Waiting for God: The Spiritual Reflections of a Reluctant Atheist - Softcover

Bush, Lawrence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0978998057 ISBN 13: 9780978998059

Publisher: Ben Yehuda Press, 2008

Synopsis

Why are so many baby boomers tuned into a quest for spirituality? How did growing up with the Bomb influence a generation's view of science and spirit? What effects did psychedelic drugs have on American spirituality? What is the difference between open-mindedness and gullibility? Is God a necessary part of a religious life? Is atheism merely a negation of religious belief, or is it something more? Waiting for God challenges us to become the God we seek: Like Prometheus, Bush steals the Heavenly Fire, and treasures a vision of planting it in his own heart and the hearts of his fellow men. Waiting for God offers a probing look at the generational factors - growing up with the Bomb, psychedelic drugs, environmental crisis, and more - that led the Woodstock generation down the path of spirituality. Waiting for God grasps, from an atheist's perspective, the sense of human interconnection that defines contemporary spirituality and poses challenges for skeptics and humanists to provide spiritual leadership in a hungry age.

About this title

From the Publisher

What is the spiritual journey of an atheist? For Lawrence Bush it's been a lifelong religious quest.

A red diaper baby, Bush's path began with an unreflective acceptance of his parents' staunch Communist atheism. Like many in his baby boomer generation, Bush first tasted spirituality in his experiences with psychedelic drugs. The conversion of his brother to Orthodox Christianity brought home the fact that religion could indeed be a personal option. Writing speeches for the leader of Reform Judaism put him in the center of a world of liberal religion, forcing him to confront his feelings about the ritual and communal aspects of religion. Bush also wrestles with other aspects of atheism: Is atheism up to the challenge of repairing an ecosystem damaged by mankind? Can atheism "explain away" the real experiences through which many see the hand of God or angels?

From the Author

"The atheism with which I was raised was superficial and never acknowledged any theology beyond the `God-with-a-white-beard' variety. My own life has been saturated, however, with classic baby-boomer experiences of `spirituality,' including psychedelic mysticism and life-shaping coincidence (synchronicity). True to my family heritage, I have struggled for years to reconcile these experiences with my rationalism -- and have gained, through these struggles, certain insights about subjectivity and objectivity, religion and science, and the role of `God' as a proxy for human interconnection. Waiting for God mixes these personal stories and insights with discussions of the work of cutting-edge theologians and skeptics to paint an intriguing portrait of baby-boomer spirituality, it strengths and its pitfalls."

Edition details

• Publisher: Ben Yehuda Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0978998057
• ISBN 13: 9780978998059
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 209