Author: Robert Flynn

ISBN: 1574411837

The following review was submitted by:  E.Dian Moore &  To read more about Dian Moore’s reviews click HERE

To read Dian's Interview With the Author Click Here

Twenty-three short stories round out the contents of Slouching Toward Zion, all with a singular goal of making anyone involved in Christianity to take a step back and look at some of the ridiculous things we have succumbed to in our actions, traditions, and beliefs. Funny and outrageous, Flynn pulls no punches as he pokes fun at religion in general and Baptists in particular. A Baptist himself, Flynn has intimate knowledge of himself in that role and uses that knowledge to call himself to order.

"Do Have a Rapture Lawyer?", "Questions Mormons Never Ask," and "Mission to Mexico" are guaranteed to have you rolling and coming away with a new outlook.

Other chapters explore such mysteries as to what happened after the stories told in the Bible. In a Paul Harvey kind of way, Flynn tells the rest of the story. We all remember the story of Jesus spitting on the ground and making mud to apply to the blind man's eyes. Flynn points out the ungratefulness of the human race in some of their worst moments, by depicting the healed blind man as having this conversation the following day with Jesus:

"You have ruined my life. I can't read or write. I don't recognize numbers. I have no skills. And now my neighbors know I'm not blind. How can I beg? Are you going to let me starve?" And Jesus spat on the ground again. (see page 111)

All in good fun, Flynn seeks to bring us to the forefront of awareness of our personal misdeeds, aggravating habits, and quickness to judge so we might use these stories to better ourselves and think more kindly of our neighbors. Flynn recognizes how easily we hide behind religion as an excuse to hate.

Slouching Toward Zion would make a good gift book for those that like humor and can laugh at their selves as they open their minds and hearts to the possibility of forgiveness and letting go of those things that hinder their spiritual growth. It could also be used to liven up some study groups.

Flynn is the native of Chillicothe, Texas, and the author of eight other novels.