Christian Paths to Health and Wellness

Abraham and Moses were shepherds, Jesus was a craftsman, and other than the fact that they’re both biblical characters, they had one other thing in common; they lived in an age when there were no “sedentary lifestyles” or bad food. The average diet in those days was bread, goat cheese, dates, and olives, no processed meats or sodium-heavy canned soups. The only meat they would’ve had was goat, and even that was only eaten on special occasions. Today it’s not much different in some Arab countries; lunch for a Bedouin goat herder is bread and dates. He doesn’t sit at a desk all day, eating junk food because he’s bored.

Christian Paths to Health and Wellness is essentially about the American health crisis. On one hand we eat bad food and don’t exercise enough, while on the other hand, the rest of us are dangerously obsessed with our looks. In the case study My Struggles With My Appearance it shows you how if you’re too concerned with your body, it actually overrides your concern for real health. Young men often become so concerned with the perfect figure that they use steroids, and we all know what those do to you. There’s a reason why vanity is one of the seven deadly sins!

In some ways this book blames a lot of the problem in the constant pressure to win. In the chapter Emotional Health and Wellness, it discusses the massive stress we put on ourselves, along with selective listening. Fist, as St. Paul said in Romans 7:21, “some people think they accomplish nothing unless they accomplish all goals.” Now think of the man or woman who works long hours to pay for a huge house, cable TV, student loans, vacation in the Bahamas. Then there’s the high school athlete who pushes himself to win at the expense of his grades, his health, and his freedom. This is an example of the all-or-nothing mentality.

This line of thinking can even effect the company you work for-absenteeism, turnover, accidents with machinery or vehicles. Teenage suicide is discussed, along with obesity, nutrition, and picky eating. There’s a funny story in this book, where all-or-nothing creates a “town versus gown” struggle for a Christian college. The students all sign a petition to keep the college library open on Sunday, and it riles the administrators. But who’s even more riled? The locals! They say that the public library is overrun on Sundays with college students, and nobody else can get it. Even Christian college students get caught in the 24/7 workaholic war of desperation!

I recommend this book for anyone teaching health and hygiene to high school students. The illustrations are excellent for the topic. But a few more case studies or examples would be a little more helpful. 

Studio Thinking: A Superb Guide for Art Teachers

Studio or Classroom? That is the essential question of this book, aptly titled Studio Thinking. Should an art class be inherently different from any other classroom, or do we need the same rows of desks and a teacher at the blackboard? Art classes are usually messy, and perhaps they should be. There won’t be as many books involved, but there will be lots of charcoal dust. Should the teacher be at the front, or should he/she be at the rear, so the students can develop in their own way?

Studio Thinking is published by Teachers College (the Columbia University graduate school for educators) which has a serious reputation for art education. If you’re ever in a top private school in the city, chances are that the art teacher is a Teachers College alum. But at the same time, the school (and this book) leaves one thing out. They don’t directly address the issue of the reluctant learner. That is one thing that’s always on a teachers’ mind at the start of school. The smart ones worry to themselves “I bet the minute I walk in there they’ll yell “fuck you” and piss all over the floor,” because that’s the very worst. The very least is that they’ll want to have headphones in their ears, and that’s curable. You need to be an educator first, artist second.

Critiques are highly stressed in Studio Thinking, and indeed, they are a powerful tool in any class, not just art. In most classes, the kids never see each other’s work, but in an art class, they can learn from each other (chapter 3, The Work Does the Teaching.) But hang on, we don’t want any nasty criticism! There’s no room here for “that’s stupid” or “that’s ugly.” Critiques can be a great way to learn mutual respect. Even in an English class, it can make sense to have the students critique each other’s essays and stories. If a kid hears that his essay “is lacking,” then he can react two ways; he can give up, or work more competitively.

I would recommend this book for new teachers, just like Harry Wong’s First Day of School. In the same spirit as Wong’s famous book, it teaches you how to structure your classroom for success, only in this case it’ll be a lot messier.

A Search Past Silence by David Kirkland

Do any of you remember the 1980’s comedy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure? There was a scene in there where Keanu Reeves introduces Socrates to the audience, and says “like Ozzy Osborne today, he was accused of corrupting the young.”

