Litsy

Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand: A Novel of Adam and Eve | Gioconda Belli

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Gioconda Belli was recently stripped of her Nicaraguan citizenship along with 93 others. I don't think it was president Ortega's intention to remind me that this novel of hers was on my TBR, but it did, and now hopefully you can add it to yours and we can increase the readership of authors who resist their fascist governments. The novel is about Adam and Eve: Belli has fun showing us what a world without history looks like from their vantage.

Billypar If anyone doing the #ReadingtheAmericas2023 challenge still needs one from Nicaragua, I recommend giving this a try. 2y

Leftcoastzen Sounds amazing 2y

Billypar @Leftcoastzen Yeah, it's a pretty creative riff on one of the most famous stories ever. 2y

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Currey @Billypar I have her autobiography on my TBR shelf. Thx for the prompt to get to it 2y

Billypar @Currey I'd like read that one - it sounds like she's lived an interesting life to say the least. I think The Inhabited Woman was inspired by her experiences with the revolution in Nicaragua. 2y

Suet624 All of this post is so informative! Ortega removing citizenships? This author? I have some reading to do. 2y

Billypar @Suet624 I didn't know much about denaturalization before I heard of this story. Pretty terrible practice! 2y

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Legendofcool

Eve | William Paul Young

New audio book listen

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Margot0817

Eve: A Novel | WM. Paul Young

bailed

Oh goodness. This book is wild and not in a good way. The writing is awful and full of incomplete sentences. The writing jumps back and forth and is unclear. Above all the theology in this book is off and I think it would be confusing for a non Christian who is trying to learn about the faith-in my opinion it doesn't shine a good light on it.

9 likes

bliophile

The Blessing Seed: A Creation Myth for the New Millennium | Caitl�n Matthews

pick

My daughter bought this book home from school and asked me to read it. What a lovely read. A nice take on of the Bible's stories. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

16 likes

Branwen

The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve | Stephen Greenblatt

pick

"Why is God unwilling that man should know good and evil? Why should religion enshrine a story that celebrates ignorance?"

This book was amazing. It was fascinating and very intriguing, without getting bogged down with moral rhetoric. It provided lots of insight as well as lots of other jumping off points for further research!I'm really eager to go back and reread Gilgsmesh now!An overall great book! ???

GingerAntics Oh I‘m so glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. I enjoyed the reassessment of the story where who was good and who was bad was re-evaluated and there is an argument for god being the bag guy. 6y

GingerAntics It opens up this whole new perspective on the story. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Yes! That was actually my favorite part of the book! When he talked about the testimony of truth in the Nag Hammadi scrolls and how lucifer basically condemmed god for trying to force ignorance on mankind...Wow. That just blew my mind. So much to think about, you know? 6y

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GingerAntics Oh I totally agree with that. I‘ve wanted to read the Nag Hammadi texts for so long, this really made me want to read them even more. I find it interesting that many Christians are still trying to force ignorance in their children. It may have started with god himself. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Right?! Its actually crazy if you think about it. What kind of religious group, or any group really, celebrates ignorance and condemns curiosity and the thirst for knowledge? Its absolutely ridiculous. Instead of urging people to be the best they can be they would rather everyone live in the dark and just do what they're told. Madness. 6y

GingerAntics I totally agree. It‘s how you end up with kids who say stupid crap like “I think Galileo made the right choice when he picked Jesus over science.” Yeah, he didn‘t actually. 🙄 So glad you have a competent person homeschooling you, kid. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Omggggg that is so awful. If anyone ever said that to me I would have to hit them over the head with a science book. Or maybe a hardcover copy of Paradise Lost! 😉😈 6y

GingerAntics 🤣😂🤣 it was from this documentary called “Jesus Camp.” It‘s like a train wreck, you can‘t look away. I‘ve watched that thing like 5 times. You just keep watching these crazies. They don‘t believe in science and a lot of the parents homeschool to keep their kids away from science. The devil made science, according to these nuts. 🙄 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics I am both horrified and fascinated that such a documentary exists! 😂🤣 I feel like I need to get drunk and watch it one night! 6y

GingerAntics Right? It‘s free on YouTube. I think I was drinking the first time I watched it. Then I was just like “did I really see that?” So I went back and watched. Then I was pissed at some of the BS they‘re putting on kids, so I went back to watch it again. I‘m serous, it‘s like a car crash or a train wreck. You know you should look away, but you can‘t. 6y

