History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

A Rumor About the Jews: Reflections on Antisemitism and "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion"

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A study of Anti-semitism from a Secular Jewish Viewpoint
A sloppy history of anti-Semitism.

A Rumor About the Jews: Reflections on Antisemitism and "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion"
Stephen Eric Bronner
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312218044

Book Description

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is among the most infamous documents of antisemitism. A forgery created in Russia by the czarist secret police and quickly translated into a host of languages, it portrayed Judaism as a worldwide conspiracy dedicated to the destruction of Christian civilization. The appearance of the Protocols sparked a number of bloody pogroms and it helped shape the thinking of right-wing movements worldwide from Hitler's Nazis to contemporary antisemitic groups in Russia, the Middle East and the United States. A work of intellectual history, A Rumor About the Jews expresses the connection between antisemitism and the overarching political assault upon the enlightenment legacy taking the reader on a historical journey that provides a new and penetrating understanding of an insidious ideology and its broader implications.

Customer Reviews:

A study of Anti-semitism from a Secular Jewish Viewpoint.......2002-08-22

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is still worth reading about since it one of those books that it helped start a social movement of increased intolerance and violence towards Jews in Nazi Germany. It is still taken seriously in the present-day middle east.

Author Stephen Bronner's most interesting point is that the Protocols was written in reaction against modernity and its components of a republican state, rule of law, democratic liberalism, universal suffrage, universal equal rights, and separation of church and state. The reactionary forces of the church and aristocracy were against the liberal forces of Jews, freemasons, and the middle class mainly because they wanted to hold on to their arbitrary power over their subjects.

Another observation is that Bronner shows why many Jews support cosmopolitanism and separation of church and state so much; those two things the Protocols opposed with nationalism and the church. Such ideas give the Jews more freedom and equality than they would have under a Christian government or a nation that defines its true citizenry on the basis of race. Nationalism often has a racial component to it as opposed to a cosmopolitanism that pretends that race does not matter.

In the last chapter, Bronner analyzes contemporary anti-semitism and racial nationalism. He advocates that more conservative Jews should even give up their cultural and genetic heritage to the inevitable march of progress, modernity, and cosmopolitanism. Those who resist multiculturalism will be the inevitable losers. To be a racial nationalist is to join forces with the likes that support the values of anti-semites. He poses the question that once antisemitism is removed from society, the Jews themselves may vanish because they will no longer be the persecuted 'others'. But of course, one can think that there are seeds of destruction in excessive cosmopolitanism also.

The Protocols are reprinted in the book. It is clumsily written propaganda, but it came along at the right time and it plays upon fears that people still have today: autocratic world government, destruction of Christianity, planned economic depressions, indoctrination of children in schools of values parents are against, control of the news media that doesn't tell the truth, mindless entertainment to destract citizens from their vanishing freedoms and wealth, and planned spread of diseases for population control. Bronner gives the history of the creation and appearance of the Protocols in Russia in 1905 when the reactionary and anti-semitic monarchy enthusiastically supported its discimination.

A sloppy history of anti-Semitism........2001-01-20

This is a good book because first it is short and easy to read, it discusses a notorious fabrication or conspiracy theory, and it shows just how confused the Jewish position is with regards to the "other" or antisemitism. The author seems to meander between numerous concepts and explanations of antisemitism, but never really embraces a coherent theme. Oddly, this is very similar to "The Protocols" that he attacks.

We have of course many venues of indoctrination, and "The Protocols" is just one of many. Why anyone would write a book about such a pamphlet that is an obvious forgery over 100 years old, and treat it like a present day threat is a real mystery. In addition, the author seems to be trying to convince Jews to somehow change their behavior, while he excoriates all Gentiles for their insane obsession with antisemitism. He tends to vacillate between "there is no more antisemitism" and "Jews had better give up their world view of domination or people will again become anti-Semitic." He in many ways confirms that Jewishness, unlike other religions, is really a supremacist position that embraces dominance over the "other." He openly discusses the Jewish obsession with racial purity and what will be required to stop intermarriage.

What is lacking in this and books like it, is a real analysis of what we now know about group evolutionary strategies. Kevin MacDonald's trilogy on Jew-Gentile competition, based on group evolutionary strategies, makes this book a transparent work of mere propaganda. Anyone familiar with the neo-Darwinist position on group behavior will recognize what this book is all about trying to make the world safe for Judaism (that is the race, not the religion).

