5 comments about The Wit and Wisdom of Cal Thomas.

1. A good common-sense book, where Cal shares his wisdom and insight.



2. It takes a man of courage and conviction to stand up for Christian morality and ehics. And Cal's book does just that. And the predictable response of the sceptics chimes in just as expected. Morality is the central issue of man and Cal's articulation hits at the heart, where each person must take a position. Thanks Cal for your excellent book.



3. ...Cal Thomas is a rambling ranting moronic [...] too so perk up. Nevermind the fact that his readers can't spell or even use vocabulary properly. Arrogant close-minded moron who makes leaps of illogic that baffle even the most forgiving mind. [...]



4. For all those ignorant fools who erroneasly call conservative christians degenerate iliterates, here's a clue. A conservative is closed minded only if he or she is confronted with idiotic ideaas that are disguised with the euphemism of "progressive". A christian who is stupid is not necessarily a christian. In fact, the bible states that we are to learn about the world around us (this is a paraphrase), thus the reason for all the great chrisitan scientists from Gallieo to Michael Faraday. It has often occured to me that the rambling idiots are not on the right, but on the left. The leftist ideology perperpetuates class warfare and intolerence toward all people that happen to devoted to their religion, unless of course they are muslim or secular humanist. To adress the acusation that Religious Conservatives are ignorant or stupid one should make the attempt of reading Thomas Aquinas or CS Lewis. If the left is not satisfied then they should make the effort to read the secular works of Adam Smith or Edmund Burke. The aformentionad works are probably the most signifigant works in history that actually have a slight semblance of pragmatism and reality. In conclusion, Mr. THomas's book is not a reflection of all religous conservatives, however he is a far better reflection of a conservative ideology than that of Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, who for all practical purpose is on the left. I urge those on the right to aknowledge Mr. Thomas's book as a collection of writings on modern sociological and moral thought and not a great work of history.



5. 
   
   
   I first read one of Cal Thomas's articles when a fellow worker passed out Xeroxed copies of "We Have Lost an Objective Standard of Values, Morals" several years ago. Since then, I have read his articles as they appear in the paper. From reading the review of his book, Blinded by Might, I see that he has finally come to realize that politics corrupts religion rather than religion uplifting politics; this makes me respect him far more than I ever expected to. "We have politicized the gospel with our agendas," he --the coauthor, Ed Dobson -- writes. "To be part of the Christian right is to be part of the Republican party. For some, this means to be a real Christian, you must be a Republican. That is heresy and is only a short distance from the extremism of my Irish counterparts." Yes, Cal, you do have a nose on your face.
   
   Frankly, America has become a rather uglier place than it was thirty years ago, a condition for which the religious right is largely responsible. Thomas disdains socialized medicine (claiming, absolutely incorrectly, that the U. S. has the best health care in the world), environmentalists, people who are upset by the fact that the U. S. is guilty of torturing prisoners of war, and (apparently) the head start program. The list is long. Thomas supports tax cuts for the rich, while 25% of Americans live in poverty because they work for billion-dollar corporations that refuse to pay a living wage. Thomas quotes lines from the Koran that support murder and war in the name of religion with such self-righteous relish that one would suppose that one could not find similar justifications of evil in the Bible. He writes that America has made many Moslem nations wealthy by buying their oil, and it is not our fault if the leaders are greedy and permit their people to live in poverty. Surely, it is not entirely our fault, but the Christian right scorns the notion that an insistence on human rights should be a part of the American political and economic agenda. America has a history of allying itself with human monsters, of sucking the wealth from undeveloped countries so that their people are essentially forcibly driven to extremism. "Expediency - at any price to maintain personal peace and affluence is the accepted procedure," Thomas says, as though it were those of us who despise the "Moral" Majority who were guilty of this. This is the expediency of Corporate Capitalism, with which the Christian right has formed a perverted, grotesque union that is surely antithetical to any sane understanding of Christ's teaching.
   
   If Cal Thomas expects to be taken seriously as an intellectual by people who have not bought into his dogma, he needs to be more careful that what he writes is coherent and factual. He complains that America has abandoned "an objective standard and the process by which it might be discovered," but then he whines "the Left has universal standards based on `politically correct' absolute standards." So clearly the Left does have "objective" values, just ones that he does not like. "Few are formally exposed to philosophy anymore," he writes (incorrectly implying that Americans used to be exposed to philosophy) "much less epistemology, the study of the origin of knowledge." Actually, epistemology is the study of the validity of knowledge claims. If you want to effectively chastise other people for their ignorance, please, at least, get the definition right. "In physics, we know nature abhors a vacuum," Thomas says. Actually, physics says that all of intergalactic space is vacuum, which might lead us to believe that nature loves vacuum. Aristotle said that nature abhors a vacuum to support a theory of motion long since discredited.
   Perhaps these are nitpicky points, but the point that Thomas wants to make is that "when people stop believing in God, the danger is not that they will believe in nothing, but that they will believe in anything." The problem with this is that the Christian Right insists that we understand the Bible as the inerrant word of God, despite the fact that this strict interpretation defies the scientific evidence from fields as diverse as geology, embryology, biochemistry, and astronomy, as well as logic, common sense, and simple human decency. Such belief is already "anything." We want something real to believe in.
   
