What readers want in a book. And from the same blogger comes brief advice on writing: Avoid the broken, bitter, and cold.
Challenging Islam
From FrontPage Magazine, an article on the vulnerability of Islam, if courageously challenged.
One answer is that you do all you can to force Muslims to question their faith in Islam. As Mark Steyn observes, “there’s no market for a faith that has no faith in itself.” He was speaking, of course, of the more mushy versions of Western Christianity—the post-Christian Christians who seem anxious to dialogue themselves into dhimmitude. But there’s no reason the concept can’t be applied to Islam. Surely the average intelligent Muslim has occasional doubts about the founding revelations. And just as surely he keeps them to himself, not only because he fears his fellow Muslims, but also because the rest of the world seems to be going along with the pretense that he belongs to a great religion. It may be time for the rest of the world to drop the pretense.
I Did Not Read It, But You Should
A new book on marketing called, UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging has these UnTestimonials on the back. I remember something like this on other books. Politically Correct Bedtime Stories: Modern Tales for Our Life & Times
Andrew Peterson's "The Reckoning (How Long)"
This is a new song from Andrew Peterson, and I love it.
Outrage
According to reports, the Taliban in Afghanistan have hanged a 7-year-old boy.
A 7-year-old boy was murdered by the Taliban in an apparent act of retribution this week. Afghan officials said that the child was accused of spying for U.S. and NATO forces and hanged from a tree in southern Afghanistan.
Daoud Ahmadi, the spokesman for the provincial governor of Helmand, said that the killing happened days after the boy’s grandfather, Abdul Woodod Alokozai, spoke out against militants in their home village.
For all you relativists who have trouble figuring out the complicated differences between good and evil, this is what we call evil.
Stopping a boat running a legal military blockade is not evil.
Just for the record.
You might want to make a note of this.
Testimony of God's Gracious Gift
Connection Point, June 2010 Edition from CBMC on Vimeo.
I edited this video last week, and we’ve talked about it around the office since, so I am spontaneously sharing it with you. This is part of my day job as a graphic designer for Christian Business Men’s Connection. The story is remarkable, and you will see only a few of the details. Two guys who met as teenagers in a Kung Fu school became great friends through God’s saving grace.
Musical interlude
I was fairly pleased with my post yesterday, but it’s left me depleted. I feel like I’ve said everything I have to say for the moment.
Also, I’m bummed because Hunter Baker, author of The End of Secularism (don’t read it–it’ll only give him a swelled head) is now getting mentioned on Adam Baldwin’s twitter feed. Yes, that Adam Baldwin, the guy who plays Casey on “Chuck.”
Have I mentioned that I hate Hunter Baker?
In closing, here’s Sissel Kyrkjebø doing a little Grieg. “Solveig’s Song” from “Peer Gynt.” Comfort food for the soul.
Irony or Targeted?
This book on leadership for pastors is described by the publisher as “Brief. Practical. Insightful. And conveniently sized to fit in any bathroom!”
Summer is for Reading
Rachel Motte leads a list of summer reading recommendations at The Evangelical Outpost. She’s going to dip into the Qur’an. That’s a bit thick for me at the moment.
I plan to read several Flannery O’Connor stories this summer and The Book of the Dun Cow
We saw this coming, didn't we?
I finally watched “Gladiator” the other day. This news may surprise you. A guy who loves swords as much as I do, you would think, would have leaped for “Gladiator” like a trout after a fly, the moment it was released.
But in fact I found myself putting it off. I’m pretty sure I know why I delayed, too. I’d read a review that told me what happens to Maximus’ wife and son. I knew that in order to enjoy the good parts, I’d have to go through that scene, and whether it happened off screen or on, it would poison the whole thing for me. I hope you won’t think less of me if I admit that I’m basically a pretty tenderhearted guy, with a low tolerance for the suffering of innocents.
As a writer, I understand why they added that scene (and, according to Wikipedia, it was added. It wasn’t in the original script. They put it in to increase Maximus’ incentive for vengeance). You have to raise the stakes, if you want to engage an audience and motivate a character to dire and terrible deeds. People don’t wake up one morning and say, “I think I’ll assassinate a dictator today.” They need (or so we imagine) a personal reason, a mighty, visceral wrong to right. Continue reading We saw this coming, didn't we?