The best book to read to understand this book is MacDonald's "The Culture of Critique: An Evolutionary Analysis of Jewish Involvement in Twentieth-Century Intellectual and Political Movements." As an academically reviewed book, and part of the "Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence" series of books edited by Seymour W. Itzkoff, it explains why and for what purpose this book was written.

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EXTREMELY INTENSIVE PRACTICAL WORK, incredibly valuable!

Learning Ritual Magic: Fundamental Theory and Practice for the Solitary Apprentice
John Michael Greer , Earl, Jr. King , and Clare Vaughn
Manufacturer: Weiser Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts (Llewellyn's High Magick)

ASIN: 1578633184

Book Description

Learning Ritual Magic is a training manual for anyone serious about improving their magic based on the western mystery traditions, including tarot, ritual magic, Qabalah, and astrology. "What you get out of [magic] can be measured precisely by what you are willing to put into it—and time is the essential ingredient in successful magical training," the authors write. And just as no one expects to run a marathon or play a Bach violin concerto without sufficient training, so practitioners of the magical arts shouldn't expect to work complex, powerful magical rituals without a solid grounding in the techniques of Hermetic high magic. By spending at least a half hour a day practicing the lessons found in Learning Ritual Magic, the solitary apprentice attains the proper groundwork and experience for working ritual magic.

Learning Ritual Magic provides lessons on meditation and a set of exercises designed to develop basic skills in imagination, will, memory, and self-knowledge, all of which are absolute fundamentals to magical attainment. While the authors discuss the essentials of magical theory, they focus on daily, basic perspectives rather than launching into details of advanced practice.

Designed for the solitary practitioner, Learning Ritual Magic concludes with a ceremony of self-initiation.

Customer Reviews:

EXTREMELY INTENSIVE PRACTICAL WORK, incredibly valuable!.......2006-04-27

THIS BOOK IS ONE OF THE BEST PURCHASES I HAVE MADE IN MY LIFE.
It is an incredibly in-depth and extensive introduction to practical magic, and is an invaluable tool to help develop the skills of meditation, concentration, observation, imagination, visualization, memory, and will power. Also, it is an excellent introduciton to tarot cards, Qabalah,number symbolism, the theory of the five elements (water-earth-fire-air-spirit) and an incredibly vast range of esoteric/occult philosophy... all of which intertwine and overlap, and mix in with the practical work. I am absolutely amazed at how much substance and depth has been packed into every chapter.

encountering magic can be difficult without a starting point or guide- the subtitle of this book says it all, it is a way for people to start on their own. Each chapter is organized in a very clear and straightforward stye, and each chapter is a lesson that you work on over two weeks (or more, if you have time constraints). The lessons develop on eachother, so the book takes about 9 months to finish... getting through it and doing all the exercises is, in itself, a great way to develop your willpower!

The rituals taught in this book are the Qabalistic Cross, the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, and the Middle Pillar exercise. These are rituals are all from the Golden Dawn tradition, and are basically meditation and visualzation exercises intended to develop your inner faculties. While the rituals are excellent, i find the real value of this book is the tarot exercises and work with the Tree of Life... while these are essential and fundamental aspects of occult philosophy/practice, it can be difficult to find an entry point into learning about them. The exercises in the book guide you through incredible exercises that provide an incredible practical way of learning about the tarot, Qabalah, number symbolism, and much more. there is also great emphasis on learning about your psyche and increasing body awareness.

I had also considered buying Kraig's "modern magick", and Newcombe's "21st Century hermetics", but decided against them when i compared them against this book. i am extremely happy with the decision! compared against the other two this book seems far more practical, and more likely to provide an intensive/thorough experience for people who want to develop their inner abilities.

I'm half way through this book now, and though i like to wait until i'm totally finished, i felt i should put up a review to help people who may be considering buying this book or others like it. i can gaurantee that the reason other people have not reviewed it yet is because it is a book you need to work with over a long period of time. this might scare people off, but ultimately what you get out of anything is proportional to the effort and time you put into it... i look back over the parts i have read again and again, and astonished that the book always reveals deeper layers of meaning with every read. definitely one of the best purchases of my life...