GingerAntics It used to be on Netflix, so check there, too. I just googled “Jesus Camp” and it came up and it listed all the places you could watch it. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Omg its called Jesus Camp. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I'm totally watching it this weekend! 😁 6y

GingerAntics It‘s literally called that. It‘s kind of scary. The woman who runs the camp is so deluded. After the documentary aired the person who owned the land wouldn‘t let her rent the land from him anymore so last I heard she was looking for a new place to hold the camp. 6y

GingerAntics Part of the documentary is her sitting and watching video tapes of camps and talking about how great it all is and how great the kids are. 🙄 My favourite was looking up the “where are they 10 years later” articles on the internet. It was funny how some of these kids had totally checked out of the madness. Make sure to look those up after you watch. My vote is to laugh. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Its actually kind of terrifying to think of that lady out there somewhere looking for a new place for her crazy camp. 😱 Its like a horror movie! 😁 6y

GingerAntics Right? I think after the documentary, though, most people don‘t want it on their land and she can‘t afford to buy land herself. She likes to spend time just watching all the videos. She doesn‘t have any kids of her own, so her videos are her kids. 6y

GingerAntics “Kids on Fire School of Ministry was a Pentecostal summer camp at Devils Lake, North Dakota, United States. It is the setting of the Academy Award nominated documentary Jesus Camp. The camp was run by the Reverend Becky Fischer.” 6y

GingerAntics “Becky Fischer announced that Kids on Fire would be closed indefinitely due to telephone calls, letters, and other negative reactions after the release of Jesus Camp. Fischer had rented the campground from the Assemblies of God, but was asked not to return because of vandalism at the campground after the film's release.” 6y

GingerAntics At one point they stretch their hands toward and pray for a cardboard cut out of George W Bush. Not even remotely kidding. 6y

GingerAntics I also find it amusing that an ultra Christian Camp was at a location known as “Devils Lake.” 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Ahahahaha! That's so awesome, I love it! 🤣 6y

GingerAntics Right? Isn‘t it great how the universe works out sometimes?! 6y

GingerAntics I‘m rewatching now (like I said, totally train wreck, can‘t look away). I feel like it‘s only fair to warn you. I don‘t see all religion as child abuse like some people, but this I do see as child abuse. No one gets hit or anything like that, but the lady makes these kids cry, a lot. She shames them. I feel so bad for the little blonde boy. When you see him and why, you‘ll know it. Just a heads up. It‘s uncomfortable, but it‘s kind of a good thing 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Dammit, that's so messed up! Those poor kids. 😔 I agree with you completely, religion doesn't necessarily always become child abuse, but it seems like in this case it totally is. I'm so glad she got shut down. I hope all those kids turned out alright. You said they had a ten years later thing, right? Did they seem okay? 6y

GingerAntics The kid you expect ended up a preacher. Another kid made it her own. I don‘t know if she‘s as extreme anymore. She‘s the one who prays for a strike when bowling and commands the ball in Jesus name, then tries to evangelise to some lady really awkwardly. 6y

GingerAntics The poor blonde kid, his dad came out as gay and they all got kicked out of the church, so he‘s not Christian at all anymore. It seems like they‘re okay for the most part. I think the poor blonde kid had the hardest time, but he‘s okay now from the looks of it. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics I'm watching clips from it now. I can't handle the whole thing tonight because I'm not properly liquered up, so I'll save it for tommorrow ? But OMFG that weird girl from the bowling alley. Holy shit. If someone ever came up and said that crap to me randomly I think I would lose my mind. My favorite bit from the highlights so far-"harry potter would be put to death in the old testament." 6y

GingerAntics Oh yeah, there is A LOT of Harry Potter going on in this movie, oddly. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Omg I just saw the kid you mentioned before, that said the galileo thing. Holy shit. He and his mother are SO CREEPY! 😱 6y

GingerAntics RIGHT?! 6y

GingerAntics Did you ever find enough liquor to watch the whole thing? 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Yes, last night! You were NOT kidding about that film being a trainwreck! Ugh. 😑 6y

GingerAntics The leader chick is SCARY!!! 6y

GingerAntics https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/06/jesus-camp-christian-documentary-ki... Here is the 10 years later thing with the poor blonde kid, Andrew and Levi. Levi is a real trip. 6y