   Thomas blames the current state of moral disagreement upon "the most empty and dangerous philosophy of all: Pragmatism." He then gives a snot-nosed definition of pragmatism as "doing what seems to work without regard to fixed principles of right or wrong." Actually, pragmatists believe that our best way of determining truth is to see what works. In the absence of evidence to support one of two conflicting views, such as the existence or nonexistence of objective morality, then choose the view that is most uplifting. Cal complains, incorrectly, that we have abandoned a process by which an objective moral code might be discovered. We have not - it is pragmatism. What he does not like is that we have abandoned dogmatic moral codes that insist that we behave in a specified way despite the fact that these values have been proven not to work. We do remember what family values really are, and we are happy to reject yours.

5 comments about Dr. Laura: The Unauthorized Biography.

1. I've always been fascinated by people who move to California to "become" what they felt they couldn't back in their home town. Those who set out to reinvent themselves seldom fully succeed--and proof positive of this fact is Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Vickie L. Bane interviewed a great many people and carefully researched other press and anecdotal accounts of Schlessinger's rise to radio stardom.

   The picture isn't pretty, and time after time, Dr. Laura's own life completely refutes the ideas that she presses forcefully on her callers to her radio programs, some of whom appear acutely masochistic, if not unrealistic to believe that they can "fix" what ails them in a three-minute phone chat, often laced with sarcasm, hostility or even abuse from Dr. Laura.

   Dr. Laura doesn't believe in divorce, pre- or extramarital sex, or writing off one's family members, and yet she has done every one of those things: She became estranged from her father, mother, and younger sister. She dumped the nice Jewish orthodontist she married and never mentions. She engaged in an enthusiastic affair with Los Angeles radio legend Bill Ballance (who speaks very candidly with Bane), who helped her get into radio. Dr. Laura lured her current husband, Lew Bishop, away from his wife and three children, had her tubal ligation reversed in order to conceive out of wedlock. Eventually she and Bishop married and produced a child as goopily extolled (and, to my mind, as exploited) as Kathie Lee Gifford's kids Cody and Cassidy. Child of a Jewish father and Catholic mother, Dr. Laura converted to Orthodox Judaism, a choice that she uses as a bludgeon to people that she perceives as less "committed" to her brand of situational morality.

   Bane neatly debunks Dr. Laura's "I'm My Kid's [Full-Time] Mom" shtick by documenting how and when Laura returned to work after her son's birth. As a child, Deryk ran wild in the hallways of KFI. For quite awhile, Dr. Laura used her visibility as a radio shrink as bait for prospective patients, one of whom details a disturbing breach of professional ethics, that of respecting strict boundaries of behavior between therapist and client. This former client was also a "friend" to Dr. Laura, and went shopping and lunching with her, as well as babysitting for Deryk.

   This book, though complete as is, would benefit from an update with events that also reflect upon Dr. Laura's post-publication life--such as the failure of Dr. Laura's television show, her defection from Orthodox Judaism, and the fact that her mother, to whom Laura had not spoken for years, died alone in her apartment in Beverly Hills and wasn't found for days.

   Isn't it funny-peculiar how right-leaning cheerleaders for their own definition of morality extend the statute of limitations on their own personal "youthful indiscretions" well into their forties? Schlessinger is no exception(...)




2. I enjoyed this book for giving the history of Dr. Laura which she of course never references while telling others that they are wrong for the mistakes they make. Dr. Laura made the same "mistakes" or were they "on-purposes"? Having her tubal ligation reversed in order to become pregnant by a married man was an extremely manipulative act. And it seems that Dr. Laura has remained manipulative, not to mention sadistic, to the present time. What she did to Dr. Barbara DeAngelis (having the nerve to claim that her psychology degree was bogus, when Dr. Laura's OWN degree is in physiology, NOT psychology) is downright bizarre, yet she got away with it. Her audiences must consist only of masochistic idiots who believe that they deserve to be called stupid by a woman who doesn't practice what she preaches. Scary that there are so many morons out there trusting in a woman pretending to be something she's not.



