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Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America
In Losing Moses on the Freeway , Chris Hedges, veteran war correspondent and author of the bestselling War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning , delivers an impassioned, eloquent call to heed the wisdom of the 10 Commandments. Celebrated for his courageous reporting on the crucial issues of our time, Hedges, who graduated from seminary at Harvard Divinity School, explores the challenge of living according to these moral precepts we have tried to follow, often unsuccessfully, for the past 6,000 years. The commandments, he writes, do not save us from evil. Instead they save us from committing evil.
Inspired by unyielding faith, rigorous moral scrutiny, and a fierce sense of social responsibility, Hedges offers a breathtaking meditation on modern life. Losing Moses on the Freeway illustrates how the commandments usually choose us -- and how we are rarely able to choose them. We cannot protect ourselves from theft, greed, adultery, or envy, nor from the impulses that lead us to commit evil acts. In honoring the commandments, we free ourselves from self-worship and are called back to the healing solidarity of community. It is in the self-sacrifice championed by the commandments that integrity, commitment, and, finally, love are made possible.
Inspired by unyielding faith, rigorous moral scrutiny, and a fierce sense of social responsibility, Hedges offers a breathtaking meditation on modern life. Losing Moses on the Freeway illustrates how the commandments usually choose us -- and how we are rarely able to choose them. We cannot protect ourselves from theft, greed, adultery, or envy, nor from the impulses that lead us to commit evil acts. In honoring the commandments, we free ourselves from self-worship and are called back to the healing solidarity of community. It is in the self-sacrifice championed by the commandments that integrity, commitment, and, finally, love are made possible.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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768 people want to read
About the author
Chris Hedges
60 books1,947 followersChristopher Lynn Hedges is an American journalist, author, and war correspondent, specializing in American and Middle Eastern politics and societies.
Hedges is known as the best-selling author of War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.
Chris Hedges is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City.
Hedges is known as the best-selling author of War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.
Chris Hedges is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
September 20, 2016
Probably no political writer in America has the moral compass of Chris Hedges. The son of a Presbyterian minister in Upstate New York, Chris also went in for the ministry, studying at Colgate and Harvard Divinity School before losing much of his faith in organized religion while running a parish in Boston's Roxbury ghetto. In fact, he tells the tale in the first chapter of his book Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America.
Afterwards, he had a distinguished career as a Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for the New York Times, the Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, and National Public Radio -- reporting from such global hot spots as El Salvador, Lebanon, and Bosnia. As it became clearer to him that corporations controlled the content of the news -- for their own purposes -- Hedges went independent.
You can now find him on Truthdig.Com and the Russian RT news television channel (in English). I have now read three of his books and find him to be one of the few non-sellout moral forces reporting on news stories.
Losing Moses on the Freeway takes us on a tour of the Ten Commandments using episodes from his own life and those of people he has encountered during his career. One would think that such a book could be excruciatingly boring, but Hedges is too good a writer for that. And this recommendation is from a person who has hurled political trash at the wall in utter disgust.
Afterwards, he had a distinguished career as a Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for the New York Times, the Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, and National Public Radio -- reporting from such global hot spots as El Salvador, Lebanon, and Bosnia. As it became clearer to him that corporations controlled the content of the news -- for their own purposes -- Hedges went independent.
You can now find him on Truthdig.Com and the Russian RT news television channel (in English). I have now read three of his books and find him to be one of the few non-sellout moral forces reporting on news stories.
Losing Moses on the Freeway takes us on a tour of the Ten Commandments using episodes from his own life and those of people he has encountered during his career. One would think that such a book could be excruciatingly boring, but Hedges is too good a writer for that. And this recommendation is from a person who has hurled political trash at the wall in utter disgust.
November 8, 2008
Hedges takes each of the ten commandments and comments on their application in modern life. It was a satisfying read, clearly intelligent and pointed.
July 11, 2015
This book is mind-blowing in its radical approach to the ten commandments. The author, who completed Harvard Divinity School but chose not to be ordained and instead spent many years as a journalist in war zones, devotes a chapter to each commandment. Each chapter centers around an example of someone who was confronted with the consequences of breaking that commandment. I mean brutally confronted in most cases. When we talk about adultery, for example, we're not talking about some upper-middle-class woman, boo hoo, my husband had an affair with a bimbo; we're talking about a young man growing up in the ghetto without a father because dad couldn't be bothered to marry mom and already had other illegitimate kids anyway.
