The Other Side of the Story
Essays on Jews, Christians, Cults, Women, Atheists and Artists
by Rachael Kohn
This volume, which contains work covering a period from the 1980s into the second decade of the 2000s, is necessarily only a selection of the larger set of observations on topics I have written about. Unavoidably there is some repetition, as some figures and topics were especially influential and recurring, but I hope that each essay provides an opportunity for deeper engagement with the issues and ideas discussed. Indeed, they remain relevant to our time whether the subject is Jewish Christian relations, the study of cults and the new age, the popularity of atheistic critiques of religion, the reformative experiences of women, the distinctive Jewish mindset and its approaches to science and spirituality, and finally art as the last refuge of the spiritually inclined yet traditionally challenged. Finally, a word about the title, Another Side of the Story. It should be apparent that I have not taken the route of examining religion as ‘sacred literature,’ the compendium of stories and wisen sayings which one may reflect on in a comfortable chair under a lamplight. On the contrary, the words on the page only become ‘religion’ in the strong light of day, when interpreted by current leaders and enacted by living beings, through a constellation of practices that are usually held in place by organisations that ensure their survival. Unavoidably, their expression is not perfect, sometimes it is misguided and even contrary to the tradition’s original intention, but in all cases it is a matter of discussion and debate. In most of these essays, I bring ‘the other side of the story’ to that being propounded or popularly assumed about the subject, which I hope adds to the record of understanding of religion as lived in the light of historical and current events, scholarship and the spiritual aspirations of our time.
- By (author) Rachael Kohn
"Rachael is one of the the most effective advocates of the argument that there are immense practical benefits, and even a demanding moral necessity to investigate and uncover the intricacies of religious faith... "Her ability to penetrate so deeply into other people's modes of religious expression and belief, whether they stand in light or in darkness, is remarkable and unique. At the same time, her voice of where to direct her gaze, whether at Christian media accounts of Jews in the period of the Second World War or the sexual machinations of cults of the late twentieth century or the struggles of women to make a place for themselves in religious institutions, is both brave and expansive." Fred Morgan, Research Associate, Australian Catholic University. "Rachael Kohn's insightful comments, inform, inspire, and provoke: a lovely combination of scholarly research, journalistic clarity and personal passion." Amy-Jill Levine, New Testament and Jewish Studies, Vanderbilt University "Rachael Kohn understands the issues she writes about at the deepest level and as well as providing a way through the thorniest controversies always keeps a sense of the shape of the whole argument... This is a superb volume." Greg Sheridan, foreign editor, The Australian, author of God is Good for You
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