GingerAntics http://www.hollywood.com/movies/10-years-later-where-are-the-kids-from-jesus-cam... this one has a summary of the one with Andrew and Levi, but it also has the two girls...and a great video of Levi five years after the documentary. (edited) 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Wow. That pastor actually had the nerve to compare herself to Jewish people during WWII. No crazy lady, you are just a nutcase! 😐 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Also something about Levi still creeps me out. A lot. 6y

GingerAntics Levi is creepy. I don‘t know what it is, but he does give off that vibe. More so than when he was a kid, I think. I‘m guessing just about everyone makes him feel “yucky.” It must be a total trip being his wife. 🙄 6y

GingerAntics Oh she‘s nuts. She is so out of touch. I was disheartened to read that she‘s started a new company and she does workshops instead of camps now. So she goes to churches and teachers them how to be like her. I feel bad for all the little children. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics How is she still allowed to do that? Like, isn't there anything that can prevent from her interacting with kids? I know that sadly it all comes down to the parents, who are just as batshit crazy as she is. Its so sad. 6y

55 likes40 comments

Branwen

The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve | Stephen Greenblatt

Things I'm learning from this book! 1) I desperately want to read the Nag Hammadi texts now 2) I desperately want to re-read Gilgamesh 3) Augustine was a weirdo pervert and kind of a jerk

More to come! 😁💕 Thanks again to @GingerAntics for this recommendation!

GingerAntics I‘m with you on 1 and 2. I completely agree with number 3. 6y

Ericalambbrown I really need to bump this up on my “to read” list. @GingerAntics put it on my radar and now I keep running into it. 6y

Branwen @Ericalambbrown Seriously, you need to read it asap! It's absolutely fascinating! @GingerAntics Right?! He was such a turd. Like, just because he had weird issues with sex and intercourse didn't mean he had to force those issues on everyone else! Plus what he did to Pelagius was downright shitty! 😐 6y

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GingerAntics I completely agree. That‘s why I‘ve been saying for years now, “that‘s not theology, that‘s pathology.” 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Exactly! 🤣 6y

GingerAntics Augustine is unwell. If something happened that we don‘t know about with the father or someone else in that bathhouse, if his mother‘s reaction to the inevitability that is puberty, if something else entirely happened to him, I don‘t know, but something clearly happened to him and I have absolutely ZERO belief that God spoke to him. His became a little bigot and jerk. 6y

GingerAntics Part of me truly believes he had some other kind of std/sti because where the hell else does someone come up with a new theory and automatically turn it into an std/sti?! Something was not right with that man and all these years later, we‘re all still suffering the consequences of his pathology. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics I totally agree. It's absolutely insane that one disturbed man caused this ridiculous original sin crap. And he was just so corrupt, it makes me sick. Like he gave the church a bribe if horses to make Pelagius 'go away' and how can you call yourself a man of god after acting like that? Absolute lunacy, the whole thing. 6y

GingerAntics Oh yeah. I grew up Catholic and original sin was taught as straight from God. As an adult I dabbled in Protestantism and they too adored his teachings. He‘s just the penultimate Christian. It‘s disturbing. Once I read the actual history (long before reading this book) I washed my hands of the entire original son business. It‘s completely made up. It‘s a ridiculous, demented fairytale created by a lunatic. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Same. I was raised Catholic as well, and that original sin nonsense was ground into my head right from childhood. And really, how messed up an idea it is to force young children (or anyone really)to believe they were born inherently 'bad', you know? No wonder people have such negative self images. It's crazy. I remember being in youth group as a tween and them teaching us how 'bad' sex is and how our bodies always betray us... 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics ...and I remember thinking that whole idea was just idiotic. Plus I'm bisexual, so you can imagine how well that went over too! 😉 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics It just...blows my mind how nefarious the actual story is. That this whole time that nonsense was just made up by a pervert religious jerk. Ugh. I also live how the author mentions that if history had gone another way, we may have had Gilgamesh or the Enuma Elish as our origin story. It's really intetesting to think of how things might have been different sociologically if that were the case! 6y

GingerAntics I loved that part, too. I think I would have preferred either. I almost want to read those and then devise an alternate universe where those were the prevailing origin stories. lol 6y

GingerAntics I was a big hit in sex ed at Catholic school. We were told that sex is a necessary evil God puts up with by turning his back when you have sex, so do it as infrequently and quickly as possible. (In hindsight I wonder how many unhappy partners the boys-now-men in my class have since had thanks to that! lol) I promptly raised my hand and verified that yes god made everything and yes he called it good... 6y