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Don't let the ideas get in the way of good writing
I love this book!
Groundbreaking, but no sort of introduction
dense but good
NOT READABLE

Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice
Catherine Bell
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195076133

Book Description

Arguing that the concept of ritual is overdue for critical rethinking, Bell here offers a close theoretical analysis of recent developments in ritual studies, concentrating on anthropology, sociology, and history of religions. She begins by showing how discourse on ritual has served to generate and legitimate a limited and ultimately closed form of cultural analysis. She then proposes that so-called ritual activities be removed from their isolated position as special, paradigmatic acts and restored to the context of "social activity" in general. Using the term "ritualization" to describe ritual thus contextualized, she defines it as a culturally strategic way of acting. She goes on to show how this definition can serve to illuminate such classic issues in traditional ritual studies as belief, ideology, legitimation, and power.

Customer Reviews:

Don't let the ideas get in the way of good writing.......2006-11-15

A very smart woman; a poorly executed book. This book is intended for nobody to read. Bell's inexcusable writing style can only be described as pretentious. She challened no ideas, fronts or philosophies on her own. I also read all 223 pages, and I agree with another reviewer that there are so many references she fails in creating a position for herself. Many references she cites have the same positions, so why read something that is poorly written.

I love this book!.......2004-05-12

Of the many books I've read in my (admittedly limited) anthropological career, none have had as profound an effect on my understanding of what ideology is or of its relevance to social structure. The book is ostensibly about ritual (or "ritualization," as Bell comes to call it), but I think its relevance extends to ideological discourse or semiosis in general. Most of what Bell has to say about how symbols and ideological themes are exploited by participants in the course of ritualized activities can be extended to semiosic commerce in general. Similarly, the subtle political negotiation which is said to be accomplished through the ritualized manipulation of symbols probably underlies virtually all ideological commerce.

What I love most about Bell's book is its explicit critique of the Gramscian Marxist concept of ideology's relationship to power. Bell offers the rather straight-forward argument, "if your juridical or military apparatus is powerful enough to coerce a subjected group without fear of subversion or recourse, what need have you to whitewash your hegemony with ideology?" Bell makes the Foucaldian argument that ideological discourse does not disguise what needs no disguise, but rather what does; we encounter ideological interaction not when one group's domination of another is impregnable, but rather in cases where neither group can clearly dominate the other without considerable cost or risk, giving way to negotiation and compromise between competing free agents. Ideological discourse shows up in such scenarios because it is through the manipulation of symbols that compromises are rendered tolerable by lending them an aura of cosmic rightness, thereby redeeming the participants' negotiated lots in life and society.

Bell's argument flies in the face of traditional structural-functionalism, which reads the individual and individual agency out of the sociological equation. For structural-functionalists, ideologies act upon individuals by instilling in them a homogeneous set of values and motivations; individuals are passive and plastic while ideology is active and firm. Bell's reckoning reverses this picture: individuals manipulate ideology in the discursive process, acting on behalf of their own self-interests; ideology becomes the effect of human activity rather than its cause (Umberto Eco and Marvin Harris have made similar arguments in their own works). Thus, social cohesion is achieved not because humans are fundamentally social creatures (as the social-functionalists contend), but either because one group coerces another by virtue of force, or else because approximately equally matched individuals realize that there is more to gain from cooperation (with minimal loss through compromise) than from resistant hostility (with excessive loss through costly open-ended conflict).

If I have any major criticism of Bell's book, it is this: she presents ritualization as an intuitive, instinctive enterprise, undertaken only in those scenarios when it is the strategically most effective option (in other words, when competing agents are too equally matched to effectively dominate one another). Yet, human decision-making is regularly inhibited by poor or incomplete information, the neurological limits of information-processing, hastiness, and faulty or dogmatic opportunity-cost associations. (Neoclassical economic thought has suffered similar criticisms over the past few decades.) So Bell's contention contra Geertz that there is no such thing as a failed ritual seems ill-conceived. On the contrary, an inequitably well-endowed agent may submit to compromise because he or she fails to appreciate the possibility of a one-sided dominion, while another may overestimate his or her means and thus attempt to engage in coercive hostilities to ill effect. Throughout her book, Bell frequently uses the term "strategy" to characterize ritualization, yet she neglects the long, unfortunate history of failed military and economic strategies (cf. Barbara Tuchman's "The March of Folly" and "The Guns of August" on the history of failed military strategy). Why, then, should the political strategy which Bell has labeled "ritualization" be immune from similar catastrophe? While I do not agree with Ronald Grimes at every point, I think he is more on the mark than is Bell for conceeding the possibility of "ritual infelicity."

