Blah, Blah, Blah

Book Review

Yes, that's actually the title of the book: Blah, Blah, Blah: Making Sense of the World's Spiritual Chatter, by Bayard Taylor, with an introduction by Charlie Lowell of the band Jars of Clay (Bethany House Publishers, 2006, 241 pages plus endnotes, $11.99).

You get an instant sense that Taylor is breaking accepted practices in this book, a sense that is upheld in Taylor's approach on every page. He set out to write a kind of road map to the major worldviews, for high school grads and college students, especially those coming out of a Christian background. The topic can be daunting, and Taylor has tried to soften the challenges through entertaining language. He accomplished that much; whether the worldviews are clearly explained is another question.

It's the kind of book that has needed to be written. As Taylor shows in the first chapter, many church-goers are unprepared for the intellectual smorgasbord they encounter in college. Not all of them are up to the kind of discussion that James Sire provides in The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog, the best guide I've seen to date. (It has been some time, in fact, since I've read Sire's book, and that was the earlier edition.)

Taylor's spoonful of sugar to help the worldviews go down consists in his frequent and creative use of metaphor and humorous allusions. His catalog of worldviews in Chapter 4 is called the "Worldview Zoo." There he "names the animals:"

The Haunted Worldview: The ancient worldview associated with tribal religions, sometimes (not always accurately) called animism, the belief the most things around us are animated by spirit beings and that there are gods or spirits that may show up at any time.

The Biblical Worldview: The monotheistic view of an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient Creator God, revealed through Scripture and through Jesus Christ.

The WYSIWYG Worldview: From the computer terminology, "what you see is what you get," the secularist/naturalistic worldview that there is nothing to the world but matter, energy, and their interactions.

The Dueling Yodas Worldview: Dualism in the form of two equal spiritual powers, of a Dark Side and a Light Side.

The Omnipresent Supergalactic Oneness Worldview: New Age religion, as it is usually encountered in the West; pantheism.

Designer Religion: You pays your money and you takes your choice; pick and choose from all the above.

That gives you a sense of Taylor's approach. If it sounds simplistic, realize that he devoted several chapters to expounding these views, showing their definitions, their overlaps, their strengths and their weaknesses. That's the first half of the book or so; the rest of it is his advice on how to engage with differing worldviews.

His perspective is Christian and Biblical. He assumes his audience agrees with the Christian worldview, describing rather than arguing in depth against other views. He encourages respect for other beliefs but not agreement with all of their content, especially the parts he names under the term "Virus Alert!"

The real question for a book like this is whether it accomplishes its goals. It certainly covers the territory: the worldviews are thoroughly described and illustrated with examples. I'm not sure it's a lot more clear and readable, though, than a more serious, yet popular treatment like James Sire's. A careful reader will come to understand much about worldviews, but does the tone of the book encourage careful, thoughtful reading? What did you think, after all, when you read the title?

I may be the wrong person to answer that question: I'm (sad to say) too old; I'm not the intended audience. I'll be handing it off to a college student or two to get their response, and then I'll let you know.

Posted: Mon - July 17, 2006 at 05:44 PM |

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Blah, Blah, Blah

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson