Growing Up a Sullen Baptist and Other LiesThis is an eclectic array of seventeen essays, all of which will evoke a direct and immediate response. Ranging from humorous to satirical, from persuasive to sarcastic, Flynn moves from preaching to the choir to preaching at the choir. Trained as both a Baptist and a Marine, he explores the concepts gleaned from a world that this training did not equip him to control, improve, or escape. Flynn admits he has tried to meld the pretty presumption of the Baptists that "all men are brothers" with the hard presumption of the Marines that "you will attack until I say you are dead." He calls the result an unholy view of the world in which he lives and survives, alternating between humor and anger. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 39
Page 1
... church , school , country in roughly that order . My home was full of love and also strife . My church was full of faith and also prejudice . The school I attended had diversity and segregation . My country exhibited oneness during ...
... church , school , country in roughly that order . My home was full of love and also strife . My church was full of faith and also prejudice . The school I attended had diversity and segregation . My country exhibited oneness during ...
Page 2
... church world that pretended all men were brothers made in the image of God , that those who claimed Christ's name were guided by love in busi- ness , politics , church , and personal relationships ; that greed , ambition and love of ...
... church world that pretended all men were brothers made in the image of God , that those who claimed Christ's name were guided by love in busi- ness , politics , church , and personal relationships ; that greed , ambition and love of ...
Page 9
... Church . For those of you who may have never encountered a Baptist , I will attempt a definition . If Christianity is the bread of life , Baptists are the crust . If Christianity is the wine of life , Baptists are grape juice . You didn ...
... Church . For those of you who may have never encountered a Baptist , I will attempt a definition . If Christianity is the bread of life , Baptists are the crust . If Christianity is the wine of life , Baptists are grape juice . You didn ...
Page 10
... church was , I was going to run away from home and join it . I never did find that church but Myrna Dean found a new boyfriend . Ray Dean Tooley . He was a fire bug . Myrna Dean went to a lot of barbecues but she never married because ...
... church was , I was going to run away from home and join it . I never did find that church but Myrna Dean found a new boyfriend . Ray Dean Tooley . He was a fire bug . Myrna Dean went to a lot of barbecues but she never married because ...
Page 11
... church . They wrote sentimental messages on them . " Rest in peace . " " Sacred to the memory of . " We didn't put things like that on our tombstones . We knew that if a person had been a good Baptist , he was glad to go . We put ...
... church . They wrote sentimental messages on them . " Rest in peace . " " Sacred to the memory of . " We didn't put things like that on our tombstones . We knew that if a person had been a good Baptist , he was glad to go . We put ...
Contents
9 | |
17 | |
25 | |
35 | |
Enduring Love | 48 |
Lions in Camp | 51 |
Truth and Beauty | 59 |
Jeremiah was a Bulldog | 71 |
The Combined Platoon | 91 |
Understanding Vietnam | 105 |
Hooked on Heroes | 113 |
India the Divided Crowd | 119 |
Still the Street Without Joy | 139 |
Understanding Pol Pot | 143 |
Pol Pots Legacy | 147 |
John Wayne Must Die | 154 |
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Common terms and phrases
Ajay Americans asked Baby Girl Baptist Church Baptists believe Bible boys Brother Patrick Bull Valley called Cambodia camp Chillicothe Christian Church of Christ cows crowd Da Nang driver Edna enemy father fire folks Gladys God's Grover guerrillas heard heroes Hindus India Jacksboro Jean Jeremiah Jesus John Wayne Joyce Kaon Khmer Khmer Rouge killed knew Korea lions lived look Lord Marines married Mbogo Methodist mosque mother Muslims Myrna Nang never night North Vietnam Ochieng Phnom Penh pipe organ Pol Pot returned road Robert Flynn Saigon sliding platoon soldiers southern Stonewall Jackson stop story street Sunday teachers temples tents Texas things thought tiger told tried truck truth and beauty Viet Viet Cong Vietnam Vietnamese village wagon walked wanted watched wife Wild Bunch woman women words write wrote
Popular passages
Page 74 - Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Page 77 - O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived ; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed : I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Page 85 - And He answered and said unto them, "Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?' Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Page 80 - We beseech thee, let this man be put to death : for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
Page 77 - Shall I not visit for these things ? saith the Lord : shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?