My next book review is of a book that I saw at the library and didn't hesitate for one minute to put in my canvas book bag. I didn't even read the inside cover to see what it was about. Good Book by David Plotz is a jarring examination of the Bible from the perspective of a Jewish man.
A short back story: I was raised Lutheran and attended Lutheran school through the eighth grade. Like many young women, I often saw the Church as a hindrance to a thoughtful and tolerant mind. Why were there no female leaders in my church? Why do the Bible stories never ever have strong, smart, powerful women? I couldn't relate to this stuff. Little girls have enough trouble finding role models, and most religions are no more helpful in that regard. Despite the pronunciations that Jesus loved me, I guess as I entered high school I never really felt the need for the love of such a sexist, rude, vengeful, and frankly unsympathetic deity. Don't get me wrong, I believe many good things about God and how religion can help provide comfort and social order.
But as reading Plotz's book has reinforced, many of us have been spoon fed stories from the Bible without ever really reading the stories ourselves and getting the full context and power of the words. We never really examine who wrote down these words and why. Sure, religion is about faith, but blind faith is no substitute for well-informed faith. Plotz's book also uses the Bible to detail the conflicts over land in Israel dating back from basically the beginning of time. Land in Israel is still one of the greatest foreign policy issues we face, and this conflict is deeply rooted in Biblical text.
A quick, funny, and interesting read that is both thought provoking and light.
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