The following is Part 1 of a thorough and thoughtful review of Raising Hell by Alice Spicer, a woman I’ve never met from central Florida. She did an amazing job of highlighting the message and including some of her own thought-provoking research, experiences, and thoughts as well:
If you’ve never read Hans Christian Anderson’s story The Emperor’s New Clothes, you should do so. It is a delightful tale of the undoing of collective denial. It has been said that Anderson’s tale was written as political satire, and although that may be true, I believe it is much more than that. Anderson’s tale is a remarkable analogy for the religious pomposity that has had the world by its balls since the beginning of time. This is evidenced by Anderson’s explanation about how his views on Hell differ from those of his teacher of Greek and Latin studies in his book, True Story of My Life, how he reacted at first, and finally, how those views surfaced in his writing:
…everything tended to assist me in my Greek and Latin studies; in one direction, however, and that the one in which it would least have been expected, did my excellent teacher find much to do; namely, in religion. He closely adhered to the literal meaning of the Bible; with this I was acquainted, because from my first entrance in the school I had clearly understood what was said and taught by it. I received gladly, both with feeling and understanding, the doctrine, that God is love: everything which opposed this–a burning hell, therefore, whose fire endured forever–I could not recognize.
Continue reading »