Groundbreaking, but no sort of introduction.......2004-02-15

First of all, a little word of warning:

As seems to be generally agreed, Bell's writing style is more than a little dense, and while she in some sense introduces ritual theory, she really assumes you already know a great deal about it. Consequently, the book is simply not approachable unless you have already read most of the works to which she refers. If you've been assigned this for an undergrad class, or a beginning grad class, you have been cheated. Professors, please, don't assign this until people have already read Smith, Levi-Strauss, Durkheim, Frazer, Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown, Evans-Pritchard, Geertz, Ortner, Bourdieu, de Certeau, Turner, Grimes, and probably Derrida for good measure. This is a wonderful book if you know all that stuff; it's truly painful if you don't.

I first read this when I started grad school, and I hated it. Couldn't see the point, frankly. Bell's criticisms of various theories seemed worthwhile, but as she doesn't really propose a new method in the end, what's the point? So I dropped it happily for a long time.

Then I came back to it, almost ten years later, because I found myself delving very deeply into ritual theory, its history, and its future. Suddenly I saw what Bell is up to, and realized that this thing stands as one of the single most important contributions to the field.

Now how can both be true? Well, here's the short, grossly-simplified version.

First, Bell argues that pretty much all current ritual theory tends to cleave along a fault-line: thought/action is the usual form. That is, people DO ritual, and THINK something else. She then turns to a deconstructive approach, and demonstrates that this is logically nonfunctional. She's right, by the way. Whatever you think of the rest of the book, this argument (about the first quarter of the book) leaves smoking rubble where the vast majority of ritual theory used to be.

Next, she picks up the notion of "practice," as formulated by Sherry Ortner, Michel de Certeau, and Pierre Bourdieu, and argues that ritual is a mode of practice, and thus continuous with other modes of behavior within everyday life.

BUT, you see, one of the oddities of ritual is precisely that it usually is understood by the people doing it as NOT continuous. This, she argues, is one of the defining factors of ritual as a specific mode of practice: the practice of "ritualization" largely depends on the construction of a division between ritual and other behaviors, within the culture in question.

Armed with that as a structure, she goes and proposes a new way of looking at ritualization, rather than ritual; that is, she wants to look at the way people ritualize rather than the product of their constructive process.

Personally, I suspect that this shift to ritualization drags us right back into action rather than thought, precisely the thing she wanted to get out of, but the way she does this is very, very slick.

Now here's the $64,000 question. Did you understand, or care about, almost any of what I just wrote? If yes to both, you're going to love this book (or hate it, but enjoy the process). If no to either or both, don't read this.

Once again, would people stop assigning this book to those not prepared to address it intelligently? It's simply not fair, and you should be using the time on something more useful and approachable.

dense but good.......2004-02-06

It seems that people either love this book or hate it. I personally fall into the former category, but I understand the frustrations exhibited by some of the other "reviewers" here. She delves deeply into pre-existing theories on ritual, from early social scientists like Durkheim and Mauss as well as newer, trendier people like Bourdieu, Foucault, and Derrida. It appears that she, along with most academics in the social sciences, is in love with the French (but she does bring in some Goffman and Geertz).

I read most of the book a few years ago when I was in the field and was somewhat lost at times. Coming back to it a few years later with lots of theory under my belt, I was able to cut through her (sometimes exceedingly) obscure and obscuring writing style to get at the tasty nuggets inside.

She reviews earlier ideas of ritual then proposes her own ideas, which intentionally fall short of an overt methodology (God forbid a postmodern scholar actually prescribe a methodology!).

It's good stuff, but not for the faint-of-heart or those who haven't been previously exposed to postmodern philosophy and at least a bit of ethnography.

NOT READABLE.......2003-04-27

Without a doubt, this book is for nobody to read. I plowed my way through all 223 pages, and I cannot describe how restless I became with Catherine Bell's nonsense. There are so many references that Bell is no longer backing her arguments, but is instead indicating that she has no ability for original thought. I know that Bell is educated, but this book is proof that she is unable to communicate her ideas clearly and simply. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!

