I'm just back from a week's writing retreat at a friend's ranch in New Mexico. I am putting the final touches on the edits of my new parenting book and I began outlining my next book. The parenting book finally has a name -- "What 21st Century Parents Need to Know: Raising Today's Children With Wisdom and Heart" -- and will be published in April 2008.
It's hard to wake up to the humidity of Connecticut and the suburbs after a week of early morning cool sunrises under the vast New Mexico sky. I felt a little like an urban child sent to the country by the Fresh Air Fund.
I'm hoping to finish the proposal for my new book by the end of August, a book about religion and sexuality in America. I want to write about HOW American became so confused about the connection between religion and sexuality, how these issues are playing out in politics, denominations, and in our personal lives, and offer a new perspective on sexual ethics and morality. I'd love to know your ideas about which topics are most important to include.
And any suggestions about how to deal with the first days back at the office overload would be appreciated as well!
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4 comments:
tlutaThere is a wonderful book about spirituality and sexuality writted by Marc Gafni, a rabbi. The title is "The Mystery of Love." It stresses the connection between the two, but it doesn't discuss sexuality and children, which is the theme of your book.
I think that the way sex education has been taken under the wing of the political machine is a critical issue to discuss. (This is actually indicative of the way politicians have decided they are qualified educational professionals in every field and at every level. But it is perhaps the most harmful in the area of sexuality.)
As you know, sexual education is critical to teenagers learning how to make appropriate and safe sexual choices. How is it that the conservative politicians managed to wrest control of sexual education curriculum and educational theory away from curriculum writers and educators? This is a critical point to discuss in terms of the political/educational sexual climate of the times.
I think you've got to go historical -- especially the moral panics incited by ruling classes in the first quarter of the 20th century. It started with booze and drugs (reefer) and moved on to sexuality. It was easy to attack those folks for cheap political points, but it had the long-term effect of divorcing religion and sexuality.
It seems to me that the point of contention is when someone else's sexual practice affects MY life enough for me to restrict their sexuality. Finding that moment, when civil liberties were drowned in the bathwater and a new more restrictive social order came into being, would be a fascinating study.
Good luck!
Some perspective about how the current hysteria about child sex abuse is counterproductive.
A reaction to Judith Levine's book "Harmful to Minors?"
How does a Church deal with an ex-offender in a manner that is not hypocritical?
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