ustxtxb_obs_1993_09_03_50_00022-00000_000.pdf

ferret out the beliefs of another, then connect those beliefs to the person’s peculiar psychological needs so that he can reject the beliefs himself. But his problem with Campbell is that the preacher appears to live on faith, not religious belief. When Wright asks how a person can possess faith without belief, Campbell responds, “Faith implies doubt instead of certitude … certitude leaves no room for faith. You can have faith on the basis of what you suspect, ’cause you don’t really know. ” Wright finally rejects Campbell’s existentialist position, confessing that his own search centers on finding a system of belief that provides structure, meaning and hope for his life. To live “as if there is meaning” without truly believing is a notion Wright calls a curse as much as a blessing. The author’s response to Campbell’s existentialist challenge typifies a conventional modern response to faith and constitutes a classic blunder: equating faith with belief and demanding that they both be based on empirical knowledge, when faith is by definition an acceptance without proof. Predictably, the result is a kind of existential paralysis. Wright’s inability to take the leap of faith comes to a head in the final chapter, on Matthew Fox, the Dominican priest whose New Age teachings got him bounced from the Catholic Church. An advocate of panentheism \(“Everything is in God and God is in everymysticism, Fox confronts Wright. You are more interested in reporting on angels than in actually experiencing them, he tells Wright. “You’ll never see them!” Fox says. “They protect themselves against people like you!” At the end of Saints & Sinners, Wright admits that, as much as he would like to, he cannot make a leap of faith. “It’s just not me,” he writes. Still, while maintaining that his personal quest has not resulted in a spiritual transformation, he says he does feel “new.” But the claim seems hollow and the reader is left to wonder what it means. It is tempting to suspect that after performing the task of researching and writing an entire book the author is required to report at least some degree of success. While Wright performs an admirable job of exploring the epistemology of both atheism and faith, it is curious that he does not explore the terrain that so many travel these days the problem of choosing what to believe and how to live when such choices must be made in the presumed absence of transcendent certainty. In places, Wright wanders awfully close to the geography of agnosticism, or even as with Campbell’s Christian existentialism the humanistic, quasi-existentialism of an Albert Carpus. But the author never quite gets there, perhaps because he restricts his journey to the overtly religious world. As a journey through the lives of several prominent people intimately involved with questions of religious faith, Saints & Sinners is an entertaining and often intellectually invigorating success. Yet as a quest for spiritual faith, the book fizzles out, posing more questions than answers in the end. Still, whether by design or accident, Wright’s exegesis makes one thing clear. While taking an authentic and mature leap of faith no matter to what spiritual or philosophical path one’s faith adheres is a complicated psychological undertaking, the ability to take that leap may depend less on belief than on the courage to jump. CLASSIFIEDS ORGANIZATIONS WORK for single-payer National Health Care. Join GRAY PANTHERS, intergenerational advocates against ageism and for progressive policies promoting social and economic justice. $20 individual, $35 family. 3710 Cedar, TEXAS AIDS NETWORK dedicated to improving HIV/AIDS policy and funding in Texas. Individdal membership $25, P.O. 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Join The Texas Civil Rights Project, 227 Congress #340, Austin, Texas 78701. $20/year. Volunteers also needed. Contact Jim 5073. PANHANDLE-AREA SUPPORTERS of drug-, alcohol, tobacco-free America, write John McMillan, Box 175, Pampa, Texas 70966; or call BOOKLETS PROOF JESUS FICTIONAL! $5 Abelard, Box 5652-C, Kent, WA 98064 FOR EYE-POPPING PAMPHLETS “The Bible is a Horrible Book!” and “Is God a Sadist?” semd $1 to Unbeliever’s Tract Society, Box 560834, The Colony, Texas 75056. SERVICES LOW-COST MICROCOMPUTER ASSIS-TANCE. Tape to diskette conversion, statistical analysis, help with setting up special projects, custom programming, needs assessment. Gary Lundquest, Austin, Texas 78703. PHOTOGRAPHY Reality is us. 20 years for the Texas Observer and he will take a few for you. Alan Pogue, 1701 Guadalupe, Austin, Texas 78701, MARY NELL MATHIS, CPA, 19 years experience in tax, litigation support, and other analyses. 400 West 15th, YELLOW DREAM MACHINE, computer bulletin board 451-3222. Disability-based subject matter. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. Design, expert witness, forensic investigation, product liability, electrical injury, electrical fires. W.T. Cronenwett, Ph.D, 2566 Cypress Avenue, Norman, Oklahoma PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP in the humanities. Dr. Reed Harp, the harbor, Port 7029. EMPLOYMENT The Houston office of the CENTRAL AMERICAN REFUGEE CENTER seeks an executive director and a staff attorney. Positions require commitment to promoting human rights for Central Americans. Must be bilingual regarding Central America and/or immigration law a plus. Send inquiry/resume . toJimi Clark, CARECEN, 4001 Caroline, Houston, TX 77004. Phone \(713 .3611. ACLU OF TEXAS SEEKS staff attorney for Houston office. Manage cooperating attorney program, brief cases for state legal panel and general civil liberties litigation. 2 to 5 years litigation experience. Texas license required. Send resumes to ACLU, PO Box 132047, Houston, Texas 77219. TRAVEL EUROPEONLY $229! \($229 from Call AirHitch, 1-800-326-2009. CLASSIFIED RATES: Minimum ten words. One time, 50 cents per word; three times, 45 cents per word; six times, 40 cents per word; 12 times, 35 cents per word; 25 times, 30 cents per word. Telephone and box numbers count as two words, abbreviations and zip codes as one. Payment must accompany order for all classified ads. Deadline is three weeks before cover date. Address orders and inquiries to Advertising Director, The Texas Observer, 22 SEPTEMBER 3, 1993