Violent Origins: Walter Burkert, Rene Girard, and Jonathan Z. Smith on Ritual Killing and Cultural Formation

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Violent Origins: Walter Burkert, Rene Girard, and Jonathan Z. Smith on Ritual Killing and Cultural Formation
Walter Burkert , Rene Girard , and Jonathan Smith
Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
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ASIN: 0804715181

Book Description

Burkert, Girard, and Smith hold important and contradictory theories about the nature and origin of ritual sacrifice, and the role violence plays in religion and culture. These papers and conversations derive from a conference that pursued the possibility and utility of a general theory of religion and culture, especially one based on violence. The special value of this volume is the conversations as such -- the real record of working scholars engaged with one another's theories, as they make and meet challenges, and move and maneuver.

The Two Faces of Islam: Saudi Fundamentalism and Its Role in Terrorism

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Misleading and mendacious
Insightful, well researched, and disturbing
Main Points Are Well Taken
Tough read
Saudi Fundamentalism =Terrorism

The Two Faces of Islam: Saudi Fundamentalism and Its Role in Terrorism
Stephen Schwartz
Manufacturer: Anchor
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400030455
Release Date: 2003-09-09

Book Description

Since its formation in 1932, Saudi Arabia has been ruled by two interdependent families. The Al Sa’uds control politics and the descendants of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab impose Wahhabism—a violent, fanatical perversion of the pluralistic Islam practiced by most Muslims. Stephen Schwartz argues that Wahhabism, vigorously exported with the help of Saudi oil money, is what incites Palestinian suicide bombers, Osama bin Laden, and other Islamic terrorists throughout the world.

Schwartz reveals the hypocrisy of the Saudi regime, whose moderate facade conceals state-sponsored repression and terrorism. He also raises troubling questions about Wahhabi infiltration of America’s Islamic community and about U.S. oil companies sanitizing Saudi Arabia’s image for the West. This sharp analysis and eye-opening expose illuminates the background to the September 11th terrorist attacks and offers new approaches for U.S. policy toward its closest ally in the Middle East.

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In this informed, compelling exploration of Moslem beliefs and of the sectarian conflicts within the community, a Jewish historian paints a sympathetic portrait of mainstream Islam and exposes the centuries-old roots of Osama bin Laden's extremism.

The difficult, protracted war against terrorism has raised unsettling questions about the nature of Islam and its influence on America's declared enemies. In The Two Faces of Islam, Stephen Schwartz, who has devoted years to the study of Islam, explains its complex history and describes the profound philosophical and religious differences that distinguish traditional beliefs from the radical sects that have sprung up over the past fifteen hundred years. He focuses on Wahhabism, the puritanical sect to which Osama bin Laden belongs. Founded in the eighteenth century by a radical cleric, this intolerant "Islamo-fascist" sect became the official creed of the Saudi Arabian state and has been exported to Moslem countries from the Balkans to the Philippines, as well as to Islamic communities in Western Europe and the United States.

By setting the current upheavals within an historical and religious context, Schwartz demonstrates that Osama bin Laden and his followers are not really fighting a war against America. Rather, they are engaged in a revolution within Islam itself -- a movement that parallels the turmoil within Christianity during the sixteenth century. Schwartz not only exposes the collusion of the Saudi Arabian government in the spread of radical Islam (which makes them at best reluctant allies of the West), he shows that the majority of Moslems have little sympathy for the Wahhabis and that many openly denounce their motivations and goals.

A riveting narrative that never smacks of propaganda, The Two Faces of Islam is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand who we are fighting, what our enemies believe, and who our friends in the Moslem world really are.

"The war against terror is a war against radical Islam -- and on behalf of civilized Islam. No one has done more to expose the radical, Saudi–Wahhabi face of Islam than Stephen Schwartz. Here he also introduces us to a second, benign face of Islam, one that is a source of reassurance or at least hope."
   WILLIAM KRISTOL, EDITOR, THE WEEKLY STANDARD

"Islamic culture is man-made. It has created great splendors as well as great miseries. Stephen Schwartz's work is exemplary in illuminating intra-Muslim distinctions, both historic and theological; distinctions which are of the first importance for the rest of the world to understand. He is a most articulate enemy of Islamofascism."
   CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

