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Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 241.52
EAN: 9780743255134
ISBN: 0743255135
Label: Free Press
Manufacturer: Free Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: May 31, 2005
Publisher: Free Press
Studio: Free Press
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Editorial Review:
Why should all Americans -not just Christians and Jews -- care about the Ten Commandments? Chris Hedges, a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and Harvard Divinity School graduate, believes that the commandments keep us from committing evil. They hold our communities together. "They lead us to love, the essence of life," he writes.
Adapted from his series of articles for the New York Times comes these thoughtful essays on why we need these ancient laws -- and what happens when we abandon them. A Phish band groupie provides a springboard for a discussion of idolatry. A Long Island whiskey bar becomes a laboratory for understanding "You shall not bear false witness." Honoring the Sabbath, he shows through the observances of one busy family, may be the antidote to popular culture. The story of the havoc wreaked on one child's life vividly illustrates the reason for the commandment, "You shall not commit adultery." Throughout his essays, he deftly weaves his own experiences into the narrative, as well as references from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's classic book on good and evil, The Brothers Karamazov.
Hedges believes that the commandments hold out to us the possibility of love -- and love means living for others. The commandments are guideposts that bring us back to the right path, he writes. They call us to sacrifice. Compellingly, he urges us to abandon the culture of self; to live "not by exalting our life but by being willing to lose it." --Cindy Crosby
The 10 Commandments -- the laws given to Moses by God -- are beyond the scope of human law. They are rules meant to hold us together but, when dishonored, they lead to discord and violence.
In this fierce, articulate narrative, Hedges, who graduated from seminary at Harvard Divinity School, looks through the lens of each commandment to examine the moral ruin of American society. With urgency and passion, he challenges readers to take a hard look at the disconnect between their supposed values and the shallow, self-absorbed lives many people actually lead.
Taking examples from his personal life and twenty years of reporting, Hedges explores one commandment at a time, each through a particular social group. With each story, he reveals the universal nature of personal suffering, discovery, and redemption -- and explores the laws that we have tried to follow, often unsuccessfully, for the past 6,000 years.
"The 10 Commandments -- the laws given to Moses by God -- are beyond the scope of human law. They are rules meant to hold us together but, when dishonored, they lead to discord and violence. In this fierce, articulate narrative, Hedges, who graduated from seminary at Harvard Divinity School, looks through the lens of each commandment to examine the moral ruin of American society. With urgency and passion, he challenges readers to take a hard look at the disconnect between their supposed values and the shallow, self-absorbed lives many people actually lead. Taking examples from his personal life and twenty years of reporting, Hedges explores one commandment at a time, each through a particular social group. With each story, he reveals the universal nature of personal suffering, discovery, and redemption -- and explores the laws that we have tried to follow, often unsuccessfully, for the past 6,000 years. "
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Cheers for "Losing Moses"
Provocative book and well written. Though author is very hard on himself, almost a modern version of John the Baptist. In several cases author makes rather simplistic and absolutist statements.."all war is evil". Does this include the Amercian Revolution and the Allied response to World War II? I don't blame him to critiique the many false prophets, a la Tony Robbins et al. Unfortunately, traditional faiths have failed to fill the spiritual voids that appear to be the risk of the contemporary ... Read More
Rating:  - Uneven thinking
Hedges tackles a subject much tougher than it appears to be. He wants to use everyday, real-life situations to illustrate the Ten Commandments. Sometimes he does. At other times, the writing feels very political. The opening chapter is tough, but makes the point that life isn't always pretty, especially the kind of pretty that church people have come to expect.
Some of the chapters seem only tangentially related to the commandment cited. Some of them felt like I dropped into an ... Read More
Rating:  - Losing Me on the Ten Commandments
This book gets five stars, it is well-written, humanist, and produces much thought on issues of the day. And Hedges genuinely cares about the human race and is looking for alternatives and answers to some of the most crucial questions that affect people who suffer.
That being said, I utterly disagree with Hedges' philosophical stance concerning the Commandments. People with strong beliefs, be they religious or not, use their beliefs to act, be they good or evil. Some people follow a religion, ... Read More
Rating: - Inspirational
Chris Hedges breathes new life into the Ten Commandments. Devoting a chapter to each commandment, he relates them to modern life in a highly provocative manner outside the context of religion. Each chapter is a short story in itself, usually with him as the protagonist, imbuing them with a memoir-like quality except for an overabundance of musing, which is where his real power lies. He speaks with great passion from a keen intellect hewn from experience and religious scholarship.
The Family: ... Read More
Rating: - My faith in a loving God is restored
Chris, your books have given me words to express my frustration with the way some people understand God. I am renewed by knowing that the God I love is not the God so often portrayed by those who want to control us through a misguided interpretation of His word in the bible. It also gives me new strength to love and tolerate those who are misguided, and to understand and forgive myself when I have not been loving and compassionate. Thank you for this wonderful book.
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