Oh my - two posts in one day! (A. has been out for the afternoon -- he he he.)
One of the cool things about not being able to use use my computer as much has been that I've been reading more. You know, books.
Like, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover. A brilliant book about about a family of Baptist missionaries from Georgia who go to bring the Word of God (whatever that is) to the Congo in 1960 as told through the wife and four daughters of the misogynist, racist, clueless minister. And being a Free Will Baptist minister (indeed I remember hearing once that Conservative Baptists were found to be the most frequent users of corporal punishment), he is liberal with his use of the rod so there are frequent spanking references. My favorite is from five-year old Ruth May:
"That razor strop burns so bad, after you go to bed your legs still feel stripedy like a zebra horse."
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
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6 comments:
I can confirm that Southern Baptist are frequent users of corporal punishment.
Sugarpie
Ok Natty dear, I wasn't going to read this book but now I just *might* have to. :)
Wasn't this an Oprah Book Club book? Irrationally, the Oprah Book Club makes me recoil in disgust, but they are usually very good, well written book. Hmm...I gotta get over that irrational prejudice.
I've noticed that the use of corporal punishment in the culture is very big, even advocated, amongst the bible belt states (spanking belt? heh) where there is a larger number of baptist, pentecostal, evangelical, charismatic churches.
Hugs,
poiesia :)
You’re not the only one who has wondered about the Bible belt / spanking belt connection. I believe there is a connection.
Sugarpie
Yes, those Southern Baptists -- well, actually just about any of the 55 or so kinds of baptists -- are pretty big on corporal punishment. Spare the rod and all. Gotta love that literal use of Proverbs 13:24.
Maybe being called the Bible Belt makes them think of their belts more.
Just my guess. :)
Hmm...don't remember it being an Oprah Book. It has a NYTimes Critics choice sticker or whatever on my copy. But yeah, it's a great, great book. Still sorta decompressing from it after finishing it. It was ironic reading the history of Congo and how Eisenhower ordered the assassination of their president at the same time Pat Robertson is talking about killing President Chavez.
While Oprah is a bit of a meglomaniac, if she ever wanted to put my (someday) forthcoming novel on her book club, I'd so be there in a second sucking at her multimedia teet. ;) It's a tough one. She may be all touchy-feely and drunk with her own power, but she's got middle-class white women reading Tolstoy and Toni Morrison. I dunno.
In the meantime, yeah, read anything by Kingsolver. :)
"Gotta love that literal use of Proverbs 13:24."
Praise The Lord!
Sugarpie
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