"After September 11, author and journalist Stephen Schwartz began a long-overdue public discussion of the dangers of Wahhabism for the world. The result is this groundbreaking book, the best book on the topic yet published. Stephen Schwartz has dissected Wahhabism from the roots up and has traced its growth like no previous writer. This book will be the outstanding reference work on Wahhabism for years to come. Stephen Schwartz's work will completely change how the world views Islam."
   ALI AL–AHMED, SAUDI INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND STUDIES

Customer Reviews:

Misleading and mendacious.......2006-09-18

The author's suggestion that pre-Wahhabist Islam had been peaceful, and the Ottoman Empire tolerant, is a fallacy better understood in the context of his own conversion to Islam. Mr. Schwartz is known among his co-religionists as Suleyman Ahmad and has an eccentic entry on >jews-for-allah.org < about his relgious experience. This is essential information about the author and his agenda. It is unfortunate that it is missing from the blurb or from the book itself.

Insightful, well researched, and disturbing.......2006-04-06

In "The two Faces of Islam", Stephen Schwartz locates the primary source of fanatically intolerant Islam in the world today, finding its origin in the Wahhabi denomination, which is the official religion of Saudi-Arabia. This version of Islam, Schwartz argues, was imposed on Arabia by naked force, and maintains its power by official suppression of all other Islamic traditions. Then, in recent decades, the Wahhabi supremacists have launched a massive campaign, backed by Saudi oil wealth, to export and impose their uniquely intolerant fundamentalism onto every Muslim community in the world. In contrast to this, Schwartz highlights resistance to the Wahhabis from other Muslims, be they devotees of Sufi mystics or ordinary believers in many nations, who stress compassion and forgiveness as primary values.

This excellent book has many conclusions, but perhaps this is a good one to mention: "Western reporting uniformly treats opponents of the Saudi regime as fanatical, anti-Western theological extremists bent on replacing the existing order with one inspired by bin Laden or Khomeini, and therefore inconcievably worse. Some prominent opposition elements are clearly aligned with extreme Wahhabism and even serve as apologists for bin Laden ... [But] In reality, while religious dissidence will doubtless be the source of future upheavals in all three peripheral provinces, none of these communities [the mainly Shia Eastern Province, the Hejaz western coastlands around Mecca and Medina, or the Najran and the Yemani borderlands to the south] are extremist in their outlook or their probable demands. All of them mainly seek to replace Wahhabi rigidity with the pluralism and spirituality of traditional Islam." (p.273)

Main Points Are Well Taken.......2005-08-22

The main thesis of this book, that the Saudi elite seem to be our friends on the surface while encouraging fundamentalist extremism behind the scenes, should be very clear to everyone with a brain by now. Schwartz shows plenty of evidence of how the Saudis and Wahhabism effectively have been deceiving the west with some very frightening results around the world. That's the main message of the book and it's right on target.

Other parts of it are a lot harder to swallow. He seems to think Iran is pretty harmless, which seems ridiculous given the latest elections and the nuclear bid. Without giving any evidence, he asserts that Bush really wants to start putting the pressure on the Saudis and do the right thing while it's Cheney that's really to blame for the continued whitewashing by our government of the Saudi role in terrorism. Last I checked, Dubya's still president and he's to blame if steps aren't being taken to really alter our relationship with the Saudis.

Tough read.......2005-08-08

A lot of great information, but difficult to read. If this is the first book you pick up on the topic of terrorism, you are in for a hard time. Although a lot of great information is presented, I found it difficult to follow. In a general sense, it outlines a brief history of the development of Wahhabism, which is a radical fundamentalist form of Islam and how it's influence is the cornerstone of religion, education and conduct within Saudi Arabia. Schwartz then goes into great detail how both in its inception, and through to the present, the Saudi Government has continuously required both economic and military aid from the West. He then makes a convincing argument of how Wahhabism, through substantial Saudi backing, is being exported globally, both in Central Asia, and here in the US. He concludes by pointing out that the Saudi Government, while publicly stating they are our allies in the Global War on Terrorism, have done little overtly to back that claim.
I found the level of detail contained in the book hard to track. He names a lot of names and organizations, but it was hard keeping them all straight. As mentioned in other reviews, Schwartz's argument is often times one sided. It almost gave the impression, as I got farther along into the book, I felt as if he as raising his voice at me to the point of shouting "Don't you people get it?" All in all, if you are a layman on the subject (as I am) I would suggest getting few other books under your belt before trying to tackle this one.