Because it is about sin, this book is VERY dark, definitely not for everyone. It's also imperfect. Some of the chapters are kind of muddy and wandering, and the author just can't stop ranting against capitalism even in chapters where it doesn't really belong. But I gave it 5 stars because it is so mind-blowingly uncompromising. He takes both liberal and evangelical Christians to task for making idols of our theology. He takes popular culture to task for being shallow and self-centered. He has no use whatsoever for the me-oriented, self-gratifying consumer culture that we all take for granted. He states unequivocally that it is sinful because it distracts us from the suffering all around us. He thinks the ten commandments actually mean something, and that something, summed up, is that we are to do as Christ did and sacrifice ourselves for others. Not what most of us want to hear. We like much better the Jesus-wants-you-to-be-happy-and-also-probably-rich theology of media preachers like Joel Osteen.
Because it is about sin, this book is VERY dark, definitely not for everyone. It's also imperfect. Some of the chapters are kind of muddy and wandering, and the author just can't stop ranting against capitalism even in chapters where it doesn't really belong. But I gave it 5 stars because it is so mind-blowingly uncompromising. He takes both liberal and evangelical Christians to task for making idols of our theology. He takes popular culture to task for being shallow and self-centered. He has no use whatsoever for the me-oriented, self-gratifying consumer culture that we all take for granted. He states unequivocally that it is sinful because it distracts us from the suffering all around us. He thinks the ten commandments actually mean something, and that something, summed up, is that we are to do as Christ did and sacrifice ourselves for others. Not what most of us want to hear. We like much better the Jesus-wants-you-to-be-happy-and-also-probably-rich theology of media preachers like Joel Osteen.
July 9, 2009
I got so excited when I learned about this book because I assumed it would affirm all my (self-righteous) notions about living a good and decent life surrounded by moral turpitude. Honestly, the U.S.!! Chris Hedges is a fine writer, and I knew that going in because I'd seen a piece of his about the decline of the dollar (and consequently of our "empire"). Well. Though Hedges (mostly in the epilogue of the book) touts love as the healing force for humanity, he writes unlovingly--and without joy, and completely without humor--of those who have broken commandments. I felt particularly uneasy about the books pervasive "the people in power are screwing the little guy" mentality. That, I think, is counter-productive. Hedges (once a divinity student who elected not to be ordained) sees a little piece of the creation puzzle. He sees "sin" and its effects, but (though he writes of people atoning for wrongdoing and even of one fellow who went to prison and felt changed for the better) leaves out any discussion of the metaphysical purpose of what is called "sin." (It should also be noted that Hedges does not use the word sin; I can't remember, but it may be absent completely from the book. He uses the term "breaking covenant.") So his treatment winds up being deflating, uninspiring, hard to take--even though he has lots of insight. The effect of the book is illustrated well by an incident he relates IN the book, wherein he gives a poorly received graduation speech (2003) that rants against the war in Iraq. NOT APPROPRIATE. Of course people were rude and protested! I finished the book with a sense that Hedges does want to help people and change the world for the better but he wants to do it by telling them how to think and feel. Ain't gonna work. The book turns out to excellently illustrate the possibilities inherent in Ghandi's advice to "be the change," etc.
Also the reader realizes that Hedges is attempting to quiet demons related to career choices he's made. Also I acknowledge the profound experience Hedges incorporates into his work (as a divinity student and as a war correspondent).
Also the reader realizes that Hedges is attempting to quiet demons related to career choices he's made. Also I acknowledge the profound experience Hedges incorporates into his work (as a divinity student and as a war correspondent).
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January 10, 2012Chris Hedges is a PK, pastor's kid. A graduate of Harvard Divinity he lost what could be called a traditional Christian faith (though in evangelical terms it was anything but traditional) and gained a disenchantment with the liberal, elite class that thinks it knows the cure for what ails the poor, the oppressed and the underclass. He is quite the liberal but a fiery critic of the partnership of the elite class with capitalistic opportunists and their shibboleths and too easy panaceas offered at a distance. As a war correspondent his journalism career has kept him near death and misery. While not a pacifist, he sees in wars of choice the opportunism of empire. Hedges recently appeared on Book TV here. http://www.booktv.org/Program/13110/I...
