Reviews -- MORE Commentary on contemporary books and artistic endeavors
Out of Africa: a global mix of musical styles
Celebration: Congo Music features 13 songs that span a global mix of musical styles, from traditional French ballads to Caribbean reggae -- and inspired by the Bahá'í Faith.
From Hothead to World Citizen
In a new biography of jazz great Dizzy Gillespie, Alyn Shipton peels back much of the mythology and considerable misinformation that has shrouded important elements of Mr. Gillespie's story - while at the same time reemphasizing and confirming his contributions to the development of jazz and its recognition as a major art form.
Riding the new wave of economic globalization
Thomas L. Friedman writes in The Lexus and the Olive Tree that globalization has become "the dominant international system at the end of the twentieth century - replacing the Cold War system… it now shapes virtually everyone's domestic politics and international relations." (April-June 1999 / OC 11.1)
Transcending the barriers between East and West
Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet -- Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins offer an insightful biography of the author of The Prophet. (January-March 1999 / OC 10.4)
Transforming the roles of women and men
Advancement of Women: A Bahá’í Perspective -- Janet and Peter Khan examine religion's role in promoting equality between women and men. (October-December 1998 / OC 10.3)
Using logic in the search for supreme values
Love, Power and Justice: the Dynamics of Authentic Morality -- William S. Hatcher discusses the nature of a moral system that conforms with "an accurate perception of the structure of reality." (July-September 1998 / OC 10.2)
Women, putting differences aside with love and faith, fight a terrible tradition
Do They Hear You When You Cry. At first glance, Do They Hear You When You Cry seems to be a fairly straightforward institutional horror story, about an African woman who flees to America to escape female genital mutilation at the hands of her tradition-bound family in Togo and ends up imprisoned for more than a year in the United States as an illegal immigrant. (April-June 1998 / OC 10.1)
“Mine are the Orient, the Occident, science, religion, cities, space, and writing a picture.”
Mark Tobey — A retrospective exhibition -- Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía -- 11 November 1997 to 12 January 1998, Madrid -- Except perhaps for the Founders of the world's great religions, no one on this earthly plane can be said to fully understand the nature and composition of the spiritual world. But that has certainly not stopped people from trying to communicate their visions of it. (January-March 1998 / OC 9.4)
A kinder, gentler universe
BOOK REVIEW — "God, Chance and Necessity" By Keith Ward, Oneworld, Oxford. -- Ever since Darwin, belief in God has been under a seemingly strong and continuous assault by science and scientists. And most recently, new notions about how the universe may have grown from a quantum singularity and refinements in the theory of evolution have given fuel to those who would argue that creation was an accident and human consciousness a lucky fluke. (October-December 1997 / OC 9.3)
One World, Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Captialism By William Grieder
Question: What do metalworking unionists in Zurich, Muslim women in Malaysia, and peasant-farmers-turned-aircraft-partsmakers in China have in common? (July-September 1997 / OC 9.2)
How prophets lead to profits
Managing with the Wisdom of Love: Uncovering Virtue in People and Organizations -- By Dorothy Marcic -- Between increasing global competition for market share, growing pressure from stockholders for profits, and expanding expectations for greater quality from customers, the business world has become vastly more complex in recent years (April-June 1997 / OC 9.1)
An unsung hero of the early women's movement
The Sex Side of Life: Mary Ware Dennett's Pioneering Battle for Birth Control and Sex Education -- By Constance M. Chen. -- Tightly focused on the life of Mary Ware Dennett, a turn-of-the-century American social activist, this biography shines a light on the vast moral changes at the root of the women's movement, our era's openness about sexuality, and, even, the idea that people should launch an individual search for spiritual fulfillment. (January-March 1997 / OC 8.4)
From the coral reef, lessons on managing scarcity
The Eco Principle: Ecology and Economics in symbiosis by Arthur Lyon Dahl. Although coral reefs exist in tropical waters that are low in nutrients and plankton, that basic food of the sea, they support tremendous density and diversity of life. In this fact, says marine biologists Arthur Lyon Dahl, is a lesson of critical importance to humanity's long-term survival. (October-December 1996 / OC 8.3)
And don't forget truth, honesty, beauty and love
Toward the Most Great Justice: Elements of Justice in the New World Order. Charles O. Lerche with nine essays on the concept of justice in the new world order.
Will a history of conflict lead to a future of harmony?
REVIEW -- Beyond the Clash of Religions: The Emergence of a New Paradigm. One of the most puzzling theological questions of our age -- how to account for the great number and diversity of world religions and at the same time to acknowledge their similarities -- is also one of the most challenging social issues confronting humanity.
A reading of the "The Most Holy Book"
REVIEW -- The Style of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: Aspects of the Sublime By Prof. Suheil Bushrui examines the style and background of "The Most Holy Book". (January-March 1996 / OC 7.4)
Does good science require a leap of faith?
In his new book, The Universe Within: An Exploration of the Human Spirit, Anjam Khursheed opens a penetrating exploration of the inherent harmonies between science and religion with a deceptively simple question: what is this thing called self-awareness? (October-December 1995 / OC 7.3)
Integrating the Ghost with the Machine
The Psychology of Spirituality by H.B. Danesh, M.D. -- Arthur Koestler once wrote that the great breakthroughs in science and art stem from "the sudden interlocking of two previously unrelated skills, or matrices of thought." He defines this process as the "act of creation" and suggests that most great new theories and discoveries are born of this "bisociative pattern of creative synthesis." (July-September 1995 / OC 7.2)
Collaboration brings its own degree of empowerment
Women and Empowerment: Participation and Decision Making. Prepared by Marilee Karl. There are those who say the product is more important than the process. Others say what counts is the quality of the process, never mind the final product. (April-June 1995 / OC 7.1)