Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

  The Light of Days By:   Judy Batalion Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton The Light of Days is a harrowing and tortuous journey through Poland under the body and soul crushing acts of vicious Nazi aggression experienced by courageous Jewish women who creatively energized Jewish resistance with presence, weapons, and nourishment. Some were destroyed. Some survived. My interest in World War II stems from the stories my parents told of surviving the Nazi blitz of London. Since then, I have read various accounts of the bloody global war. And my wife and I have visited World War II and Holocaust Museums around the world as we learned about the Holocaust . The Light of Days stands out from the rest because it is about the role of women in the Jewish resistance-- a subject about which I had little knowledge. I found the book difficult to read for more than one reason. Despite previous reading about the horror of the Nazi doctors and the brutality of the Nazi invaders, I was sti

  Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment By:    Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton   We are constantly exposed to opinions. Some of those opinions are judgments. And some of those judgments affect our opportunities to work, obtain healthcare, receive fair treatment by government entities, and earn fair evaluations in school. Some people are paid to make informed judgments. Unfortunately, some judgments are noisy—they vary. Noise is about the differences in judgments that affect our lives. When the authors provide examples of variation in judgments, they are writing about variability in a statistical sense. As a retired professor who taught research and statistics to undergraduate and graduate students, I’m not sure the authors were entirely clear—at least not clear enough for readers who are either new to the concept or haven’t drawn on their statistics knowledge for some years. In any event, I think the book deserves a look be

  Disability Justice in the Church By  Amy Kenny in 2022 Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton   Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. (James 5: 14-15a, NIV)   “God told me to pray for you.” Amy begins her challenge to Christians who dehumanize her, and all people with disabilities, by telling the tale of a prayer predator. She interrupts the woman’s plan, “I don’t need prayer for healing. My body has already been sanctified and redeemed.” Amy uses a cane and a wheelchair. Throughout My Body is Not a Prayer Request , we learn what Christians and medical people have said and done, which have had a cumulative effect of dehumanizing Amy. She has encountered many Christians who do not accept her as she is. Her work is an attack on the mentality of ableism . [ Read about ableism ] Part of

  Columbine: A True Crime Story— A Victim, the Killers  and the Nation’s Search for Answers,  2 nd  ed . By Jeff Kass, 2014 Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton It’s 2022. We’ve heard of several mass shootings this year. Sadly, we know the routine. The news media head to the scene of the massacre. We get early reports from law enforcement. We see heart wrenching images of incredibly sad people near the scene where loved ones have fallen. We learn about the numbers of people killed and injured. We hear the familiar words of political leaders attempting to offer support. We hear about gun control and the need for more security. Sometimes we learn about life-costing mistakes. We see images of flowers and bears at makeshift memorials. We learn about funeral services. And then the images fade until next time. It was April 20, 1999 when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered Columbine High School. They murdered 12 students and 1 teacher. More were injured—21 of 24 were injured by gunfire. C

  Authors : Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton Reference Borg, M.J. & Crossan, J.D. (2009). The first Paul: Reclaiming the radical visionary behind the church’s conservative icon . HarperCollins e-books.   Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan introduce us to the apostle Paul by providing historical contexts for his life and teachings. Early on they explain why only a small collection of documents were actually written by the apostle who wrote the first “books” in the New Testament. Scholars affirm seven letters (aka books) were actually written by Paul: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians, and Philemon. Scholars believe the pastoral epistles were written later by other authors. These are 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Finally, scholars disagree about the authorship of Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians; however, according to Borg and Crossan, most believe these were not written by Paul. The

  Wild Fire    Shetland Series Book 8 by Ann Cleeves Wild Fire is Ann Cleeves’ final instalment of the Shetland series . The team of Willow Reeves, Jimmy Perez, and Sandy Wilson collaborate one last time to solve murders closely connected to two families in Deltaness. Emma grew up in an abusive family in Orkney. She came to Shetland to work as a nanny for the four children of Robert and Bella Montcrief who appear emotionally distant from their children. Each of the children play a role in the mystery. Martha is a 17-year old rebellious teen and Charles, dad’s favourite, is 16. The younger two have occasional appearances in the narrative. Helena and Daniel Fleming are friends of the Montcriefs. Bella Montcrief handles public relations for Helena’s designs. Daniel, is an architect who struggles with depression. Their older son, Christopher has an autistic disorder. He has an interest in CSI and plays a prominent role in identifying the murderer of Emma. Emma’s startling death is linked