I thoroughly enjoyed his interview, and found myself not only in agreement with much that he said but also the indignation with which he expressed himself at appropriate moments. In Losing Moses Hedges explores what happens when people move away from the wisdom of Moses expressed in the Ten Commandments and uses each commandment as a lens through which he examines the moral ruin of American Society.
He considers himself as deeply antagonistic toward Christopher Hitchens but he certainly hits some of the same notes and with equal emotional bite.
I thoroughly enjoyed his interview, and found myself not only in agreement with much that he said but also the indignation with which he expressed himself at appropriate moments. In Losing Moses Hedges explores what happens when people move away from the wisdom of Moses expressed in the Ten Commandments and uses each commandment as a lens through which he examines the moral ruin of American Society.
He considers himself as deeply antagonistic toward Christopher Hitchens but he certainly hits some of the same notes and with equal emotional bite.
May 19, 2012
War journalist Hedges is a humorless writer, a morose asserter of moral truths and, evident from this book, not at all a people person. Nevertheless, his flat-toned jeremiads against War and Empire probably have moved a few sullen readers to sniffles. What makes his eyebrows so knitted? This was to be a book on the Ten Commandments in America today, but it’s mostly excuses for him to share semi-interesting stories loosely related to each—sometimes misquoted!—Commandment. Hedges tells of living in a run-down Boston neighborhood pastoring at the world’s most dysfunctional black church where he takes up boxing, fights with local teenage drug thugs and barely passes his classes at Harvard Div School. Contemptuous of Liberal Theology (re: Harvey Cox) he took his big chip on shoulder to war zones in places from Latin America to the self-righteous anti-war commencement speech he gave at Rockford College—reproduced here in its glorious entirety. Complete—I kid you not—with text of the heckles.
February 9, 2014
When I finish a novel, I'm often saddened by the loss of the friends that I met in the book--characters that I've become intimate with who I will never see again -- like when you're a kid and your best friend moves away. When I finish Hedges' non-fiction, I'm excited and energized to start the next one. This book is not doctrine; you wont find "10 Easy Steps to Becoming _________." It's commentary by a man who has spent a life exploring his own spirituality through his religion.
I grew up in the church and was always distracted by the commonplace lack of integrity between the message and the actual practice of the messages' principle(s) by the Christians around me. Chris Hedges is a common-sense Christian who recognizes and fulfills the duty required by anyone who accepts the commitment of being Christian. He replaces superstition with wonder and he replaces Hell and Brimstone with love, compassion, true courage, sacrifice and even confrontation.
In the book, he breaks each Commandment down to its core principle. They are presented not as a checklist, but as a framework for society to function -- a way that this Atheist can accept and embrace. He exposes the enemies of these principles be they emotion, organization or individual (and often by name). He removes the sham of complexity that we've all been sold and that we allow to befuddle our ability to make common-sense decisions. His anger at the perversion of these principles is obvious as is his refusal to be defeated by his anger -- to remain warm and kind. These triumphs command the respect of accomplishments we all want to attain and can attain when we muster the courage to make the lifelong commitment to do so.
I grew up in the church and was always distracted by the commonplace lack of integrity between the message and the actual practice of the messages' principle(s) by the Christians around me. Chris Hedges is a common-sense Christian who recognizes and fulfills the duty required by anyone who accepts the commitment of being Christian. He replaces superstition with wonder and he replaces Hell and Brimstone with love, compassion, true courage, sacrifice and even confrontation.
In the book, he breaks each Commandment down to its core principle. They are presented not as a checklist, but as a framework for society to function -- a way that this Atheist can accept and embrace. He exposes the enemies of these principles be they emotion, organization or individual (and often by name). He removes the sham of complexity that we've all been sold and that we allow to befuddle our ability to make common-sense decisions. His anger at the perversion of these principles is obvious as is his refusal to be defeated by his anger -- to remain warm and kind. These triumphs command the respect of accomplishments we all want to attain and can attain when we muster the courage to make the lifelong commitment to do so.