The scene illustrates how even reluctant young people can learn. What they need is something they can relate to, as in the case with the teenager in Bill & Ted. The Ozzy Osborne analogy says something about how we view the problem as well. All the paranoia today about hip-hop inspired shootings; there was similar hysteria about heavy metal in the 80.’

A Search Past Silence is about how teachers can reach young black men, as long as they can find a “hook,” or some kind of common ground that will entice the learner. In the first chapter, a teacher looks at a kid’s rap lyrics and says “why can’t you write like this in class?” Now that’s exactly what any well-educated teacher would say. The problem is that the teacher doesn’t understand how the kid thinks. He doesn’t find his high school English class terribly appealing. The usual “you’re not living up to your full potential” speech doesn’t work on ANY kid, let alone fatherless black boys.

Professor David Kirkland writes the story around Shawn and Derrick, two boys who’ve inherited a mess. Their ancestors fled the deep south, with its racism and hopeless economy. They ended up in a lousy inner-city neighborhood full of bad people who used drugs, good people who came back crazy from Vietnam (an uncle came back on heroin.) What do they have to show for it now? Bad food, bad air, the fear of white men in white robes is replaced with cops who beat them. The kind of message that a morals-spewing teacher has for them, they won’t care. The kids will read-Malcolm X, Assata, black street literature-they know it’s there, but expressing themselves through writing is a problem.

There are solutions to these problems. Years ago, a high schooler interviewed me for a school paper, and he was bewildered by my teenage experiences. He was like “yo, you actually liked Nirvana? You though torn jeans were cool? No wonder you white people dress like shit. Why did your school need a dress code if the Five Towns had no gangs?”

It seems that Kirkland blames the problem on communication. First, they’re taught English as some kind of foreign language, and when they get to school, the things the teacher says don’t sound right to them. Second, the media creates the image of black boys as malevolent troublemakers, and that same image encourages the boys to act macho in order to get attention. Lastly, the police allow themselves to be insulted when a black boy disobeys them, and they avenge all insults with roughness. If the boys have weak families at home, and the authority are seen as being against them, what are they supposed to think about life?

Give these kids a chance to write about themselves. It’s not like they’ve had no adventures in their lives. They just don’t know what to compare their lives to, because they don’t know what’s out there. Think of it as color-blindness; if you only see browns, how will you know if there’s a brown object in the room? You need another color to see the difference. Unless the students have a chance to see the rest of the city, and all the other great things out there, they won’t think enough about their lives to write about them.

I applaud Kirkland’s efforts. He made a great effort to tell this story in an unbiased manner, with no judgments or prejudices. It’s not just black boys that have the problems we see in this book; white people have this problem too. Watch the documentary Dream Deceivers, where the parents blame a kids’ shooting on heavy metal music. They even sue the band and the record company. Too many of us look to blame something for our problem-guns, music, video games-but the cure is going to depend on the way we communicate to the kids.

Biomedicine and Beatitude by Nicanor Austriaco

Biomedicine and Beatitude by Nicanor Austriaco is a well-written and clearly worded book about Christian medical ethics. However, it becomes a much broader argument that people are overlooking “natural law” thanks to “medical breakthroughs.”  The chapter Bioethics and Human Procreation raises questions that not only argue on behalf of Catholicism, but on behalf of basic morals as well. One issue he brings up is how condoms can prevent pregnancy and HIV, but what if you’re already engaging in risky behavior? Will condoms prevent all the other problems you can acquire? The chapter on organ donation doesn’t deride the practice; on the contrary, he argues that it’s a noble gesture. But at what point is the patient legally dead? Are you morally accountable if your donated kidney or heart wasn’t donated at all, but taken without consent?

Consent is another debate in this book with no concrete solution. The author makes very clear the church’s opposition to in vitro fertilization and fertility drugs. Take Nadya Suleman, the infamous “Octomom” as an example (though she’s not used expressly in this book.) She consented to having the embryos implanted in her uterus, so she wasn’t forced to do anything. But should her physician have said no? Look at it this way; dogs and puppies have lots of nipples with which to feed their massive litters. But humans only have two, and rarely give birth in multiples. This is one aspect of Evolution that even the church would probably agree with.

