Create Your Own Religion: A How-To Book without Instructions - Softcover

Bolelli, Daniele

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1938875028 ISBN 13: 9781938875021

Publisher: Disinformation Books, 2013

Synopsis

Create Your Own Religion is a call to arms--an open invitation to question all the values, beliefs, and worldviews that humanity has so far held as sacred in order to find the answers we need to the very practical problems facing us.

Writer, philosopher, and professor of comparative religion, Daniele Bolelli, leads the reader through three thousand years of mythology, misogyny, misinformation, and the flat-out lies about "revealed truth" that continue to muddle our ability to live a peaceful life, free of guilt and shame and the ultimate fear of death.

"Our worldviews are in desperate need of some housecleaning," says Bolelli. "We enter the 21st century still carrying on our backs the prejudices and ways of thinking of countless past generations. What worked for them may or may not still be of use, so it is our job to make sure to save the tools that can help us and let go of the dead weight."

About this title

About the Author

Daniele Bolelli is a writer, university professor and martial artist and the author of 50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know: Religion. He is a history professor at Santa Monica College and California State University, Long Beach and is a regular contributor to several magazines both in Italy and in the United States. He lives in Los Angeles.

Review

STARRED LIBRARY JOURNAL REVIEW: This is one of the most refreshing, humorous, and radically honest books about practical and comparative religion this reviewer has ever come across. Bolelli (history, Santa Monica Coll. & California State Univ., Long Beach; 50 Things You’re Not Supposed to Know: Religion), whose website declares, “Answering hopelessness with a defiant smile and raised middle finger!” offers a bold, passionate invitation to question everything we’ve been taught, saying only that which remains relevant. Thus, Bolelli is a heretic in the classic sense of one who picks and chooses what to believe. However, this is not shallow New Age drivel; rather, it is a candid and ambitious investigation of the beliefs of major world religions, Eastern and Western, on a wide variety of topics including afterlife, gender roles, sex, and laughter. Throughout, Bolelli cheerfully and irreverently searches for meaningful answers buried among the spiritual relics of humanity. VERDICT: Highly recommended for all those who are not absolutely certain about the truth of their beliefs or lack of them. Likely to be enjoyed by those who do not take themselves too seriously." –Brian Sullivan, Alfred Univ. Lib., NY

“Daniele Bolelli's book is a joy to read. It is clearly written and engaging, filled with humor and thought provoking ideas. The questions he raises and the dialogue he creates is not only worthwhile but, I believe, essential. I am thrilled that he touches on the Bruce Lee legacy within these pages. I believe wholeheartedly that my father's legacy continues to survive today precisely because he tried to honestly express himself and challenge himself to expand personally just as Mr. Bolelli is challenging you to do here. If this book creates an emotional reaction in you (whether good or bad), then I believe it has done its job. I for one have enjoyed seeing the world through Daniele Bolelli's eyes!” ―Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee's daughter and CEO of Bruce Lee Enterprises

"Regardless of one's faith or religious practice, Create Your Own Religion challenges the pitfalls of blind faith and is a refreshing reminder that we all have a choice as to how spiritually open minded we allow ourselves to be.” ―Ben Harper, Grammy award winning singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist

"With a cheerful, good-natured smile, Daniele Bolelli torpedoes the often luxurious but spiritually leaky battleships that sail under the various flags of the world's organized religions.” ―Tom Robbins, author of Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, Jitterbug Perfume, Still Life with Woodpecker, and several other books

"Daniele Bolelli is in the house. Minds will be blown. Lives will be changed.” ―Joe Rogan, host of the hit reality television series Fear Factor and television personality.

"Bolelli's direct confrontation with dogma without giving an inch and without prescribing a new dogma is about as fresh as it gets. His brand of radically honest philosophy is the perfect cure to liberate our minds.” ―Mike Vallely, musician, actor, television personality, stuntman, professional wrestler, and hockey player

Edition details

• Publisher: Disinformation Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1938875028
• ISBN 13: 9781938875021
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 352