Saudi Fundamentalism =Terrorism.......2005-06-15

The equation is simple.... Saudi Fundamentalism = Terrorism

READ THIS BOOK!!

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Story as a Way of Knowing
Kevin M. Bradt S.J.
Manufacturer: Sheed & Ward
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1556129068

Book Description

This book, rather ironically, uses the written word to draw together threads from science, psychotherapy, scripture, and homiletics that can help us recognize and reclaim the power of oral-aural storying as a way of knowing. Story as a Way of Knowing will open your mind and imagination to new ways of thinking and knowing about yourself, others, your world, and your God.

Radical Islam Rising: Muslim Extremism in the West

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Academically rigorous study.
obvious conclusion, but fascinating route

Radical Islam Rising: Muslim Extremism in the West
Quintan Wiktorowicz
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0742536416

Book Description

This unique book represents one of the first systematic attempts to explain why thousands of Westerners heed international calls to jihad and join radical Islamic groups. Drawing on his unprecedented access to a radical Islamic group, Quintan Wiktorowicz details the subtle process that can turn seemingly unreligious people into supporters of religious violence. The author's extraordinary fieldwork forms the basis of a detailed case study of al-Muhajiroun, a transnational movement based in London that supports Bin Laden and other Islamic terrorists. Through its rich empirical detail, the case study explains the larger question of why ordinary people join extremist movements.

Customer Reviews:

Academically rigorous study........2007-05-14

Unlike many of the books available today, Wiktorowicz has written a book that is based on social science, not the faddish headlines of the day. The book will invariably divide readers into two camps; those who are interested in extremism and those who truly want to understand the recruitment and radicalization process.

The book is best summarized by looking at his three central questions:
1. How are individuals drawn into the socialization process where they can be exposed to radical, religious education?
2. How do individuals come to accept and adopt the radical Islamic ideology as their own world view?
3. How does socialization overcome "the free rider dilemma?" In other words, convince individuals to do things that are not in their own self interest, and participate in high risk behavior that could lead to arrest, jail or death?

In the end, the author shows how terrorists capitalize, or if necessary create, "cognitive openings," which are periods in which individuals are willing to question their own long held personal beliefs and consider radical new ideas. Once an individual is convinced that the group's radical goals or the rewards for participation in the group's activities (e.g. eternal paradise) are MORE IMPORTANT than their well beings, you have yourself an operative.

This is a great read for those who seriously want to understand the recruitment and radicalization problem, as well as those who are charged to slow the spread of radicalism.

obvious conclusion, but fascinating route.......2006-12-12

I read this book carefully for a class on crime, immigration and ethnicity. Basically, his whole point can be summed up in one sentence: people who join radical groups are not wide-eyed lunatics, but rational actors operating out of spiritual self-interest. They sacrifice jobs, families and assimilation in the West because they buy into a specific ideology's pathway to heaven. Dude, they want the virgins and this group can offer you the only sure way to get 'em. That's the point of this very academic book. (Seems obvious to me.)

However, it takes you through the sort of the eerie way people come to believe this, which turns out to be interesting. It's very case specific, but also highly applicable to the recruiting methods of all social movements and high-risk activism groups.

The Wings of the Sun: Traditional Jewish Healing in Theory and Practice

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The Wings of the Sun: Traditional Jewish Healing in Theory and Practice
Avraham Greenbaum
Manufacturer: Breslov Research Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 093021353X

Sacrifice and Community: Jewish Offering and Christian Eucharist (Illuminations: Theory and Religion)

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Sacrifice and Community: Jewish Offering and Christian Eucharist (Illuminations: Theory and Religion)
Matthew Webb Levering
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: 1405136901

Book Description

This book explores the character of the Eucharist as communion in and through sacrifice.Drawing on Jewish reflection upon the Aqedah (the near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham in Genesis), as well as on other critical analyses of sacrifice in Scripture, the book shows that communion is not possible without the reconciliation attained by sacrificial self-giving love. Following the insights of St Thomas Aquinas, the author argues that all aspects of Eucharistic theology, including metaphysical doctrines such as transubstantiation, depend upon recognizing that communion cannot be separated from its sacrificial context.The book will stimulate discussion because of its controversial critique of the dominant paradigm for Eucharistic theology, its reclamation of St Thomas Aquinas 's theology of the Eucharist, and its response to Pope John Paul II 's Ecclesia de Eucharistia.

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