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Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Tuesday Book Discussion: The Faith Club
Hi friends, welcome to EW's Tuesday Book Discussion. The following questions for stirring the pot (and hopefully the discussion) come from the official The Faith Club discussion guide, which can be found at the back of the book or online at

http://www.faithfulreader.com/guides/074329047X-guide.asp

To which woman did you most relate, and why? Was it the one you expected to when you began the book? If you identified with one of the women because you share her religious beliefs, did you agree with her presentation of your faith? What did you disagree with, and why?

Suzanne speaks of the "cozy, homogeneous community" at her Episcopal church. What is Priscilla's "comfort zone"? What is Ranya's? How does each woman step out of her individual cozy and homogeneous comfort zone, and in what ways does each of them remain there?

Ranya provides a vivid description of her own method of prayer on page 175: "My prayer is essentially a form of meditation in which I singularly apply my limited human physical capacity to try to connect with that omnipresent universal unknown force: God." (Suzanne's description of her prayer is on page 162; Priscilla's is on page 175.) How is each woman's method of prayer different? How is it similar? How do Suzanne's, Ranya's, and Priscilla's prayer styles reflect the differences and similarities in their childhoods?

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posted by Jemila Kwon at 8:35 PM ¤ Permalink ¤


5 Comments:


  • At 9/20/2007 05:10:00 AM, Blogger Jemila Kwon

    I think in some ways Priscilla's comfort zone is in her identification with the holocaust as a way to connect not only to her family/people but also to find her sense of survival and meaning in a group. Also Priscilla is very comfortable (yet agonized) in the state of worry. I can relate to this at times!

     

  • At 9/20/2007 12:12:00 PM, Blogger One Voice of Many

    I'm so far behind in this book! I've got to catch up... :-)

     

  • At 9/21/2007 07:33:00 AM, Blogger Jemila Kwon

    No worries, we all read the books at different points, sometimes we skim or just clue into the themes and spirit of the book...the other two discussions on the book don't really require reading it...feel free to start there if you like :)

     

  • At 9/22/2007 11:28:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous

    Naturally at first I think I thought I would relate to Suzanne, however at parts in the book I realized that mine and Suzanne's faith are quite different in many ways, even though we both call ourselves Christian. I'm not really sure I can say that I heavily related to any of the women heavily, there were parts of all of their characters that I connected with. Like Priscilla I worry, even though it says in the Bible I shouldn't! I found her wanting to learn more about Jesus, and talk to people close to her about him quite fascinating, and I'm intrigued to know in the future if she becomes a messianic Jew! I found Rania's passion to want and look for more than "religion" identifiable too. She seemed to have a passion for God which she wanted to be evident in her daily life, but she didn't want the "Islam religion" stereotype attached to her. I feel like that with Christianity. I want a freedom in God through Jesus, I don't want to be bound by religion and laws which we were freed from. I don't want to be labeled as a "stereotypical" Christian, as sadly most people in the west seem to run away from "Chrisitnas" now as we have been labeled as being "judgemental" and a whole host of other things. Rania wanted people to get to know her as Rania, to get to see that Muslims are good people etc, I want the same for me.

     

  • At 9/22/2007 04:34:00 PM, Blogger Jemila Kwon

    Lyn, I know what you mean.

    Although I related to different elements in each character, I found that overall I related most to Ranya, in her fiery yearning to be part of her faith, yet unwilling to sacrifice her authentic spirituality or lifestyle to do just to fit it, and also longing for others to get that I am both authentically Christian without associating me with what's been done in the name of Christianity, or with the sort of Christianity that is all too common in the states.

     
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