3. As I was reading this book, I kept asking myself "Who is the worse woman: Laura Schlessinger or Martha Stewart?" I still haven't answered that question.
   
   Laura had no close friends, had almost a non-existent relationship with her parents and siblings, and she had her mousey husband constantly stiff people. Although Laura proclaims she didn't work when she was raising her son, she in fact did work at radio stations in his very young years (1-3).
   
   
   Dr. Laura is a very controlling person, but should be very grateful to people who assisted her in her career but isn't. She did everything she could to sabotage the career of another radio personality (person & station forgotten at the moment) when she was her co-worker. Laura wasn't very professional, as she was too chummy with her patients and used them for her own personal use.
   
   Dr. Laura's female fans will no doubt dismiss the book and her critics and those who are neutral about her will probably enjoy the book. Similar to Martha Stewart in that Martha's fans thought that she got the shaft in her criminal sentence, and those who hated her or were neutral thought that she got off too easy.



4. I think all the author wanted to do was to try and discredit Dr. Laura in the eyes of the public. I say "He who is without sin cast the first stone". Whatever Dr. Laura has done in her past, is that--and the good that she presently does far outweighs the past. People CAN have remorse too!! Give her a break! I ended up glossing over the last part as I got tired of the author bashing her which was what the whole book was about. Glad I didn't buy it but got from the library.



5. This isn't another tabloid-style book trashing the subject. It's an amazingly well-researched story of what Dr. Laura is really like.
   
   At first it's hard to believe that this will be any good because the author admits that when she was given the assignment she had never heard of Dr. Laura! But that turns out to be an advantage because the author can give an objective view of the subject from those who were close to her.
   
   The author was able to meet with Dr. Laura's mother, college roommate, the man she lived with and others who knew her well. The stories are shocking--and the worst aren't just from the distant past. The radio host likes to claim she used to do bad things, but this book shows that she has continued to act negatively. Dr. Laura is painted as a self-absorbed jerk to pretty much everyone she encounters, a person with no finesse or empathy. When you listen to her radio show you pick up on some of these things, but the mean and vindictive attitude was there long before she went on the radio.
   
   Most disappointing about the subject is her continued lying, even in the present. She claims to use the 10 Commandments as her guide, yet the book's author does a great job pointing out where Dr. Laura has repeatedly lied about things in the past. She especially covers up for her sexual promiscuity and gives incorrect dates from her past to cover up the fact that she stole her husband from his first wife. This now makes sense--because on her show she has said that it can be okay to lie in certain circumstances. So her "morality" is based on her allowing herself to get away with her own sins.
   
   And, of course, if anyone goes public with her sins, she accuses them of the sin of "gossip."
   
   Though she stands for everything that is right, she can talk the talk but obviously doesn't walk the walk. This book is worth reading because of the well-documented footnotes that tell you where the author got the information and who she interviewed. And these aren't anonymous quotes--the names are attached. Many, many people repeat the sad story of the life of this woman who loves to tell others what to do but seems to struggle with her own self-esteem. It's truly a spiritual struggle and though she claims to have found the answers she obviously isn't close to resolving life's basic truths in her own life.

5 comments about Dr. Laura Schlessinger's but I Waaannt It!.

1. I think that a lot of people are missing the point of this story. The POINT is that yes he does throw a fit and get all the stuffed animals. HOWEVER he finds that they don't make him as happy as the cat that he has and that MANY THINGS DO NOT BRING HAPPINESS! Sammy (the son) should have listened to mom in the beginning and not thrown a fit. In the end throwing the fit and getting what he wanted (or what he thought he wanted), just made him more miserable.



2. I bought this book when my children were younger hoping they would learn that having fits do not work. Instead the child in this book has a fit and is rewarded when his mom gives in and buys ALL the stuffed animals he wants. The message about giving to those less fortunate is totally overshadowed by the fact the mom bought hundreds of dollars worth of stuffed animals to begin with! Is this a reality for any of us???



3. Dr. Laura has nothing educational, wise, funny, original or beautiful to say to children. This book, with its tantrum-throwing, greedy child, its preachy, obviously wealthy mom, and its awful artwork is a waste of paper, shelf space and kids' time. It's quite depressing to walk into a bookstore and see "books" such as these crowding out beautiful new or classic picture books. Unfortunately, it's the kids who really suffer when offerings such as this "book" are what's available to them. Isn't Dr. Laura rich enough already, without trying to cash in on the kids' book world?



