Review by TCC Edwards -- The Banned Book about Love
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TCC Edwards
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Review by TCC Edwards -- The Banned Book about Love
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Banned Book about Love" by Scott Hughes.]
2 out of 4 stars
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The Banned Book about Love by Scott Hughes is a very short non-fiction booklet that, as the title suggests, was banned from Amazon. Why? The original title was I Love Brock Turner - that's the only reason to ban this book, its seemingly misleading title. The book is a missive about what it means to love one's enemy. Nobody hates (or should hate) the infamous Turner or anyone else for that matter. What Scott Hughes outlines in this book is a secular, modern-day take on "love thy enemy".
The book reads like an especially long post on a social action forum. Hughes describes how hate directed at Turner or anyone else, regardless of what they've done, is self-perpetuating and only leads to more hate and harm. Hate, Hughes says at the beginning of the book, "is the tl;dr of politics, policy, and social decision making". The rest of the book is broken into short essays detailing how hate clouds judgement in the modern world.
In the middle of the book, Hughes emphasizes that he does not love his enemy out of any religious obligation. Instead, loving one's enemy comes from empathy shared by all humans. However, if one is religious, there is only more reason to realize the peril in casting the first stone. I understand the author, but this chapter had the potential to tell so much more. Hughes makes the point that one cannot say they are religious and say that they hate Turner or any other villain, but only scratches the surface of the point he wants to make. More examples of "love thy enemy" as it appears in other religions, along with examples of how the non-religious
can interpret it, would have really helped support his point.
In the last part, Hughes calls on the reader to "be different; be crazy; be epic" and rise above the hate. What's lacking is any clear, specific action - what exactly can ordinary people do? What specific daily actions help people avoid hating Brock Turner or any other demons presented to us by the mass media? This book offers no answers. There's nothing revolutionary here - nothing any moderately intelligent person hasn't reasoned out already.
I'll give this book a rating of 2 out of 4. It's free, and it serves as a good introduction to thinking about how easy it is to hate instead of love. The author has also pledged to donate funds to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) for each download of this book - I have to admire Hughes for that. As a book, however, it's little more than an introduction - I feel Hughes could have provided more insight into actually living a life free of hate.
******
The Banned Book about Love
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The Banned Book about Love by Scott Hughes is a very short non-fiction booklet that, as the title suggests, was banned from Amazon. Why? The original title was I Love Brock Turner - that's the only reason to ban this book, its seemingly misleading title. The book is a missive about what it means to love one's enemy. Nobody hates (or should hate) the infamous Turner or anyone else for that matter. What Scott Hughes outlines in this book is a secular, modern-day take on "love thy enemy".
The book reads like an especially long post on a social action forum. Hughes describes how hate directed at Turner or anyone else, regardless of what they've done, is self-perpetuating and only leads to more hate and harm. Hate, Hughes says at the beginning of the book, "is the tl;dr of politics, policy, and social decision making". The rest of the book is broken into short essays detailing how hate clouds judgement in the modern world.
In the middle of the book, Hughes emphasizes that he does not love his enemy out of any religious obligation. Instead, loving one's enemy comes from empathy shared by all humans. However, if one is religious, there is only more reason to realize the peril in casting the first stone. I understand the author, but this chapter had the potential to tell so much more. Hughes makes the point that one cannot say they are religious and say that they hate Turner or any other villain, but only scratches the surface of the point he wants to make. More examples of "love thy enemy" as it appears in other religions, along with examples of how the non-religious
can interpret it, would have really helped support his point.
In the last part, Hughes calls on the reader to "be different; be crazy; be epic" and rise above the hate. What's lacking is any clear, specific action - what exactly can ordinary people do? What specific daily actions help people avoid hating Brock Turner or any other demons presented to us by the mass media? This book offers no answers. There's nothing revolutionary here - nothing any moderately intelligent person hasn't reasoned out already.
I'll give this book a rating of 2 out of 4. It's free, and it serves as a good introduction to thinking about how easy it is to hate instead of love. The author has also pledged to donate funds to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) for each download of this book - I have to admire Hughes for that. As a book, however, it's little more than an introduction - I feel Hughes could have provided more insight into actually living a life free of hate.
******
The Banned Book about Love
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like TCC Edwards's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "The Nobel Prize" by Mois benarroch
