Rescuing Your Spirit: When Third-Grade Morality Isn't Enough for Christians

by John C. Friel

Offers a critique of religion's impact on society and challenges readers to question their beliefs and explore hidden attitudes of fear and ignorance

232 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1993

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book, I felt like while it was a good book to exist, it was too basic to be much use to me in learning anything new -- though I did really like the bit (Chapter 7, "Beliefs, Re-enactments, And 'The Vow'") about how when we have bad experiences as children, we vow never to repeat them, but because it is our child-self making that vow, we don't have the resources to do it in a healthy, realistic manner (e.g., if we're hurt by unhealthily manifested anger, our child-selves vow that we will never get angry -- which of course is impossible, and leads to really unhealthy and ultimately destructive behavior, like repressing anger, unless we actively work to learn healthy ways to experience and express anger ... which process is complicated by the fact that these "vows" are often unconscious).

However, I really liked (in the chapters that followed) the stuff about bodies -- about how when we're alienated from our bodies we're alienated from our selves, and this leads to dysfunctional relationships (including but not limited to sexual aspects of relationships). And generally the emphasis on right relationship, on alienation (from self and/or others) being sin.