4. My 3 yr old, after reading this book only once, acted better at the store whil shopping!!!



5. Your Chance to Hear The Last Panther Speak
   
   I don't know if my child brought this book home from school, or it is one that got pulled out from a bunch of children's books we have that were given to us by a friend, whose own children had out grown them but, that's neither here nor there. What caught my attention was that it was written by Dr. Laura Schlessinger and I recall listening to and truly enjoying her radio shows when I lived in a different area. As far as the book itself? I think there are some good parts in it for explaining to children certain things and some not. I enjoyed the part where the mother told the child and I quote... "It's not how many things you have that make you happy-its how special something or someone is to you that makes you happy. I take issue, as some of the others have, with the buying the child that was throwing a tantrum the toys to begin with. Are children also going to expect the parents to just buy them what they want so they can learn this touching lesson? I've never written a childrens book, so I don't know if perhaps there is something I am not quite getting when it comes to educating morally at that level, but I think buying a child the toys because the child said it would make him happy sends the wrong message. I'm not rating it lower than a three because there are some valuable insights shared as mentioned above as well...

No comments about Poder de Mujer: Transforme a Su Hombre, Su Matrimonio, Su Vida.

5 comments about Growing Up Is Hard.

1. The text is preachy and boring and would make any little kid squirm to be doing ANYTHING else except listen to this book. The illustrations make whiny, spoiled, self-pitying Sammy look like a defective Cabbage Patch doll and his stuffed Mr. Cat looks like road kill. If you want to PUNISH a child, make them read this book. If you want to read a fun story that really gets the point across about being able to go to other adults for help, read "Junie B Jones & Her Big Fat Mouth" by Barbara Park - that is what my 7 year old and I are doing!



2. Laura Schlessinger's awkward text and Dan McFeely's ugly illustrations make a book neither kids nor adults will find appealing. Children won't relate to language no kid would ever use ("I hate my life!") or to the humorless, patronizing moral lesson. The best children's books are lovingly written by people who like and understand kids and want to entertain them. This object isn't really a book at all: it's another "Dr. Laura" promotional product. Reviewer "zeh" is right: you can do better.



3. This book is not for children. If anything, it would increase their feelings of isolation and nurture their insecurities about their place in the family. It's not surprising that Ms. Schlessinger would write something like this. In fact, it seems to mirror her own life as documented in Vicky Bane's very well done bio, "Dr. Laura: The Unauthorized Biography". In short, "Growing Up Is Hard" does a far better job of telling us about Shlessinger's tormented psyche than it does imparting moral values to children. If you're looking for a child's book, pass this one up and consider something that's really for children. I'd suggest "Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type".



4. I didn't even bother giving this to the goodwill. It went right in the trash. Lucky it was a gift and I didn't waste my hard earned money!



5. I strongly disagree with the negative reviews of this book. It is a very good book for a child who is growing up and is starting to be asked to take on more responsibility in his or her life, like school, chores etc. and may be having some difficulty in adjusting. It is a book that applies to most childern and I highly recommend it. My 6 year old really likes it too.

No comments about Woman Power the Companion Book to the Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands.

2 comments about Cope With It!.

1. I met Dr. Laura a couple months ago and when I asked her to sign this book, she pushed it aside and said, "Get your money back. I didn't write it." I wondered why it was published by a different company from the one she has always used (Harper Collins). So, let this be your caveat. Don't buy it. Although, I have read it and it ain't that bad...



2. while the above reviewer said it wasnt written by Dr. Laura, they said it was pretty good, therefore they should have rated the book based on that. I have read the book and i thought it was excellent and very useful.

5 comments about A Closer Look at Dr. Laura.

1. A Closer Look at Dr.Laura? I don't think so. Instead of biographically exposing Laura Schlessinger's hypocrisy, Tom Allen simply takes her right wing perversions of the Bible even further to suit the whacko religious right of America.

   The game is still the same : Money, Lust and Power. Only this time, they use religion as a vehicle to con the masses.




2. Dr. Laura has become a prophetess of the air waves and enjoys wide support among evangelicals. This is top-flight reading for Dr. Laura fans, and will even attract those who dislike her. Well-written and well-researched. Author had good access to Dr. Laura and it shows. I bought a copy from Amazon!



3. Tom Allen writes with solid evangelical convictions. He does not endorese Schlessinger on every issue, but is overall, affirming of her prophetic stances. The author has had access to Dr. Laura and his views fairly represent where she is at. This book is a "SHOULD" read.