This book should be required reading for anyone considering a career in medicine. It’s a great treatise on ethics.

Seven Men and the Secret of Their Greatness

Eric Metaxas uses simple, effective writing to tell how some of history’s greatest men achieved a loyal and respected following. Starting with George Washington, he writes about how hard work and self-sacrifice are the foundation of great leadership. He puts together an account of why Washington was chosen to lead the Continental Army:

1. He undertook a dangerous scouting expedition, through a forest in winter, during the French and Indian War. It earned him great respect from his men, and his account of the expedition was widely respected in England.

2. The Continental Congress had no way to conscript me (or even feed them much.) They needed a general who could get along with the men and convince them to stay.

3. Washington was already rich, and would have no need to take payoffs.

4. Washington’s upper-class manners and dress were the right image for the new nation. The Colonies didn’t want to be seen as muddy-booted rabble.

The list of great men goes on to include Eric Liddel, who refused to run in the Olympics on Sunday, and was willing to forfeit a gold medal. Today he’s well known in Scotland as a missionary. As for who won medals at the 1924 Olympics, who even remembers? But all sport fans remember Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player. You’ll remember him as a great ballplayer, or as a guy who wouldn’t hit back every time her was spiked and beaned. Jackie Robinson’s self-sacrifice is part of a running theme in this book. Washington surprised everyone when he announced “the war’s over, I’m going home.” King George was certain he’d set himself up as the new dictator, but when he heard that Washington had stripped himself of power, he gave up too.

Look at these men from an economic perspective; George Washington, Eric Liddel, Jackie Robinson, these men all had jobs. Now, take a look at less-successful leaders-Stalin, Lenin, Hitler, Mao, Fidel, the Kim family, Jean Claude Duvalier, Assad-these men never had jobs. India had Gandhi, who was a lawyer, and Italy had Garibaldi, who was a sailor, teacher, and candle maker. But the USSR? Their leaders never worked. Stalin, Lenin, and Mao spoke highly of the worker, but they never did a day’s work in their lives.

Metaxas’ book reminds me of what it takes to lead. You have to be the one doing all the work, and like Eric Liddel, you must make a sacrifice. When people see you going without, they will be more willing to do the same.

Columbine: A Superb Account by Dave Cullen

Reviewed by Ben Wolinsky

Our nation has had its share of troubles-the Great Depression, Vietnam, Waco, 9/11-but I wonder if Columbine is worse? This wasn’t a case of a foreign terrorist making a mass attack; it was two teenage boys walking around their school shooting everyone. It was the kind of thing that teens used to joke about, but of course nobody would dream of actually doing it. The Columbine massacre isn’t in most high school history books (and neither is Waco for that matter) but maybe it should be.

In Dave Cullen’s book, there are no conclusions, and maybe that’s why it really makes you think. We may never know the boys’ motivation for the murder spree. The kids who were left disabled, and the families of the dead, they all had to move on alone. There wasn’t an outpouring of sympathy like the 9/11 victims had, no memorials all over the USA. I remember watching it on the news back in college. The only reaction of the government involved gun control debates. But I thought hard; not too long before, I was a high school student too. I hated the school and hated my classmates. Sometimes I fantasized about marching through the school with a shotgun and killing every kid who ever picked on me. But I never did. There has to be a reason why, and I don’t know that reasons.

In the afterward, Linda Mauser (mother of one of the victims) says she’s not really that angry at Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. She’s angry at their parents, because she can’t understand how they allowed their boys to gather the weapons under the parents’ noses. She’s angry at her pastor who gave the routine speech about “moving on” and then ignored her. She’s angry at gun control lobbyists who exploited the tragedy. I can only hope that her participation in this book is cathartic for her. Cullen isn’t judgmental in his writing. He lets the survivors tell it as they see it.

The Columbine massacre wasn’t a spur of the moment fight. Harris and Klebold planned it for months, and they made great efforts to hide it from their parents. The local police were unready for something like this, which was, in reality, no different from a terrorist hostage situation. Now tell me, where in America is a small town police department ready for terrorism? Can we blame the police for taking too long to enter and sweep the building? Should we blame the gun makers, even though they didn’t advertise to kids? Should we blame violent video games? Violent movies? The violent six o’clock news?