GingerAntics Then I said if God hated sex so much, why didn‘t he just make procreation happen some other way he DID like. The class giggled. The religion teacher nearly swallowed his tongue. I never did get an answer, but he sure did try to find it in his teacher‘s copy of the book that supposedly gave him all the answers. 😇 (edited) 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Omg, you said that?! You are officially my hero! 😁💕👏 6y

GingerAntics 🤣😂🤣 I was kind of known for that. I would get them to verify seemingly unrelated details, then ask a question they technically had an answer to, but because of what they‘d just confirmed couldn‘t possibly be true. 😏 I got sent to the priest in the building to pose my questions multiple times. I would walk into the church office and they‘d just start chuckling. 6y

GingerAntics At one point, one of the priests even commented he wasn‘t sure I was going to make it as a “lifer.” He was almost wrong. I suppose he still could be, but I doubt it. 6y

50 likes18 comments

Branwen

The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve | Stephen Greenblatt

It really is mind blowing to think of how many creation myths there are! Wow! 😀

GingerAntics It‘s amazing. I‘ve heard of the story of Gilgamesh for years, but I never knew it was a creation story. I want to read it even more now. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics Right?! It's so fascinating, right?! I want to read Gilgamesh now too. I readbit a long time ago, but I don't really remember it, so I'd like to read it again with fresh eyes! 6y

GingerAntics Oh you‘ve read it before? It‘s obviously going to have to be a translation, so I‘m rathe intimidated as to which one to choose. 6y

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Branwen @GingerAntics Yes! I had to read it as an undergrad at college, but it was so long ago I don't even remember much about it at all. As you said, I'd also like to do some research on various translations before deciding on which one to go with! 6y

ravenlee I used the Norton edition when I studied it and it was good. There‘s a kids‘ illustrated version, I think by Geraldine McCaughrean, that I found at the library - but my daughter was a little young for it. I liked it, though. 6y

GingerAntics @ravenlee thanks!!! 6y

Branwen @ravenlee Oooh, thank you! I will try and track down the Norton edition! And that's really cool that there is an illustrated version! I'd love to see what that one is like as well! 6y

ravenlee As I recall, the epic feels kind of disjunct, since large sections are missing, so it loses coherence as a story, but as a related collection of tales it works. 6y

Branwen @ravenlee That totally makes sense 6y

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Branwen

The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve | Stephen Greenblatt

My library hold came in today! Thank you to my friend @GingerAntics for your awesome posts and discussions about this book which made me super excited to read it! You're the best! 😀👍 I can't wait to dive into it! 💕📚 #librarylove

GingerAntics Yay for library holds coming in!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 6y

Branwen @GingerAntics I am sure that I will! 🤗 6y

GingerAntics I‘m so excited to see what parts of the book get you posting. 6y

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GingerAntics

The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve | Stephen Greenblatt

pick

5🌟 Absolutely adored this book. This addressed many of the questions I had about this story, as well as pointing out a few I have no idea how I missed. I great combination of history, theology, mythology and art. My only caveat for this book is IF YOU BELIEVE THE STORY OF ADAM AND EVE IS LITERALLY TRUE, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK, IT WILL OFFEND YOU.
#theriseandfallofadamandeve #adamandeve #stephengreenblatt

GingerAntics The wonderful conversations started by this book here on Litsy made this book totally worth the read on their own. The wonderful nature of the book was just amazing cake to go with the great conversation icing. Can‘t wait for the what the next Greenblatt book brings. 6y

MrBook Great review! 6y

Weaponxgirl I have been searching for this book inspired by some conversations 6y

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GingerAntics @Weaponxgirl any of ours? lol 6y

GingerAntics @MrBook thanks! 6y

Weaponxgirl @GingerAntics maybe 😉 I read books mostly by women but have eased up just a tiny bit this year and this sounds like my kinda thing 6y

GingerAntics @Weaponxgirl I completely recommend it. Just sayin. In case you didn‘t know before. 😏 6y

Ericalambbrown Oh, I need to read this one! Sounds fantastic! 6y

GingerAntics @Ericalambbrown it was great. It read well at a nice clip, even though it was full of info. The art section was great fun, too. My reading slowed down as I looked up each image, only to find there was a section of all the images mentioned, in the back of the book. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Oh well. 😂 I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. (Or at least close, I really really quite enjoyed it) 6y

Ericalambbrown @GingerAntics Thanks! I‘m certainly going to have to get a hold of it 😊 6y

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