FAITH & LABOR DEEPLY CONNECTED

DIG DEEPER INTO FACTS & PHOTOS—Holidays & Festivals columnist Stephanie Fenton produced our multi-faceted Cover Story this week, looking back over the deep connections between faith and a concern for workers’ well being. She also has packed this Cover Story with resources you’ll want to share with friends—and perhaps create your own outline for a discussion in your small group or class. She links to a treasure-trove of images from the sociologist Lewis Hines—plus links to a number of religious resources as well. She closes her column with the latest data from Pew Research.

Please, read this week’s Cover Story and share this news with friends via social media—or, you are always free to print out our stories and share them in a good old-fashioned ink-on-paper format. That option is especially nice if you want to carry a handout into a small group for discussion.

Care to see all the holidays? It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances—just remember the address InterfaithHolidays.com

.

.

The Power of Poetry

GOD SIGNS—Columnist Suzy Farbman brings us a love story this week, woven through with lots of what she calls GodSigns. In this case, that story involves a love of literature, especially T.S. Eliot’s life-long journey from the seeming hopelessness of World Wars toward a rekindled faith and some of the greatest poetry of the 20th Century.

.

EDISON’S DREAM OF AUDIO BOOKS

FINALLY BECOMING A REALITY—Since Thomas Edison first appeared in Scientific American magazine in 1877, demonstrating a mechanical process that he said could permanently preserve and replay sounds—publishers have dreamed of making books as easy to hear as they are to read.

We finally are nearing that historic inflection point, 142 years after Edison’s boast.

Please, enjoy Dmitri Barvinok’s column about the rising popularity of audio books and share this with friends. Want to learn much more about trends in publishing? Visit our Front Edge Publishing website.

.

.

Dealing with Prejudice?
Become Part of the Solution

WE ALL NEED HELP! The root of this crisis is ignorance. One major institution that has risen to the challenge is The Michigan State University School of Journalism’s Bias Busters team that has produced a whole series of helpful books. Their motto: “We answer the questions everyone is asking—but nobody is answering.”

Now—through October—equip your group, congregation or organization with the most up-to-date cultural competence materials available today. This MSU book series features info-packed guides covering individual cultural, ethnic and religious groups. Please, read about how you can order one of these new 11-volume collections—and share this news with friends.

.

.

Faith & Film

ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.

Among Ed’s free reviews and columns are:

• BLINDED BY THE LIGHT—Ed writes, “If your heart is not gladdened and your countenance uplifted by the end of this tuneful musical, you need to see a doctor.” (5 out of 5 stars)
• BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON—Ed writes, “Director/writer Paul Downs Colaizzo’s story about a hefty Manhattanite down on herself will cheer the hearts of all who like to root for the underdog.” (4 out of 5 stars)
• BRIAN BANKS—This controversial film has divided commentators because of its treatment of issues surrounding campus diversity and accusations of sexual misconduct. Ed writes that it is a worthwhile “cautionary tale” and will spark spirited discussion among friends. (4.5 stars)
• NIGHTINGALE—Director/writer Jennifer Kentd film forces us to watch such intense scenes of violence that a viewer might want to leave, Ed writes. However, a bit of research into the history of Tasmania’s “Black War” shows that Ms. Kent’s film is a model of restraint. (5 stars)
• BADABOOK—Ed also reaches back to 2014 to recommend this earlier chilling tale by Jennifer Kent about a deeply troubled mother and son. He writes, “I am not a big fan of horror movies, but Australian writer/director Jennifer Kent ‘s film involving a pop-up book really got to me.” (4.5 stars)
• THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE—Some quirky characters and violence—especially with the likable Jesse Eisenberg as Casey, a timid bookkeeper—could make this movie a cult favorite. But the film’s moral compass is askew, Ed writes. (4 stars)
• THE FAREWELL—Writer/director Lulu Wang gives a peek into both Chinese culture and that of the immigrant in her warm comedy that begins and ends in New York City, but which unfolds mainly in a large city in China.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.