In the meantime, the Sandy Hook Massacre is fresh in everyone’s minds, and I have, this time round, seen more sympathy for the victims. Not to mention the presidents’ speech to the victims’ families. But will today’s high school students be taught about the Columbine High School massacre? It remains to be seen.

Excellent Textbook on Morality For Kids

Christian Morality

Reviewed by Ben Wolinsky

A veteran teacher once said to me, “You don’t need a textbook to teach these kids; it’s all about how you do it.” I’m inclined to disagree for one reason only; a good textbook encourages the young to learn on their own. When you give your students their textbooks for the course, they’ll think one of the following; either “these textbooks are junk, so the school doesn’t care” or “great looking book, this course is going to be a lot of fun.”

Christian Morality is a great book, a great teaching tool, and a great moral example. Instead of endless homilies, it compares the moral struggle to that of everyday life. Take for instance page 57, where it talk about sin and natural law. The illustration is a photo of a riot in Athens, Greece, which has been in the news a lot lately after the economy collapsed. The caption says “sin leads to lawless situations,” and I’m inclined to agree, because tax fraud certainly didn’t help Greece’s situation. It goes on to talk about the same sins that caused so much trouble in the Bible being repeated today, with equally destructive consequences.
 

One of the issues discussed in this book (and unfortunately, rarely in others) is the role that adults play in bringing about their own disrespect. It’s clear in the Ten Commandments, “respect your elders,” but what if the elders are causing disrespect? Are the adults setting the example? Take the book of Genesis for instance, where Jacob deceives is father in order to get his blessings. Jacob is rarely faulted for his deception, and I’m going to guess that it’s because of Isaac’s passive attitude. It says in the Bible that Isaac took Rebecca “to comfort him after the death of his mother,” so unlike his father Abraham, Isaac wanted a wife as a replacement for his mother, not someone with whom he could produce another generation. When it says that Isaac’s sight was dim, does it mean he couldn’t see, or was he so ignorant of his twin sons’ rivalry that he might as well have been blind?

Unlike some textbooks, Christian Morality doesn’t use drawings for illustration. It uses photos, almost all of which come from stock photo agencies. They are random people in real life situations, and with the way they look and dress, today’s kids will relate well to them. The photos, like the book’s texts, are all in color, and that is no small asset today. With all the technology kids play with, they’re bombarded by flashy colors day and night, so black and white photos probably won’t impress them as much. Furthermore, I’ve had countless students tell me “this is bullsh-t” because the kids in their textbooks look nothing like them. Well you won’t have that problem here!

Brian Singer-Towns, the author of this wonderful book, has outdone himself. Perfectly compiled and illustrated, written in clear and plain language, it is the perfect book for anyone teaching children about Christian life.

The Civil War, On a Personal Level

Faces of the Civil War

Reviewed by Ben Wolinsky

There’s a photo in here of a man who “dreamed of becoming a fine art painter.” But his life after military service was depression and alcohol. There was another, of a bald, gruff-looking man, who returned to his pre-war career of running a general store, took up horticulture as a hobby, and became an early member of the ASPCA. The fine art painter, with his craggy face and large sideburns, would’ve fit right in as an artist today. The bald shopkeeper, however, would probably have a prescription for Rogaine, unless his wife preferred him bald.

This is why I love Faces of the Civil War. Most books about the Civil War only tell you about combat, but I want to know about the people. Where did the soldiers come from? What motivated them to leave their careers and families? How did they adjust to life after the war, in an age with no telephones, no internet, and no office jobs? Come to think of it, office jobs in those days were probably a lot more fun, with no cubicles or fluorescent lights, no white drop-ceilings, no phones ringing. College in those days was a rarity, and going to school up to age 14 meant you were well-educated. The soldiers in these photos came from all classes in the USA; rich and poor, craftsmen and farmers, they all volunteered, and many were leaving home for the first time.

Author Ronald Coddington researched piles of photos into (what I consider, in my biased opinion) the best primary source for any history buff. These photos weren’t meant to be portraits to hang on the wall; on the contrary, they were carte de visite, a small picture, the size of a playing card, and you sent them home to your family. With a war going on, there was greater demand for soldier’s photos, and I doubt any of the troops could afford one of Matthew Brady’s large portraits. Most of the information on these men came from records in the Veterans’ Affairs department, where many of them sent these photos as ID with their applications for their pensions. Needless to say, quite a lot of the men staring out of the photos had trouble making a living after the war.