July 23, 2014
Very interesting book.....It is broken into 10 segments--1 for each of the 10 commandments. The first chapter, based on "Thou shalt not have any other god before Me" really intrigued me. The author tells of his work in an inner-city church as a young man while attending Harvard Divinity school. He tells of the struggle to make a difference and his disenchantment with the church as a whole. (How does this relate to the commandment? You can read it yourself to see the link.) However, he does ultimately find God OUTSIDE of "the church." I was really intrigued by his stories until I got to the one commandment that I thought would be very cut and dried for me...."Thou shalt not kill." Seems like that chapter should be a simple one, but it was in this one that I began to disagree with his philosophy. He tells of giving a commencement address and being heckled throughout it. He was speaking against war in general, and Iraq, specifically. I agree with the attendees. It was not an appropriate venue for the topic. I do not accept his view that dying for one's country is buying into a lie. Maybe I lack the spiritual maturity to fully grasp what he was trying to say. The rest of the chapters were not as difficult for me in terms of his ideology. This is not a book that you breeze through. It is thought provoking and challenging.
July 29, 2011
A buddy of mine says he's lost friends over Chris Hedges. I say - if they didn't see the truth in what he says they weren't worth keeping anyway. Let them return to the herd with the rest of the sheep.
April 3, 2011
This book has single-handedly reminded me of all the personal and individual reasons I have for enjoying a spiritual life.
June 11, 2015
law that binds, commands that free
"Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, 'All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.'" —Exodus 24:3
"Now behold, one came and said to Jesus, 'Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?' So Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.'" —Matthew 19:16-17
I just happened to buy this well-written, relevant book, and recognized major parts of my own journey as the writer's narrative helps me retell and reclaim not dissimilar experiences in my own live. In the prologue, author Chris Hedges, the son of a pastor, explains how the Sinai Covenant, the commandments, are intended to enable and sustain community—"They [the commandments] were for the ancients, and are for us, the rules that, when honored, hold us together and when dishonored lead to alienation, discord and violence." And on page 175 the book's author wisely reminds us "They call us...toward mutual respect and mutual self-sacrifice."
In the Love chapter, on page 174 Hedges explains, "The covenant offered by the commandments, the covenant of life, is the covenant of love. It is a covenant that recognizes that all life is sacred and love is the force that makes life together possible. ... But it is never too late to turn back. Atonement permits a new way of being. It calls us to life." [pages 173-175]
Then Moses took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." —Exodus 24:7
Knowing the commandments and performing them, "doing" the word, the law, is a way to be and a way to live that binds us to one another in community, that helps sustain and maintain healthy life together and that frees by specifying boundaries not to cross and behaviors to keep. I'm happy I found this book by Christ Hedges and I'm happy to recommend it.
"Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, 'All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.'" —Exodus 24:3
"Now behold, one came and said to Jesus, 'Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?' So Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.'" —Matthew 19:16-17
I just happened to buy this well-written, relevant book, and recognized major parts of my own journey as the writer's narrative helps me retell and reclaim not dissimilar experiences in my own live. In the prologue, author Chris Hedges, the son of a pastor, explains how the Sinai Covenant, the commandments, are intended to enable and sustain community—"They [the commandments] were for the ancients, and are for us, the rules that, when honored, hold us together and when dishonored lead to alienation, discord and violence." And on page 175 the book's author wisely reminds us "They call us...toward mutual respect and mutual self-sacrifice."
In the Love chapter, on page 174 Hedges explains, "The covenant offered by the commandments, the covenant of life, is the covenant of love. It is a covenant that recognizes that all life is sacred and love is the force that makes life together possible. ... But it is never too late to turn back. Atonement permits a new way of being. It calls us to life." [pages 173-175]
Then Moses took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." —Exodus 24:7
Knowing the commandments and performing them, "doing" the word, the law, is a way to be and a way to live that binds us to one another in community, that helps sustain and maintain healthy life together and that frees by specifying boundaries not to cross and behaviors to keep. I'm happy I found this book by Christ Hedges and I'm happy to recommend it.
May 12, 2016
This was my second time reading this one, both times in the contexts of book groups that worked through just a couple of chapters at a time. I have to say that in both of those groups, this book was one of the best conversation starters/fuelers imaginable. I've read a good number of books by Chris Hedges, but this has got to be my favourite.
Chapter by chapter, he engages the 10 commandments. It is anything but a conventional commentary, in that he grabs what he sees as being the heart of each commandment, and then wrestles with it, fleshes it out, and contextualizes it in the context of very personal stories. We meet these people who he has met, and in doing so we begin to meet Hedges himself. It is an approach that is remarkably free of any moralizing. The commandments are not seen as rules or laws that limit or condemn particular behaviours, but instead guideposts that say something about the things that have a propensity to destroy or distort us.
