No. 14
CONTENTS
Essays
Judaism: Finding Our Roots
Mary Blye Howe
For hundreds of years, many non-Jews have viewed the Jewish religion
with suspicion. Most writers have tended to focus on the Jews’ tragic
history and distinctive culture rather than providing a meaningful
analysis of their religious practices. In this article, a journalist
goes "undercover" to a synagogue in her native Texas, discovering a
level of devotion to God and the scriptures that invigorates her own
faith.
Breathing Room
Kevin Heath
Kevin Heath describes the ambivalence he experienced as a member of both
a rowdy college tennis team and a boisterous Campus Crusade group, and
wonders whether he was "a wave tossed by the sea, a dog returning to its
vomit, or just plain double-minded." This essay recalls the pressures
many encounter as they try to juggle the demands of Christian and
secular cultures, and the inescapable need for "breathing room."
Bible Stories
Sam Alvord
In a a series of poignant vignettes, the writer discusses the
touchstones that have shaped and molded his faith. Along the way, he
describes first love, school days, work at a Bible camp, and the death
of a loved one.
Studies
Etty Hillesum and the Language of Silence
Gerald Schiffhorst
In An Interrupted Life, a remarkable collection of World War II letters
and journal entries, Etty Hillesum chronicles the journey from her
native Amsterdam to the Nazi transit camp at Westerbork. (She later died
at Auschwitz.) The eloquent testimony of Hillesum's courage and inward
peace brings to mind the writings of Edith Stein and Simone Weil.
Ought from Is
Ethical Implications of a Naturalist Science
Scott T. Walters
Among academics, one experiences an inconsistency between the scientific
assumptions that are made and the kind of ethical absolutes that are
practiced. In this paper Scott Walters maintains that it is impossible
for purely natural assumptions of the universe to provide a basis for
any normative ethical statements, examining ethics in light of Darwin,
Freud, and the nihilists.
Why Baseball is Better Than Football, Especially for Republicans
Robert D. Linder
Since baseball's inception in 1845, baseball has been known as
"America's game." In this fascinating study, the author argues that,
despite its ascendency in recent years, football promotes "power,
violence, instant gratification, and the exploitation of female
sexuality." Baseball, on the other hand, teaches the sound principles of
a strong republic, namely "reverence, sobriety, frugality, industry, and
honesty."
The Mars Hill Interview
Inventing the Truth
A Conversation with Elizabeth Spencer
Nancy Tilly
A product of the Old South, New Structuralism, and Vanderbilt's Agrarian
movement, Mississippian Elizabeth Spencer invites comparisons to fellow
writers Eudora Welty and Caroline Gordon. She has written numerous
novels, including Fire in the Morning, Ship Island, and The Night
Travellers, and a 1998 memoir, Landscapes of the Heart. In this
fascinating interview, Spencer talks about the struggles for civil
rights in the South as well as some of the personal struggles that
shaped her fiction.
Reminders of God
The Writing Life
Fiction
The Amazing Roush
Jeremy Nafziger
Nonfiction
Room to Romp
Max Heine
Poetry
Reply to Rimbaud
Bob Hudson
From the Diaries of Doctor Henry Frankenstein
Bryan Dietrich
Three Poems
Judith Terry McCune
Abel, the Keeper of Flocks
Peter Junker
Blue River
Ron Rash
Communion
Rachelle L. Smith
Saint Michael's in Charleston
Charlotte F. Otten
Views and Reviews
Music
Essay: Tori Amos:
A Choirgirl Growing Up
Douglas Thorpe
Reviews:
Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu, Bruce Cockburn
Stuart C. Hancock
Mule Variations, Tom Waits
Dave Urbanski
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill
Douglas Thorpe
Music Also Reviewed
Douglas Thorpe
Books
Essay: Some Thoughts on Copenhagen
Gina Bria
Reviews:
Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir, Bryan Burrough
James Vescovi
I Was Amelia Earhart, Jane Mendolsohn
Sheryl Cornett
Recovered Body, Scott Cairns
Brent Short
Books Also Reviewed
Sheryl Cornett
Film
Essays:
Tracking the Force:
The Moral Theology of Star Wars
Joey Earl Horstman
The Dance of Violence
Jon Wallace
Review: The Thin Red Line
Scott Emmert
Films Also Reviewed
Scott Emmert and Joey Earl Horstman
Risvolti
Timeless graffiti from the broad canvas.
Compiled by James Vescovi
Mars Hill Contributors