These guys often returned home with (what we now know to be) PTSD. They didn’t know why they felt the way they did, and their families couldn’t understand them. A few of them went back to their old jobs, but too often it didn’t work out. They came back to towns that had changed since they were gone, and the stream of immigrants changed the labor market. I’ll bet that leaving home for the first time in their lives, only to march right into combat, was too much of a strain. Maybe things weren’t much different in 1865 than they are today?

Can Islam be a Danger Even to Saudi Arabia?

Hatred’s Kingdom by Dore Gold

Reviewed by Ben Wolinsky

   Islam began in Arabia, that’s a fact I won’t dispute. Saudi Arabia’s Muslims follow the Wahabi doctrine, that’s a fact too. But according to Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the UN, Al-Queda may have its roots in Wahabi Islam, and Saudi Arabia is a jumping off place for terrorism. If anything in Hatred’s Kingdom is true, then that country is on a tightrope over the chasm of violence.

    Gold starts out with the beginnings of Islam in Arabia, and as we all know, it was a violent start. Mohammed didn’t exactly give people the freedom of choice; he converted the people by the sword, not a sermon on the mount. Then the story proceeds to the 1700’s, when a man named Al-Wahab started a form of radical Islam that was anti-everything. All forms of art, music, and mysticism were now forbidden. The Shiite Muslims were considered enemies, and the Sufi, who had for their music and philosophy, were now considered heretics. According to Gold, Saudi Arabia and Iran hate each other.

    One of the incidents described in this book is the 1982 takeover of the Great Mosque in Mecca. It was the work of rebels who had a similar ideology to Al-Queda; no foreign influences, women shouldn’t go to school, and most prominent of all, there could no kings in Islam. The takeover failed, but the whole debacle was an omen. There are many in Saudi Arabia (and probably Jordan as well) who distrust the idea of a king. The Saudi monarch, by the way, is nothing like Kings of France; on the contrary, he shares the country’s oil money with the people. He provides for them, so that healthcare and education are free. Nobody starves in Saudi Arabia. But I have to wonder, is the king afraid of his own people? Is he buying their trust?

    Even though Wahabism didn’t start until the 1700’s, it was nothing new. The habits of Saudi Arabia predate Islam by millennia, with regards to lifestyle, law, marriage, etc. Even in the days of the bible, a man would beat his wife for talking back to him. Women were property of their fathers, and could be bought, sold, and traded. If you were a man and you spoke to an unmarried woman, her family would now consider her a whore and would probably kill her. The so-called “honor killings” of today existed in the book of Genesis, like the part where Tamar is found to be pregnant, and her father-in-law says “take her to be burned!” And let’s not forget the part where Lot offers his daughters as payment. He says “I have two daughters who have known no man, I’ll give them to you to do with as you please, but don’t harm the men who took shelter under my roof.” In short order, Lot was going to throw two little girls to a frenzied mob, to be gang-raped all night long. Not the kind of thing you’d expect from a “righteous” man.

    Wahabism is indeed a violent doctrine, but that doesn’t make Islam a violent faith. The religion is practiced differently worldwide, and I can name some examples. In Cape Town, the women and men pray side by side, while everywhere else, the women pray behind the men. In the East Indies, performing arts (like their famous shadow puppets) continued long after the natives adopted Islam, and this sort of thing would be “haram” under Wahabism. Somali Muslims chop off the hands of thieves, while the Muslims of China wouldn’t even consider such things. In the 1200’s, when Ibn Batuta visited Samarkand, he saw a man and a woman walking together in the street, and from the way the woman was talking to the man, he thought he was her servant. Women in his country (Morocco) never argued with their husbands in public, unless they enjoyed a beating. In Mali he praised the men for their clean garments, then raged at the women who walked around topless! Islam is applied, practiced, and interpreted differently everywhere you go.

