Are you carrying any baggage?

I know it's been a while since I've done one of these. Not since the days of my list, and I don't even think I reviewed this book back then. In any case, this was the first of my books that I had to read for my completion of Bible Institute.

You may be asking yourself why I would re-read, and re-do a book report that I had already done for a previous class? well for a couple reasons. The first is because it had been 2 years since I had taken our world evangelism class (where I first read this book) and it's always good to brush up. The second is because I couldn't find my original graded copy, we had a different Pastor teaching that class and he graded it, not my current Pastor. Lastly, because after reading my original book report, I could hardly see why my Pastor back then would have given me and A. I missed a lot of talking points in the original paper. This would not be acceptable for this assignment. So I chose to re-write my paper. I did use most of my old paper to bring the two assignments together though. Hey, I like to work under the phrase "work smarter not harder".
This time I feel like I have a much better paper. Maybe I'll post it once I get the grade back.

Like the title suggests this book is mostly about the ideals that Americans hold to and how they can be hindrances when dealing with other cultures. This is an especially important consideration for a person that is ministry bound to consider. And that is in escense the objective of the author.

Nussbaum starts off by pointing out that there are about 10 commandments that Americans live by, which are:
1. You can’t argue with success 2
2. Live and let live
3. Time flies when you’re having fun
4. Shop ‘til you drop
5. Just do it
6. You are only young once
7. Enough is enough
8. Rules are made to be broken
9. Time is money
10. God helps those who help themselves

He then continues the book through a seies of American proverbs that illustrate how Americans act in, and re-act to situations (for better or worse). Some of the proverbs to consider are “Live and let live”, Winning isn’t everything”, "Just Do It", and “Home Sweet Home”. According to Nussbaum all of these sayings focus on the three major goals of success, self-esteem, and fun that, he says drive Americans to make the decisions that they do. What do these proverbs/saying mean to you? Do they evoke any thoughts on how you make your decisions?

It's a really good book. And I'm happy that I decieded to read it again. I got a lot more out of it the second time around. If you're interested you can find it on Amazon.