He did make me squirm in his chapter on "The Family", in which he details his commencement address at Rockford College. What Hedges says is filled with truth... but in that context? I'd have advised him to rewrite his address so that those students might actually hear some of what needed to be said. The proverbial (and prophetic?) bull in a china shop, Hedges crashed forward against the hostility of his audience as an expression of how he "honours" his own father. Was it a massive misstep? As far as most of his audience was concerned, yes. But like the rest of the book, it sure gets you thinking. And it sure gets a book group talking.
Chapter by chapter, he engages the 10 commandments. It is anything but a conventional commentary, in that he grabs what he sees as being the heart of each commandment, and then wrestles with it, fleshes it out, and contextualizes it in the context of very personal stories. We meet these people who he has met, and in doing so we begin to meet Hedges himself. It is an approach that is remarkably free of any moralizing. The commandments are not seen as rules or laws that limit or condemn particular behaviours, but instead guideposts that say something about the things that have a propensity to destroy or distort us.
He did make me squirm in his chapter on "The Family", in which he details his commencement address at Rockford College. What Hedges says is filled with truth... but in that context? I'd have advised him to rewrite his address so that those students might actually hear some of what needed to be said. The proverbial (and prophetic?) bull in a china shop, Hedges crashed forward against the hostility of his audience as an expression of how he "honours" his own father. Was it a massive misstep? As far as most of his audience was concerned, yes. But like the rest of the book, it sure gets you thinking. And it sure gets a book group talking.
July 25, 2011
The more I read Hedges, the more of his work I want to read.
Hedges references a distinction between comradeship and friendship, concluding that they are opposites.
He also discusses the violation of the commandment to refrain from theft within the context of insider trading and the further development of the American oligarchy that is currently living it up like the robber barons they are on the hard won funds of the middle-class poor. This oligarchy is formed by the fusion of economic and political power, and has been in the making since the Reagan-era.
My favorite quotation is: "A society without the means to detect lies and theft soon squanders its liberty and freedom."
My favorite decalogue: Number 5: Honor your parents. Hedges recounts a commencement address he presented at Rockford College in IL to an intolerant, belligerent graduating class who did not want to hear his brand of truth. In the main, he honored his father who taught him that being responsible was neither easy nor comfortable.
The commandments are guides to considering the needs of others ahead of our personal aggrandizement. They are meant for all of us, in our ordinariness, to use in making this place we are fated to leave a bit better for the others we will leave behind.
Hedges references a distinction between comradeship and friendship, concluding that they are opposites.
He also discusses the violation of the commandment to refrain from theft within the context of insider trading and the further development of the American oligarchy that is currently living it up like the robber barons they are on the hard won funds of the middle-class poor. This oligarchy is formed by the fusion of economic and political power, and has been in the making since the Reagan-era.
My favorite quotation is: "A society without the means to detect lies and theft soon squanders its liberty and freedom."
My favorite decalogue: Number 5: Honor your parents. Hedges recounts a commencement address he presented at Rockford College in IL to an intolerant, belligerent graduating class who did not want to hear his brand of truth. In the main, he honored his father who taught him that being responsible was neither easy nor comfortable.
The commandments are guides to considering the needs of others ahead of our personal aggrandizement. They are meant for all of us, in our ordinariness, to use in making this place we are fated to leave a bit better for the others we will leave behind.
September 1, 2011
The book's strength is Hedges' ability to expound the impact and force of a commandment in a very new way (an idea he got from an obscure foreign film). Several of the commandments, which I might have regarded as almost comically narrow and impertinent, now seem relevant to my own life and my own shortcomings in ways that are surprisingly meaningful. Hedges also manages to get across that the commandments aren't rules that keep us pious; they're teachings that show us, generally after we've made a mistake that causes us and those around us to suffer, exactly where the suffering is coming from and how to amend our habits of conduct to better protect ourselves and those close to us from our own weaknesses and our inevitable blunders.
