If Death is No Barrier

If you are interest in “spiritualism” and its history in the United States, then you need to read this article, “If Death is No Barrier” in Books & Culture, January/February 2007, pages 16-21 is a must-read. In this article Jason Byassee reviews the following books:

Ann Braude, Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women's Rights in Nineteenth-Century America, 2nd ed. (Indiana Univ. Press, 2001).

Robert Cox, Body and Soul: A Sympathetic History of American Spiritualism (Univ. of Virginia Press, 2003).

John Kucich, Ghostly Communion: Cross-Cultural Spiritualism in Nineteenth-Century American Literature (Dartmouth College Press, 2004).

Philip Charles Lucas et al., eds., Cassadaga: The South's Oldest Spiritual Community (Univ. Press of Florida, 2000).

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Three Spiritualist Novels (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2000).
Mary Roach, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife (Norton, 2005).

Barbara Weisberg, Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritualism (HarperSanFrancisco, 2004).

Christine Wicker, Lily Dale: The True Story of the Town that Talks to the Dead (HarperSanFrancisco, 2003).


In the nineteenth century spiritualism became popular mainly because of the Fox sisters, who claimed they were able to communicate with the dead by getting them to make a series of clicks to communicate with the living. One of the sisters confessed later on that they were able to make the sounds by cracking their toes and other joints unnoticed. So the whole movement was inspired by a fraud.

Many prominent Americans, including politicians, writers, and preachers were taken in by this movement. Much of our understanding of the spirit world is influenced by this movement. Unfortunately most of these ideas are unbiblical, based on lies, and some are even harmful. Even our views of heaven, the afterlife, and salvation have been corrupted by these ideas. It was enlightening to read this article to see where many of these ideas came from and how they were based upon the fraud of the Fox sisters.


You can read the article at: http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2007/001/3.16.html

Day of the Dead

If you are interested in Mexico’s annual celebration of the Day of the Dead, the article “Dead Again” in Books & Culture, January/February 2007, pages 21-22, reviews the book, Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead by Stanley Brandes. Stanley Brandes is an experienced ethnographer who studied the Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico for over a decade.

I found several points interesting:

Even though Mexicans may be macho and act as if death is no big deal, they grieve just like everyone else at the death of a loved one.

Even Mexicans take economic advantage of this annual celebration by selling candy, crafts and other goods during the festival.

“However, something of the sterner Protestant understanding of what it is to be Christian emerges in Brandes' extensive discussion of the dissemination and appropriation of the Day of the Dead in North America, in particular as part of the multicultural agenda promoted in the schools. Whereas religion in schools may be banned as divisive and contrary to the separation of Church and state, "culture" may be promoted as part of a proper acquaintance with other ways of life. The result is the appearance in schools of a cultural mélange offensive to Protestants, and especially to evangelicals who take their religion seriously.”


You can read the article at: http://www.ctlibrary.com/40570