Pardon All Our Fucking Iniquities	p. 65
Bible Porn	p. 70
The Mucus	p. 79
Sects and the City	p. 87
Agnostic Front	p. 92
Please Don't Feed the Prophet	p. 98
You're Not in Oz Anymore Velvet, as told to	p. 103
Cowboy for Christ	p. 108
Jesus Gonna Strip You Naked	p. 118
The Joy of Dissent (Or, Why I Miss Fundamentalism)	p. 122
The Cross and the Color Line	p. 126
Another Man's Prayers	p. 131
I Was a Prepubescent Messiah	p. 136
Dreading the Buzzer	p. 140
Raised by Jews	p. 149
The Only Truth That Mattered	p. 157
Ooga Chaka Zen	p. 161
Hunger Is God's Food	p. 171
Revelation Road	p. 178
Searching for Sufis	p. 196
Barbershop Dharma	p. 203
The Doctrine of Sugar	p. 211
Jesus Is Just Alright	p. 216
The Lost Temple of the Pennytitties	p. 224
The Only Jew for Miles	p. 228
Banana Slug Psalm	p. 237
Seeing Things	p. 242
Acknowledgments	p. 255
Contributors' Notes	p. 257
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Rewards Program

Currently unavailable