Gandhi's Hope: Learning From World Religions As A Path To Peace (Faith Meets Faith Series): Jay B. McDaniel: 9781570755903: Amazon.com: Books
See all 2 imagesFollow the Author
Jay B. McDaniel
+ Follow
Gandhi's Hope: Learning From World Religions As A Path To Peace (Faith Meets Faith Series) Paperback – April 30, 2005
by Jay B. McDaniel (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 3 ratings
Paperback: 134 pages
Publisher: Orbis Books (April 30, 2005)
Language: English
3 customer reviews
Top Reviews
Patricia Adams Farmer
5.0 out of 5 starsSignificant and TimelyMay 23, 2005
Format: Paperback
"This small book is written for the spiritually interested general reader who would like to learn about and from the world religions; who is troubled by the arrogance and violence that can sometimes be inflicted on the world in the name of religion; who believes that despite their shortcomings all religions embody wisdom that is essential to the well-being of life; and who is especially interested in prospects for peace between religions"(1).
Thus begins the introduction of GANDHI'S HOPE, a significant and timely new offering on process thought and religious pluralism. McDaniel's religious philosophy cuts deeply and decisively into the fundamentalist and violent fabric of our present culture. In this respect GANDHI'S HOPE is refreshingly countercultural. It is an original work, comprehensive in scope, and abundant in fresh approaches to the understanding of the process view of God and the world.
GANDHI'S HOPE offers a professor's clear guidance in using Whitehead's cosmology as a framework for valuing complimentary-and even contradictory-differences in religious experience and belief, moving the reader toward a liberating expansion of mind and heart. McDaniel's interplay of philosophy, religion, poetry, science, and history is indeed a rare and rich treat. GANDHI'S HOPE represents perhaps the finest expression of McDaniel's signature style: integrating numerous strands of human experience into a wholly satisfying and creative synthesis (a decidedly Whiteheadian approach!).
The "Five Challenges" for all religions are elegantly stated: to live compassionately, to live self-critically, to live simply, to live ecologically, and to welcome religious diversity. McDaniel says candidly, "To the degree that religiously affiliated people respond to these challenges, there will be hope for the world, and religion will be part of the solution. And to the degree that they do not, there will be tragedy in the world, and religion will be part of the problem" (23). It is the last challenge of religious diversity that constitutes the meat of this book.
A concept of particular interest to this reader is McDaniel's focus on "Deep Listening," out of which emerges "an acoustic vision of reality." McDaniel writes, "Consider listening to music in a live concert. If we close our eyes while listening, we realize that the sound of the music is inside us and outside us at the same time, such that we would have a difficult time saying exactly where it is. It is present in us, and yet it is also beyond us. It is this sensation-this feeling of something being both part of us and more than us-that is at the heart of an acoustic vision of reality" (35).
McDaniel likens a Whiteheadian universe, then, to "an unfinished symphony or perhaps a jazz concert." Having established a process world view, the whole concept of peace becomes quite a different matter than is usually supposed (e.g., absence of conflict), paving a path to "peace as beauty-in-the-making" (78).
GANDHI'S HOPE gives us not only hope, but a way through the present morass of violence, intolerance, fear, and ignorance. We rediscover on this journey the cosmic value of "delight in diversity," with Gandhi and Whitehead as our companions and a culture of peace as our destination.
Reviewed by Patricia Adams Farmer, author of EMBRACING A BEAUTIFUL GOD
Note: This review was originally written for CREATIVE TRANSFORMATION, a publication of Process & Faith (...)
15 people found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
Allis
3.0 out of 5 starsA tangle of ideas....August 15, 2009
Format: Paperback
In Gandhi's Hope: Learning from Other Religions as a Path to Peace, Jay McDaniel seeks to bring attention to the necessity of religiously-minded people coming together to face five challenges he outlines in his book. The five challenges are: to live compassionately, to live self-critically, to live simply, to live ecologically, and to welcome religious diversity. McDaniel states plainly that to "the degree that religiously affiliated people respond to these challenges, there will be hope for the world, and religion will be part of the solution. And to the degree that they do not, there will be tragedy in the world, and religion will be part of the problem" (23).
Gandhi's Hope is a deceptively titled book. It implies that Jay McDaniel was writing book that outlined ways for different religions to open and sustain dialogue with one another, to learn from one another, and to promote peace from that growth. Inter-woven with the five challenges that religions face is a winding introduction to process theology. McDaniel is clearly well-versed in his subject matter and attempts to weave together many different strands to compose a rich and fulfilling book. Unfortunately the many strands seem to tangle here and there, making what could have been a refreshing book a chore to read. McDaniel also has a preoccupation with "the religion of consumerism" which deserves all of the scathing critique one can give it, but took away from what I had thought the book was to be about. The amalgam of subjects was repeated in various ways with various words that were probably supposed to render the subject more understandable and the book more readable, but in my case did not succeed.
McDaniel, who teaches religion at Hendrix College in Arkansas, is experienced in the field of interreligious dialogue between Christian and Buddhist, as well as Christian and Muslim. This shows clearly in the book, where mentions of other faiths - Jain, Baha'i, Jew, Hindu, etc - are brief and despite McDaniel's inclusive language, give the feeling of having been afterthoughts in the writing process. The entire book gave the impression of being a manuscript still in need of an editor. Had it been split into more than three chapters - perhaps a chapter called "a short introduction to process theology" and then a chapter on "how process theology applies to interreligious dialogue" - it would have been much more concise and thus easier to read. Due to the aforementioned issues, I would hesitate to recommend the book to someone else, despite the fact that I agree with McDaniel on many points.
One person found this helpful
HelpfulComment Report abuse
V. Lewis
5.0 out of 5 starsall faiths matterSeptember 30, 2005
Format: Paperback
I found this book to be very thought-provoking and stimulating. It is well wriiten and reasoned.It is well worth the reading.
2 people found this helpful
