Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America

The clarity and simplicity of the language make it easy to absorb the illumination Hedges provides. This is a monumental feast for the hungry soul. The book single-handedly reached into my heart and refashioned it. Few books are modifying and capable of reorienting your life. This book has that depth of truth. Read it more than twice.

Chris Hedges breathes new life into the Ten Commandments. Devoting a chapter to each commandment, he relates them to modern life in a highly provocative manner outside the context of religion. Each chapter is a short story in itself, usually with him as the protagonist, imbuing them with a memoir-like quality except for an overabundance of musing, which is where his real power lies. He speaks with great passion from a keen intellect hewn from experience and religious scholarship.The Family: Honor your father and your mother, was my most favorite chapter recounting a speech he delivered in May 2003 to the graduating class of Rockford College. It was a time when the majority of Americans still supported the Iraq War, when most believed in its mission, shortly after a media blitz with President Bush pictured standing on an aircraft carrier claiming victory behind a banner that read "Mission Accomplished" (incidentally, today is its fourth-year anniversary). Chris Hedges inflamed many that day with caustic words highly critical of the wisdom behind our invasion of Iraq, accurately predicting a future that has become reality.I admire this man and I won't be satisfied until I've read all of his books.

In Losing Moses on the Freeway, Hedges, who studied at Harvard Divinity School, tells his own personal stories, many of which relate to his Christian upbringing, to probe the emptiness of capitalism and the abilities/inabilities of Christianity to effectively respond to that society. It is well-written and engaging, and his views into society are thoughful. They make one think. Though at times it feels a little dramatic.

Hedges tackles a subject much tougher than it appears to be. He wants to use everyday, real-life situations to illustrate the Ten Commandments. Sometimes he does. At other times, the writing feels very political. The opening chapter is tough, but makes the point that life isn't always pretty, especially the kind of pretty that church people have come to expect.Some of the chapters seem only tangentially related to the commandment cited. Some of them felt like I dropped into an Obama for President rally. Corporations are bad, profit is evil... This is especially so in the chapter on theft. He does do one thing that feels a little less than honest. He writes about the R. Foster Winans and his trouble from his Wall Street Journal column of the 80s. He ties this right in with Enron; never pointing out that Enron is a situation that happened at least 15 years later.The take on lying is rather obtuse. It is the story of two chess shops in New York City and how the owners feud. I never really made the connection to lying.The chapter on idols was great. It made an excellent point as it showed Phish followers and how they had given their lives over to following the band. The point was well made.A good book? No, but a book that is thought provoking. If you are looking for an orthodox take on the Ten Commandments, this isn't it. If you are looking for someone to take a very different approach, this might work. Just be prepared that you won't get much in the way of theology here. That might be what you are looking for. I would have preferred picking it up in a used book store at a reduced price.

Chris Hedges has a very keen sense of justice and truth. This is the third book I have read written by him recently and I am amazed by his consistency and ability to explain the positions he takes on all of the major issues of our time. I sincerely hope that many people will join me in developing a way to get those we know who are not listening to the wisdom he is sharing with us in his books and his talks which I have found on YouTube.

Chris Hedges takes each of the Ten Commandments, interprets it, and through personal experience or anecdotes shows how violating this commandment causes unhappiness, misery, even war and destruction. Solid biblical backing from his seminary days does not get in the way of his teaching valuable lessons - not as a hypocritical moralizer, but as someone who (though his many and varied experiences in living) has found the truth in it all. The final chapter shows that love (the mysterious force that ties it all together, and without which happiness is impossible) emanates from following the commandments and their summation: having life means living for others. An interesting, educational and uplifting read.

Brilliant expose of how rotten things get when people ignore spiritual principles! His passion is incendiary and he has the experience to back his assertions. Wish the President would read this instead of Hitler's speeches. Note, Ivana brought this up in the divorce proceedings. It's sold here and The orange faced man has his picture on the back of the book.

This book was a real page-turner for me. Part memoir, part social critique, Hedges brings his unique perspective (seminarian turned war correspondent, turned dedicated husband, father, son) to the heart of all our issues as human beings and members of society. This book will resonate with all seekers! One wonders how on earth this pathological, neo-liberal sham ended up running the show.. The threat of the golden calf is ever present, but love so obviously trumps war, and the triumph of Good is long overdue in our current epic.

This book reminds us that although something may have been written thousands of years agoit is still relevant for us today.The commandments are universal and not just for one section of any society.If you liked this book may I recommend another:The Mustard seed by OshoVery much in the same vain

very good

Man muss nicht religiös sein um ein Buch über die zehn Gebote zu lesen, und selbst Chris Hedges ist es wohl auch nicht so sehr, obwohl sein Vater Prediger war. Dies ist eher ein Buch über Ethik, indem das Hedges für jede der Gebote Schicksale aus dem alltäglichen Leben schildert. Er wirft ethische Fragen auf, die den Leser oft zum Nachdenken zwingen. Manche Passagen muss man mehrmals lesen, obwohl der Text sonst wie gewohnt meistens sehr flüssig und leicht zu lesen ist. Chris Hedges ist ein sehr moralisch denkender Mann, der immer Partei für die schwächeren in der Gesellschaft nimmt. Man muss nicht immer seine Meinung teilen, aber er ist ein Mann, der großem Respekt verdient.Als er 2003 bei einem Abschlussfeier einer Universität eine Rede gehalten hatte wo er ganz stark den Einmarsch in Irak kritisierte, wurde er fast von der Bühne gejagt und musste später sein Arbeitsplatz bei der New York Times verlassen. Obwohl die Kritik berechtigt war, hätte er vielleicht eine andere Bühne dafür wählen können. Manchmal geht seine Moral und seine Prinzipientreue etwas zu weit, aber es lohnt sich immer, seine Texte zu lesen.

If you enjoy books that deal with controversial thoughts or events, I would recommend any book by Chris Hedges. You may not agree with his viewpoints but his descriptions and writing is both thought provoking and entertaining. This book is a great buy!

This book is nearly 20 years old, but it is about 2019. We may be less likely to go to war to feel comfortable, but we are more likely to seek public emotions at the cost of our souls. The paradoxical relationship of greed and anxiety seems to hit home in France, where I live, or in the US, where I am from. I like the notion of the commandments choosing us, rather than the inverse.On the other hand, that death ultimately ends life does not mean all lives fail. Whether we love others or not is the deciding factor, and the commandments are one way to learn this love. So, it seems, is reading Dante and Dostoyevsky.A book that makes you want to go on a pilgrimage, an outward journey that leads to places unbound by time or space.