Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

Beards For God
Monday, March 19, 2007

I was in L.A. this last week (in the next few days I'm going to post a long report on my visit to "American Idol") and one of the novel things I saw was a curious ad campaign running on my hotel television in which a woman in a slinky outfit, sitting by the fire, her bare feet tucked underneath her, you get the idea, advertising a local number where you could call and meet "other single people staying at sophisticated hotels," or something like that. It was basically an upscale hotel pick-up scheme playing on your loneliness, anonymity, and desire to hook up with someone in your same economic status. Niche marketing at its best?

Somehow I was thinking of that campaign when I came home and stumbled onto an Internet chat of another niche market. There is certainly no sexual overtone to this one; if anything, it's very thoughtful and serious. But there is a site called "The Beard Community" where men in beards discuss anything and everything. I happened on to this site when I noticed they were discussing my new book, WHERE GOD WAS BORN, and idea that I write about in depth there (and often on Feiler Faster) about how moderates must reclaim religion. Check it out.

Here's the post that kicked off the discussion.

In his new book Where God Was Born : A Journey by Land to the Roots of Religion Bruce Feiler says the only thing strong enough to withstand the force of religious extremism is religious moderation. He notes that secular humanists seem to think that the only other choice is religious extremism, and that fundamentalists seem to think the only other choice is secular humanism, but that these polar sides include only 10% of people each. The 80% somewhere in the middle - religious moderates, are who he addresses his interesting compliation of Middle East travels, theology, and biblical studies. He makes a case for tolerance as found even in the Old Testament.

The board has its divisions already, so I'm not intending to start a religious debate. I'm just curious what people think of this kind of idea. I find it very compelling.

Charles

"There is always a period when a man with a beard shaves it off. This period does not last. He returns headlong to his beard." Jean Cocteau

Labels: Interfaith Relations

Posted by B Feiler at 8:05 AM
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