    If Wahabi Muslims think that music and art are haram and women are inferior, then American life will definitely anger them. Take for instance the US Army bases in Saudi Arabia. You have female soldiers, bareheaded and clad in tee shirts, carrying guns and driving trucks. Saudi women aren't allowed to do that. How do you think a Wahabi follower feels when he sees women with guns? Can he accept that some women are not beneath him? How will he react to his loss of dominance? Will he accept it and move on, or will he attack the women with a machine gun?

    Something tells me, if Saudi Arabia weren’t desperate for US weapons and protection, there wouldn’t be any women allowed on those bases, period.

Fourteen Years Old and Nowhere to Go

Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir by Janice Erlbaum

Ben Wolinsky, reviewer

Some kids go through tough times with their families. Anyone who's worked as a teacher, social worker or juvenile corrections officer has probably seen the kids; angry, hostile, confused, and aimless. They can't live with their families, but who else will take them in. Some of them have abusive parents, other have emotional problems that their families can't handle.

Janice Erlbaum was one such kid. Her mother's live-in boyfriend was abusive, and her mother was too spinless to say no to him. So she give her mother an ultimatum; "either he goes or I go." Her mother balked, and Janice left. No where would she go? There were shelters for runaway teens, and that's where she ended up. But the people there weren't that sympathetic to her problem. The adults thought she was just a spoiled kid.

One of the themes in Girlbomb is temptation. When you're on your own at 14, there's all this temptation to take drugs, mess with boys, hang out in clubs where sex and drugs predominate. Janice makes a few bad choices, but fortunately, none of them lead to teen pregnancy or AIDS. I wonder sometimes, how can good Christians expect their kids to do likewise while at the same time allowing these impressionable adolescents to be bombarded right and left by sexualized filthy imagery? How can you expect your teenager son or daughter to dress appropriately when all they see are scantily clad, garishly made up, and foul mouthed teen girls with augmented breasts and tight skirts?

Read Girlbomb if you want to understand the pitfalls of modern day adolescence!

You Belong To Christ by J. Brian Tucker

Reviewed by Ben Wolinsky

I have to admit that after spending 18 years studying the bible, there was so much about it that I didn’t realize. It probably wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that I saw how different each part was. Take for instance the difference between the first five books and the book of Joshua; the writing is far different, and if you’ve been taught to read modern Hebrew, the Prophets will be far easier to read than the Five Books.

    The bible isn't an altogether pleasant read. The Old Testament is full of wrath, punishment, and divine revenge, while the Gospels have a far sweeter disposition. They’re all about kindness and love compared to the wrathful stories of Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Daniel. But what I often wondered the most about was the story of Paul of Tarsus. If he was a Jew, then would his outlook have more to do with Judaism or Greco-Roman thought?

    The author quotes the scholar James Walters’ view that Paul’s days in Corinth had a lot to do with peace and a lack of external conflict. If the people are less distracted by a foreign enemy, does that leave them more time for introspection? We’ve had times like that in the USA, when we weren’t bogged down in foreign wars; take the period of 1993-2001, as an example. Our nation was highly productive at the time, and we made great advances in technology (have we forgotten the dot-com explosion?) and in the arts (we haven’t forgotten the indie film explosion, have we?) for the nation.

    The Corinthians, according to this book, were somewhat independent, and with less pressure from the Roman Emperor and war, they were free to choose. That, in essence, is what Paul was all about; he preached that we all had the choice between good and evil, forgiveness and wrath, etc. Was Paul’s message truly in conflict with Judaism? Let’s keep in mind the Seven Laws of Noah, which even the Jewish Amoraim and Tanaim agreed should apply to non-Jews as well. Noah’s laws prohibited animal cruelty and idolatry, and promoted justice. It was unusual for a Jew to preach to gentiles, but then again, didn’t the Creator send Jonah to preach to the people of Ninveh in Assyria? The Jews may not have agreed with Paul’s message, but keep in mind that Judea, occupied or not, was a mess at the time. In the years before the Roman occupation, it was a corrupt state, ruled over by the corrupt Hasmoneon Kings, themselves descended from the corrupt Hasmoneon Priests.

Some Jews believe that the Messiah will come during a time of great disorder. Maybe, maybe not, but it’s clear from this book that Paul’s greatest success was in places of great peace and order, when there was less distraction and more time for healthy introspection.