Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Books and such.

Yet another book has captured my attention and I am sure I won't accomplish anything significant until I finish it. I am reading the book I mentioned in a previous post called Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamine, by Nic Sheff. For a reason unknown to anybody, I am taking a sudden interest in drugs, which is ironic considering I have never so much as laid a finger on a cigarette. My eyes have been dramatically opened as to how naive and utterly ignorant I am about what goes on in this crazy world of ours.  I'm incredibly grateful my parents sheltered me from the drug world, but I can't help but sympathize with the kids out there who make a couple of stupid mistakes and now they are screwed up for life. I'm sure after I finish this book, I'll set this new found curiosity aside and concentrate on more important subjects, like polygamy. 

Yes, I bought Carolyn Jessop's book, Escape, and read it in three days. She escaped from the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints) and her story is unbelievable. She was forced to marry a 55-year-old man at 18 years old and become his fourth wife, and by the time she was 30, she had eight children. I could talk about the insanity of this cult for days because that is exactly what it is...insane. The following are a few examples why, just in case you wanted a brief book report:

1. The color red is forbidden because it is reserved for Jesus. When Jesus returns, he will do so in a red robe, and wearing that color prior to his second coming is unholy. 
2. The only way a woman can get to heaven is if her husband allows her to. 
3. Warren Jeffs, who is now in prison for dozens of reasons, is the voice of Jesus Christ. 
4. TV's and radios are banned, and most members of FLDS had no idea about 9/11. 
5. If a woman or child becomes ill, it is because they have sinned and are full of guilt. Medical attention is rare because "they deserve it." 
6. Women get assigned a husband that they usually do not meet until the day of her wedding. The women are usually between 16 and 18 years old, while their husbands are in their fifties or sixties and already have 8-10 wives each. 
7. Believers equate obedience with salvation, and husbands brutally abuse their wives and children to teach obedience. 
8. Men are intoxicated by their own power and need at least three wives to get into heaven. If he does well in heaven, he can eventually become a god and wind up with his own planet. 
9. Women cannot go into town without being accompanied by their husband. Before entering the same room as her husband, she is to pray to God that he would put the same spirit on her as on her husband. 
10. Sex is only used for procreation, and a man had the right to treat one wife better than another if she was more worthy of love. 

Those are only a few of the crazy things I could think of off the top of my head. Anyway, Carolyn Jessop literally risked the lives of her eight children and herself to escape from the FLDS, and if she would have been caught, she and her children would most certainly have been beaten to death for being rebellious and disobedient. It is a great book and very interesting. Go ahead and read it and lets talk about it. 

I wanted to do more research on my own and watch video footage of the raid in Texas that occurred last year at the FLDS compound, but before I got around to it, I received Tweak in the mail and had to start reading it immediately. I am sure I could be filling my mind with much more wholesome readings, but I'm enjoying reading about these extreme situations. I would also like to welcome anybody to recommend a good book to me.  Even though I am extremely annoyed at bold fonts, I wanted to emphasize that sentence because I believe that recommended books are the best. 

Enough about books and on to more relevant items for the day. My big brother Drew has asked me to write a feature story about him. I don't think he realizes that blogs do not require AP style writing or much thought at all, but I am going to take his request seriously, and will dedicate my next post to him. You are going to love it. I am going to make everybody want to meet Drew Maxwell and wish he was your big brother too. This blog could easily be dedicated to how incredibly awesome my entire family is, but I guess Drew thinks he deserves his own story. If anybody has any stories or pictures of Drew you would like see posted on the world wide web, feel free to e-mail me at kellyarice@gmail.com. 

And something incredible has happened on this day of January 27, 2009. Cayden Hunter Hogue made his grand debut this afternoon, weighing in at six pounds, seven ounces. Cayden is the brand new son of Jaysen and Jennifer Hogue of New Albany, the latter being my college roommate. I asked Jaysen how Jennifer's labor went in a text message, and he replied, "Easy, she didn't feel a thing." That being said, Jennifer is going to have to teach me how to go through labor, because that seems like a good way to do it. No, I am not pregnant, but that doesn't keep me from wondering how excruciating of an experience it must be. Cayden is one lucky little guy, because Jennifer and Jaysen are going to be excellent parents, and he is going to have two wonderful sets of grandparents, both of whom I have gotten to know pretty well over the years. Happy Birthday, Cayden. I can't wait to meet you. I'm going to make sure Uncle Arnie accompanies me when I visit you in hopes that he will have a sudden change of heart and realizes he is ready to have a baby just like you. 

And I believe thats all. More to come tomorrow. 

3 comments:

Rossie said...

While they are not about drugs, they were like a drug for me: The Twilight Series. I know it's about Vampires and all the hype makes people think the books are very teeny-bopper-ish, I enjoyed all 4 books so much that I bought them all in hardback. That was a big expense! They are, of course, fiction but they were the best brain candy I have had in a while. Plus, it's a good love story. It wont hurt my feelings if you're totally turned off by the idea though. I know books about vampires doesn't sound very mature... but they were SOOO good. Plus, the first movie of the series is out and it helps to have a visual of the characters.

Aaron and Kelly said...

Thanks Rossie! I am determined to read the Twilight Series soon. It seems like everybody I know has become obsessed with those books and I can totally see myself getting hooked. I'll let you know when I start!

Anonymous said...

Did you really just give me an open invitation to recommend books on your blog? Oh you naive little girl. You have no idea what you have done to yourself.

Let me start with fiction. My all time favorite fiction book EVER in the history of fiction books is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Fabulous. If I were to write a fiction book, that's how I would want it to sound. He writes so beautifully. But I will never write one because I know it could never turn out like that, and I would be ashamed of anything less.

Also at the top of the list (not for writing style but for content) is books 1 and 2 of the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers, and it's historical fiction. Those are big books, and I flew through them in record time (possibly because I skipped 2 days of class at MTSU to sit on my couch and read them. Nate had to clean the house and feed himself). They'll teach you more about forgiveness (and ancient Rome) than you ever expected.

Another great fiction book is Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor, another historical fiction. A random choice for me, but when I read about how controversial that book was and how it was banned in lots of countries, it piqued my interest. And it was worth it.

On to non-fiction. That's hard because I read all types of non-fiction these days because of RTS. Some are biographies, some are devotional, some are theological or doctrinal... you get the point. But if I were going to recommend just ONE to you that I have read recently, it would probably be Holiness by JC Ryle. It's one I'll probably read over and over again because it's so unbelievably relevant to the life of a Christian, and also because I need the lesson pounded into my head again and again and again.

And if youre interested in what I'll be reading for the rest of my life (when I finish at RTS at least), you should get 1000 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I'm determined to work my way through it. I've gotten about 60 out of the way so far, and there's lots of great stuff in there. You'd never be without a book recommendation if you get that one!

Anyway, I could continue, but I really need to go dry my hair. LOVE YOU!