All of the candidates for the second book group are now posted:
It was very difficult to narrow down the nominated titles to a manageable number. Wonderful titles were eliminated from the list to make room for a range of solid options. Your selections were thoughtful and timely (or timeless). Because I felt guilty about arbitrarily culling the herd, I limited myself to your suggestions and didn’t nominate any additional titles.
I tried to choose a variety of books that fit the main themes of this blog, generate discussion on our blogs and in person, and appeal to the range of interests, approaches and backgrounds. All of the titles deal with religion and/or spirituality, but they also explore everything from inward spiritual seeking to global warming, from the history of the Bible to the future of Christianity. Every book looks excellent and would spark a completely different discussion.
Mark G., I specifically didn’t include Richard Dawkins (even though I saw him speak a month ago, and am in the middle of The God Delusion
This is how the voting works: List your top three selections, in descending order (i.e., your first choice on top). You can submit your votes privately via email (that’s fierymind followed by the @ symbol, and ending with gmail.com) or publicly through the comments on this post. Voting will close a week from today. ‘Ballots’ received after 11:59 pm, Saturday, December 9th will not be counted.
The original nomination thread had some good stumping for specific candidates. Please note that campaigning is allowed at this polling location.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Elise // Dec 2, 2006 at 11:25 pm
1) Open Christianity
2) The Faith Club
3) The Question of God: C.S. Lewin and Sigmund Freud…
I don’t have a very good platform for my campaigning, but those are the three that look most interesting to me. Although I’m sure I’d enjoy any of the nine suggested.
2 Bored in Vernal // Dec 3, 2006 at 2:20 pm
1. Open Christianity
2. American Theocracy–got it from the library yesterday–I didn’t even have to wait in a queue. Guess no one else in Vernal wants to read it (big surprise.)
3. The Way of A Pilgrim
3 Watt Mahoun // Dec 3, 2006 at 5:34 pm
I think I’m ready for a fresh perspective…and the books that others suggested have it:
Open Christianity - I suspect that this will be good for my marriage.
Misquoting Jesus - having been raised on the literal, I’m thirsting for a reexamined faith.
American Theocracy - ditto, but with the advantage of putting the Mormonist in me further in check.
4 pilgrimgirl // Dec 3, 2006 at 6:02 pm
My picks:
1) The Creation
2) Letters to a Spiritual Seeker
3) American Gospel
5 Jonathan // Dec 4, 2006 at 6:33 am
My pics:
Never read Thoreau yet.
1. Letters to a Spiritual Seeker (I have this one on my christmas list
2. The question of God - C.S. Lewis vs. Freud
3. Open Christianity
6 Miko // Dec 4, 2006 at 12:35 pm
muahaha
my votes (for…actually, for non-paperback books) are:
1. the Faith Club
I\’d be very interested to read the dialogue (trialogue?) between these women and what their conclusions end up being. I think that these kinds of conversation have more value than they are often given credit for. I also think that this conversation mirrors the ones that go on every day here at Mind on Fire. We may not have a token Muslim or a token Jew, but this type of interfaith conversation is what this site is built upon.
2. Misquoting Jesus
I have personal peeves against \”St.\” Paul, the man generally quoted when right-wingers want to prove that Jesus hated, the man who removed women from the places that Jesus put them in, and the man whose beliefs and teachings most so-called Christians (I prefer to call them Paulians) adhere to. I don\’t know precisely who gets to misquote Jesus in this book, but I believe Paul must be in there somewhere…
3. American Theocracy
Best to understand it if I\’m going to live in it…
7 Amber // Dec 4, 2006 at 1:49 pm
1. Letters to a Spiritual Seeker
2. American Gospel
3. American Theocracy
This time, I will even read the book!
8 Matt Thurston // Dec 6, 2006 at 6:48 pm
1.) American Gospel
2.) Misquoting Jesus
3.) The Creation
I just spent a maddening lunch discussing the Founding Fathers, Religion, and whether or not America was founded as a Christian Nation with a Mormon and two serious Christians. It would have been nice to have had American Gospel at my disposal.
I’m interested in reading some kind of origin-of-the-Bible type book as well, so Misquoting Jesus would be great.
The Creation looks great as well…
9 Elise // Dec 7, 2006 at 11:30 am
Great, Matt, now you’ve got me campaigning for a book I didn’t even put on my top 3 list: I’ve had a few of those “founding father” debates, too, so I agree that American Gospel would be a good one to read as well.
John, you’re probably thinking I’m making your voting system a bit messy, so just keep my original three but if it comes down to any tie-breakers, I also vote for American Gospel!
10 John White // Dec 8, 2006 at 3:07 am
1) Misquoting Jesus
2) American Gospel
3) American Theocracy
Lots of good choices here.
4) The Creation
C.S. Lewis vs. Godzilla
5) Open Christianity
6) The Faith Club
7) Letters to a Spiritual Seeker
9) The Way of Sigmund Freud
11 Dave // Dec 9, 2006 at 10:41 am
Uh, I’ve kind of lost track of the nomination and voting process. I’m just looking for a “the winner is …” announcement so I can track down the book.
12 Caroline // Dec 9, 2006 at 12:42 pm
1. open christianity
2. faith club
3. misquoting jesus
13 John // Dec 10, 2006 at 12:24 am
Thank you for participating! The polls are now officially closed, and the winner will be announced on Sunday.