The problem is that the book begins to feel repetitive by about the fifth chapter (of eleven). Good lessons and thought-provoking tales and so forth do appear throughout, but the novelty of the approach wears off and becomes a little bit tiresome. Hedges also manages to make every commandment relate either to war or to the wickedness of the current political/economic order. Having read many of Hedges' books, this was anticipated ... and that only makes it worse.
The problem is that the book begins to feel repetitive by about the fifth chapter (of eleven). Good lessons and thought-provoking tales and so forth do appear throughout, but the novelty of the approach wears off and becomes a little bit tiresome. Hedges also manages to make every commandment relate either to war or to the wickedness of the current political/economic order. Having read many of Hedges' books, this was anticipated ... and that only makes it worse.
April 9, 2017
This entrancing read is in my opinion one of the best books by Hedges although not mentioned often, I think how he relates his and other peoples' real world experience with how the 10 commandments apply in life and how if holding true to them could have benefited everyone involved in one of the chapters which are broken into 1 commandment each, it is an eye-opening look at how with a little more moral consideration into our daily life choices, the world in general could benefit greatly. The writing is captivating in how Hedges delivers the stories of every-day people who go through a morally challenging situation many may have or will face in their lifetime. I would greatly encourage this book even as someone who is not particularly religious (I don't subscribe to any religion) he provides the argument I think very well that sometimes there are just things we can't explain, in numbers or with a full proof compelling evidence-backed argument, it's ok if we can't explain these things with suggestion or proof a god did it or caused it, and we must just pick up ourselves when we are down and others too when they fall for the posterity of our future as a species so maybe we will get closer to answering these questions one day.
January 26, 2016
This book is an exploration of the moral erosion in American society using the 10 Commandments as framework for 10 vignettes.
Anyone familiar with his style will appreciate the presentation of the personal accounts, anecdotes and interviews with people who have violated a commandment that serve as 'lessons' for the reader and all are interconnected by one overlying theme. Love, Hedges argues, is what can bring us together, deliver atonement and pave the way for a better society going forward.
While it's certainly worth a read if you're interested in moral philosophy—he invokes Immanuel Kant and Hannah Arendt at various points—or anyone who subscribes to a religious sect that adheres to the 10 Commandments, this is my least favorite Hedges book. This is, most likely, a result of our theological differences [I am an agnostic vs. his 'unyielding faith' that, understandably, a Seminarian would possess]. That said, Hedges remains my favorite writer and, for the aforementioned reasons, it's certainly worth reading.
Anyone familiar with his style will appreciate the presentation of the personal accounts, anecdotes and interviews with people who have violated a commandment that serve as 'lessons' for the reader and all are interconnected by one overlying theme. Love, Hedges argues, is what can bring us together, deliver atonement and pave the way for a better society going forward.
While it's certainly worth a read if you're interested in moral philosophy—he invokes Immanuel Kant and Hannah Arendt at various points—or anyone who subscribes to a religious sect that adheres to the 10 Commandments, this is my least favorite Hedges book. This is, most likely, a result of our theological differences [I am an agnostic vs. his 'unyielding faith' that, understandably, a Seminarian would possess]. That said, Hedges remains my favorite writer and, for the aforementioned reasons, it's certainly worth reading.
May 5, 2008
"God cannot be summed up in a name. God cannot be described. only idols provide this certitude. but watch, God seems to say, you will know me when you encounter me. you will see who i am in the profound flashes of self-knowledge that cut through darkness in the hope that rises out of despair and suffering, in the loving touch of another, in a moral life where we resist the worship of ourselves so others can prosper. God, the experience, is real."
"the commandments hold out to us the possibility of love. those who have this love are able to receive & give love to others. those who do not know this love live in Dostoyevsky's hell."
"the smallness of our lives, the transitory nature of existence, the inevitable road to old age, are what idols tell us we can avoid. the false covenants, which require us to break the commandments, tell us that we need not endure the pain and suffering of human existence. we follow the idol and barter away our freedom. we sell ourselves into bondage."
"the commandments hold out to us the possibility of love. those who have this love are able to receive & give love to others. those who do not know this love live in Dostoyevsky's hell."
"the smallness of our lives, the transitory nature of existence, the inevitable road to old age, are what idols tell us we can avoid. the false covenants, which require us to break the commandments, tell us that we need not endure the pain and suffering of human existence. we follow the idol and barter away our freedom. we sell ourselves into bondage."
