false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172264327m/156795.jpg 156795 2 <font size="3">The most important book on religion this year, perhaps this decade. --<i> The Literary Spirituality Review</i></font> <p>In this multiple award-winning and bestselling diagnosis of the contemporary American spirit, David James Duncan suggests that the de facto political party embodied by the so-called Christian Right has turned worship into a self-righteous betrayal of the words and example of the very Jesus it claims to praise. In a bracing and often hilarious response to this trend, God Laughs & Plays offers churchless sermons, stories, memoir, conversations, and cosmological reflections that scorn riches and embrace the poor; bless peacemakers, not war-makers; celebrate creation, diversity, empathy, playfulness and beauty; and insist that Divine Mystery is indeed mysterious and compassion is literally compassionate. The spiritual kingdom described by Jesus, this unusual book reminds us, is located not "in the Sky" or beyond a disastrous future, but within us, to be sought and embodied in the here and now. 24184 1 2 2007 God Laughs & Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right total:160|5:3|4:0|3:1|2:1|1:0| 160 648 274 39 3 2 false false Wed Aug 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 07 19:00:11 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 08 13:14:24 -0700 2009 David James Duncan is one of my heroes, both for being a wonderful writer from the Pacific Northwest, and for saying a lot of the things I think way better than I could ever say them. He is a preacher of rivers, which description I think conveys both the lovely things about him and the sometimes ir...more...]]> 4 2 false true Sun Mar 11 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Mar 01 21:35:58 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 01 21:37:31 -0800 2008
I'm not sure I like the subtitle, because Duncan has issues with lots of different parts of Christendom; the Seve...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Nov 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 19:03:23 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 19:26:42 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 12 20:17:23 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 30 21:10:38 -0700 2008 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 30 12:00:47 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 30 12:00:47 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Sep 24 06:54:11 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 06:56:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 16:02:32 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 16:05:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 13 09:01:02 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 30 10:25:36 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Nov 25 08:11:25 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 08:11:25 -0800 2008
]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Jan 08 18:28:51 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 08 18:32:20 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Feb 25 11:10:32 -0800 2008 Wed Apr 15 09:39:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Dec 09 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 14:27:59 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 14:28:56 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Wed Jun 25 23:22:46 -0700 2008 Sun May 18 21:15:08 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 25 23:22:46 -0700 2008
"If you were basking in bright sunlight, and a man a quarter-mile away suddenly shouted, 'Hey you! I can see the sun from over here! Stop what you're doi...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Oct 29 18:44:47 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 29 18:56:20 -0700 2007 Easy to read and you'll want to discuss it. With anyone.



I like this quote:
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Written as individual sermons, each is...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 17 16:42:49 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 27 17:53:28 -0700 2008
This book has provided for me many moments of clarity over the past few weeks. The essays in this book at once engage my deepest cynicisms only to disarm them again in wonder and love for God and ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Aug 21 14:34:05 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 14:38:41 -0700 2008 propensity for ignorant hatefulness towards those that are destroying everything i love.]]> 2 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun May 18 12:51:38 -0700 2008 Sun May 18 12:54:51 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=156795