Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence: Christian Churches and the Global AIDS Crisis by Donald E. Messer (2004)

Overall, a well-written book that is readable, challenging the lack of response by the Christian community towards AIDS, and hopeful. Although his view of sin might be disconcerting to some Christians, along with the concept of providing the best for people who are sinful (e.g. advocating condoms), this perspective is advocated with the hope of showing God's love to be people in a less judgmental means than the church has done in the past. His writing on the place of women, including sex workers, and the effect of AIDS on their lives is both gracious and motivating (along with fitting with other things I have seen written in this area). His book could possibly provide insight further into a point of contact with the exclusion found in the laws written in Leviticus.

Noam Chomsky, Hegemony or Survival (2004)

depressing is how i would respond to this. it discusses the domination that America is having over the rest of the world and the country’s political disregard for any interests or input except for its own. the depressing part is that we let it happen – by intentional ignorance. that, and i haven’t gotten far enough to hear his thoughts on how to respond…