December 6, 2017
My third Chris Hedges book, (I've also read "I Don't Believe in Atheists" and "Empire of Illusion") this is without a doubt my favorite. This man is such a glum cynic/realist who shits on everybody's parade... And I couldn't possibly love him more for it. If you think you can escape death, poverty, mystery, mediocrity or the dark side of your own humanity, Hedges books will demand that you stop fooling yourself. Someone in another goodreads review described Hedges as a "mirthless moral scold" and I think that's very accurate. This man has very few positive things to say about people, and he shines a mirror on all of our flaws. Yet this is a book that deep down glimmers with some small hope, calls us to do our best to transcend our awfulness, and to take responsibility for the generations that will come after us. Please read this book and take that hard look in the mirror. God bless you.
May 30, 2013
This book reads a lot like an essay and a very repetitive one at that. Although Hedges attempts to bring in each commandment he continually diverts back to the commandment on idolatry and could have instead devoted the book to that idea. His stories are interesting but, as the novel progresses, seem to diminish in connection to himself and in conviction and detail as they relate to his thesis.
It must be said though that he did introduce me to a new way of approaching the commandments that I will consider as I move forward in my own faith.
It must be said though that he did introduce me to a new way of approaching the commandments that I will consider as I move forward in my own faith.
September 27, 2009
Another fantastic book by Chris Hedges on how morality and religion has been skewed in the new age. We've forgotten why these principles matter and twisted them into black-and-white rights and wrongs, losing sight of the many shades of gray that exist in determining one's moral stance. He tells of his earlier years pursuing his seminary degree and working within a ghetto, and also of his father's impact on his outlook.
December 30, 2011
I read an advance uncorrected proof copy (subtitled "America's Broken Covenant with the 10 Commandments) while visiting family. Overall it was a good read, though I thought middle portions were weaker than the beginning and the end.
Here's a good quote: "A life that holds the capacity of humankind or the attainment of pleasure as a final end is a life dedicated to the self. Love is about the capacity to subsume ourselves for others."
Here's a good quote: "A life that holds the capacity of humankind or the attainment of pleasure as a final end is a life dedicated to the self. Love is about the capacity to subsume ourselves for others."
July 6, 2007
Comments on the Ten Commandments and of their ability to bind humanity in the face of human suffering. Consists of ten chapters, each a personal narrative relating back to the spirit contained in a certain commandment. The book reads like a series of gritty and passionate essays. Hedges writes really well.
November 12, 2008
This is a compassionate but unflinching look at the ramifications of breaking the ten commandments. Hedges passes no judgement, merely traces the effects in the here and now of idolatry, adultery, lying and so forth on the individuals who transgress, those they transgress against, and society as a whole. It's a beautiful book, worthy of multiple reads.
September 29, 2009
Wow, this book has completely changed my mind. The man is brilliant. He discusses the 10 commandments both personally and what he has observed.
The thing is he makes one think about one's own past and feelings about the commandments. It is not manipulative or coercive. It is a totally new perspective.
The thing is he makes one think about one's own past and feelings about the commandments. It is not manipulative or coercive. It is a totally new perspective.
October 30, 2013
I was very touched and impressed with the early parts of the book when hedges was in Roxbury-- Some very profound and thought-provoking statements. I was hoping to recommend the book to my church book club. But the more i read the more disappointed i became. I found the book disjointed, repetitive and very self righteous. Cannot recommend.
August 8, 2015
Not my favorite book of Hedges. It focuses on individual stories for each of the commandments rather than being a cultural account of how we fare against the commandments generally. As such, it seems to lack the power and directness of some of his other works, which I think should be mandatory reading.
January 21, 2008
The separation of church and state not an issue, but to sweep basic moral principles under the rug because they look too much like diatribes from an organized religion can be a bit more fuzzy. Or so says this guy.
August 15, 2008
up until the epilogue, this book was hanging around the 2-star level ... Leanna knows I am anxious to have discussions with her about this book and I still am not sure i liked it all, but i loved the epilogue (titled: LOVE), it totally redeemed this book for me.
December 10, 2007
These made me think. A lot. I'd even recommend this book to people who are turned off by the religion aspect of this - very little preaching and a lot of wonder and questions in this book.
March 5, 2008
I heart Chris Hedges. He is so thoughtful, so insightful. I want to be him when I grow up. This book made me cry in a coffee shop.
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