4. Dr. Laura has some interesting ideas on "Abstaining" from sex outside of marriage and keeping children in the dark about it. Her preaching "sounds" good, but her standards of morality are in complete conflict with our biological reality. In Biblical times (and even in our own timespan a hundred years ago), children did not reach puberty until mid to late teens (which generally corresponded with the age they married). Now, with better nutrition and medicine, children generally enter puberty around the age of 12 or 13. We live in a society that encourages education and college, which means that the age of marriage for most people would be early to mid 20's. That means that Dr. Laura is advocating that a person who is sexually mature do absolutely nothing about it for a period of 9 or 10 years! When standards of morality conflict with biological reality, something will eventually "give" and my bet is on the morality.



5. I found this book at Goodwill, and the cover and description made it sound like it would be more of a biographical book about Dr. Laura. However, I got 90 pages (out of 208) through, and discovered that there is little biographical information. Almost all of it is an evaluation of Dr. Laura's principles and whether they match the Christian Bible's principles.
   
   I am not interested in reading that, so I stopped. However, if that is actually the angle YOU are interested in reading about, it's probably a pretty thorough covering of the subject.
   
   And in response to the review that talked about biology vs. morality, and that children are now hitting puberty at earlier ages, I just hope that reviewer doesn't have children, because if they do, they will be unleashing an adult on us that is only driven by what they feel like doing at any given moment. We already have a world (and prisons) full of those adults. Please, we don't need any more!

1 comments about The Intolerant Christ: Purifying Modern Christianity Through the Original Demands of Jesus and His Apostles.

1. There are obvious limitations to literalism. For example, the literal reading of the 10 Commandments contrasts to the following Gospels and the Hebrew Bible: You must be born again (John 3:3) and Let the dead bury their dead (Luke 9:60). There are over 23,000 sects (e.g., Mormon, Jehovah Witness, Baptist, Christian Science, Catholic etc.) of Christianity all who disagree on interpretation of the Bible, many of which have different Bibles. The Bible is both literal and spiritual (symbolic). Hence, instead of this books views, I would suggest genuine tolerance as the real Christian sort that should be advocated. Sadly, this is simply ignored by this author and his blood-lusting peers (e.g., Michael Savage etc.). This antiquated thinker's advocacy is for a return to the Catholic intolerance of the Middle Ages, except now we are run by Protestant Fundamentalists such as the likes of him, sorry that is not for me or most Americans.
   
   My suggestion for this author is not to impose your beliefs on anyone but share them with anyone who inquires--thats the American way. That is what I have tried to do. It is consistent with my faith while being generous to those outside my faith.
   
   This book portrays an intolerant and blood lusting Christianity. Horrific as it is, this philosophy is growing in popularity in some of America as is fundamentalist Islam in other parts of the world. This so-called "Christian" author wants us to buy into an antiquated view that simply will not work. He would have us seeing Christianity as something other than its pluralistic current condition. This pathetic book is trying to portray a rural religion that is divided by vastly diverse dogmas, different bibles (e.g., Catholic vs. Protestant versions of the Bible) and different denominations as a modern urban one!
   
   Even some traditional Christian beliefs do not make sense through fundamentalist lenses. Christ said, "I (meaning the Intermediary or Messenger of God for this day) am way, the truth and life and no one gets to God except through me (meaning He was an Intermediary between God and mankind). Christ said over 50 times He was not God but the Trinity ideas still hold (see: John 1:18; 14:28; 5:30; 8:28; Matt 24:36; Mk 6:46; 15:34 to name a few clear proofs). For example, it clearly says in John (14:28) by Christ, "I am going to My Father, for my Father is GREATER than me." How can that mean or be interpreted as Christ and God are equal. Somebody does read their Bible very carefully, I suggest you read: John 5:37; 1 Cor. 15:28; John 1:18; 1 Kings 8:27; 1 Tim 6:16 which all confirm that both the Old and New Testaments say that no one has seen God at any time and that God is greater than Jesus. Jesus was a mirror of God's attributes but did not contain His God's singular essence. The Father is in Christ as a pure Light or Force reflected through Him (cf., John 10:30; 13:19; 14:11; 12:45) that provided power to Christ but does make Him God's equal. He continues to say He can do nothing without the Father, questions the Father on the cross and so forth. This book is a sad misinterpretation of truth--the Bible is both spiritual and literal throughout.

2 comments about Power of Love, The: A Dr. Laura Audio Collection CD.

1. I've already listened to this CD twice all the way through. It's an important topic and Dr, Laura in her neat, precise, way, continues to make it clear how much power we have over our life and emotions.
   
   I would recommend this CD to anyone who is working on improving their life and themselves.



2. I enjoyed Dr. Laura's advice and comments. She is always "right on." I highly recommend this collection of CDs.