Ask The Grace-Based, Politically Liberal Christian College St.udent

[U2isthebest]

Ask The Grace-Based, Politically Liberal Christian College Student

Hey kids, ask away. I don't bite unless you're into that sort of thing.

 

[verte76]

Who are you supporting for President?

 

[U2isthebest]

Obama. I am fundamentally against the majority of tenets of the current Republican party, so there wasn't a much of a chance I'd be supporting a Republican candidate. I spent a lot of time going back and forth between Clinton and Obama and after reading Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope" and researching his policies and plans along with some of those of Hillary Clinton, I chose to support Obama. I also feel that he will be much more willing to listen and take advice and have a better chance at beginning to create more unity in this county.

 

[Irvine511]

what secular texts do you find inspiring?

 

[U2isthebest]

That's a great question.

Usually messages that inspire me are those that contain what I feel are messages of the truth and messiness of the reality of the human condition. Those tend to be fiction books for me, oddly enough. Some of the ones that have taught me the most are

1. All The King's Men-Robert Penn Warren
2. The Awakening-Kate Chopin
3. The End of the Affair-Graham Greene
4. The Keepers of the House-Shirley Grau
5. Mystic River-Dennis Lehane
6. The Brothers Karamazov-Dostoevsky
7. The Allegory of the Cave-Plato
8. Revolutionary Road-Richard Yates
9. 1984-George Orwell.
10. Notes on a Scandal-Zoe Heller.

The book I'm currently reading, White Oleander by Janet Fitch, could turn out to be one of the tops on that by the time I'm done with it. All of the books I've mentioned above have deeply flawed, conflicted, and damaged characters that through their words and actions tell stories about how life really is or how it could be. iThese books tell stories of good and evil, salvation and damnation, so to speak. They've all encouraged me to look at the world from other points of view.

As for non-fiction, I've found books like "The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama, "Giving" by Bill Clinton "Bono: In Conversation" and " Night" by Elie Wiesel have had a big impact on my life. The first 3 have all fostered a desire in me to take my beliefs and convictions and do what I can to begin to act on them and eventually make the world better. "Night" just opened me up to the disasters of what hatred, rurcism, corruption and turning a blind eye to the problems in this world can lead to. We read that book in my 8th grade languag arts class, and it's the only one that stuck with me. The hope it gives even in the middle of the darkest situation imaginable has had a huge impact on me.

There are others, but I would say these are the main books that stick with me and inspire me to look at life and reality in a new way.

 

[deep]

i'm here for the biting

 

[U2isthebest]

i'm here for the biting

Sorry, I'm trying to quit. It was really getting me into trouble at church.

 

[deep]

most of my biting at church

was of the back-biting variety

 

[U2isthebest]

most of my biting at church

was of the back-biting variety

Church people do seem to enjoy that fetish.

 

[deep]

fetish.

 

[U2isthebest]

I don't know the meaning of the word.

 

[Irvine511]

1. All The King's Men-Robert Penn Warren

this book is truly a gift that keeps on giving, with sentences that i've never read before, every time i re-read the book.

that Chapter 7 ... breathtaking.

 

[U2isthebest]

this book is truly a gift that keeps on giving, with sentences that i've never read before, every time i re-read the book.

that Chapter 7 ... breathtaking.

I loved it. I think it was the first "great" book that I've ever read. The movie didn't do it justice, but I though Sean Penn gave an amazing performance as Willie Stark.

 

[Irvine511]

I loved it. I think it was the first "great" book that I've ever read. The movie didn't do it justice, but I though Sean Penn gave an amazing performance as Willie Stark.

i'd love to start an FYM/Interference book club.

 

[U2isthebest]

i'd love to start an FYM/Interference book club.

*Braingasm*

 

[yolland]

You're welcome to have a go at it (assuming you're being serious and actually have the time), although getting enough people reading the same book simultaneously might be a problem.

 

[Irvine511]

yeah.

i barely have time to read articles about Obama's possible contacts with shady land developers these days.

 

[U2isthebest]

^I'm a little busy with the insightful journalism of Us Weekly, at the moment.

 

[deep]

I loved it. I think it was the first "great" book that I've ever read. The movie didn't do it justice, but I though Sean Penn gave an amazing performance as Willie Stark.

Obama is doing a damn good Willie Stark, too.

 

[U2isthebest]

Obama is doing a damn good Willie Stark, too.

He's got it all down except for the poor, white Southerner wanting to stick it to the rich part.

 

[Irvine511]

Obama is doing a damn good Willie Stark, too.

i'm honestly quite confused.

the actual policy positions between Hillary and Obama are very, very small.

it comes down to, i think, whomever you think would do better in the general election, that is if you are most interested in preventing another Republican presidency.

if you're worried about substantive differences between Obama and Hillary, that's fine, but you're going to have to do more than slam him for being pretty and eloquent and inspiring.

 

[VintagePunk]

i'd love to start an FYM/Interference book club.

Sorry to intrude on your thread Brit, but another member and I were just discussing that very idea recently.

There's a thread in LS that many of us currently post in regarding what we're reading, or want to read.

 

[maycocksean]

I would so totally join an FYM book club. (I'm already a member of two book clubs but I'd join another in a heartbeat).

Reading Eat Pray Love for one and the other "Freedom: the story of my Second Life".

 

[maycocksean]

And I better do it now because once my kid is born in September I may be pretty scarce around these parts for awhile!

 

[Irvine511]

And I better do it now because once my kid is born in September I may be pretty scarce around these parts for awhile!

congrats!!!

 

[deep]

And I better do it now because once my kid is born in September I may be pretty scarce around these parts for awhile!

wow

will your baby be born on an island?

i may have to vote for you know who now.

 

[maycocksean]

wow

will your baby be born on an island?

i may have to vote for you know who now.

Hey. Whatever it takes. . .



Oh, and yes, our baby will be born here--at least that's the plan. The hospital is pretty modern--well, except there is no epidural. . .(unless the anthesiologist at the hospital is like your close personal friend, and unfortunately he/she is not. Don't even know if it's a man or woman )

 

[maycocksean]

congrats!!!

thanks!

Sorry to hijack your thread, there u2isthebest.



Let me go away and come back with a question for you, as you intended. . .

 

[sulawesigirl4]

omg, sean!!! congratulations!!!!

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

How do you fight the stereotypes that many people have about Christians, and how do those stereotypes impact your life?