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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, November 4, 2007
This review is from: How the Quakers Invented America (Hardcover)
Like many Americans, most of what I knew about the Quakers until a few years ago was related to their pacifism and emphasis on good works. I lumped them together with groups like the Mennonites, Bretheren, Shakers, and even the Amish, without much knowledge of the theological differences between them. After lapsing from the Presbyterian upbringing, I found a new and natural home with the Quakers about two years ago. As a "convinced" Friend, I'm still learning about the historical tradition of the Quakers in America, so this book seemed promising at first glance. I finished reading it today, and I have to say that it was a major disappointment. Unlike Howard Brinton's rewarding and very thorough "Friends for 350 Years," or even the somewhat dry "Silence and Witness," this book appears to primarily be a disorganized mixture of the author's impressions of the faith. After coming to sweeping, and often inaccurate, generalizations about Quakers, the author attempts to draw connections to core American values. There are many flaws with his approach. First, his observations are clearly personal and not based on a particularly careful reading of historical documents or sources. As a rule of thumb, if he, his wife, and their clerk of meeting think something, the author then assigns it to all Quakers. There is a bibliography, but the author's understanding of historical documentation is very limited, and his "expertise" is primarily backed up by reference to having been invited to give lectures at various places. Second, the author has a strangely static understanding of core American values. Misunderstanding colonial America, he idealizes Pennsylvania under the Quakers, and then directly ties tolerance today to tolerance in that colony, as if the civil rights movement, immigration, and other social movements have had no place in history. I respect early Quakers as much as anyone, and can only hope to live up to examples like Woolman as a new Quaker myself, but Yount's account is simply fantasy. Third, even if he was making better supportive arguments, it would still be difficult to follow the author's main theme through the book. Over and over, the writing turns into strings of only loosely related sentences. It is choppy and unpleasant to read, and in several instances, two sequential sentences directly contradict each other. Even when he tries to sum up an earlier book by referring to ten points about living in the moment, at least two of the points are logically inconsistent with each other. As if trying to reach a page quota, he also quotes excessively in several chapters. I could go on, but there's not much of a point. I suggest Brinton's book, or others with multiple strong ratings on Amazon. This one isn't a good choice.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Well Meant But Deeply Flawed, January 10, 2010
This review is from: How the Quakers Invented America (Hardcover)
In the darker days of Quakerism (primarily the 1800s), errant Quakers were disowned by being "read out" of their Meetings. Regrettably, I'd advise the same fate for this book. First, I should state that I am a fellow Quaker and that Friend Yount clearly means well. He presents a heartfelt case for his personal experience of both Quakerism and America. However, Yount projects his experience and opinions onto all of Quakerism and all of America. According to Yount, both are "egalitarian, fair, peace loving, charitable, responsible, plainspoken, and honest." In fact Quakers have "contributed more than any other group" to these "founding ideals" and have "long since converted America to their way of thinking." Wow. Really? The book seems cobbled together from scrap book clippings. When making a point about Quaker theology, Yount will quote Dante, St. Paul and a near-death researcher. The conclusion rambles. The writing is sloppy and the editing worse. In the space of two paragraphs, the word "inferred" is misused and someone sits "bold upright." Worst of all, the book is riddled with factual errors and generalizations. Do "all" Friends share a "convincement" (wrong use of this Quaker word) about the afterlife? No. Are all Friends in the West and Midwest "programmed" Friends and members of Friends United Meeting who refer to themselves as evangelicals? No. Is there really no Quaker Theology since Robert Barclay? Hardly. Is the Old Testament "the Bible Jesus knew and used?" and does the New Testament "read more like journalism than literature?" Some of the generalizations veer towards offensiveness - for example, characterizing the "good Jew" as one who has to "follow strictly 613 commandments." Other statements oscillate between the theologically questionable and indecipherable: "Quakers believe the traditional sacraments, while worthy, are not essential to a godly life, if only because the majority of God's people around the world don't have access to them as Christians do." Yount says he came to Quakerism from Catholicism carrying "all that I learned about God in the years before I became a Quaker ... unalloyed and undiminished." That theological burden shows. His attempts at Christian apologetics is conflicted. What does a Quaker mean when he writes: "We honor the creeds?" How can one both laud Quaker ideals as foundational but then deride Quakers for holding on to those ideals (particularly pacifism in Pennsylvania)? When Quakerism and America disagree, Yount's faith seems to lie with America. I admire Friend Yount's earnestness in offering his experience of Quakerism in America, but I'm afraid this book will confuse and disappoint more than enlighten and inspire.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Personal projections from the author, August 9, 2010
This review is from: How the Quakers Invented America (Hardcover)
The book starts out fairly strong, giving the reader a light and readable introduction to Quaker principles and their history in America. Then the book dissolves into a wide-ranging personal account of what the author feels is the authentic Quaker creed, desperately trying to tie it to the America creed. That's fine; it's his opinion. But then the author begins to judge those who came before the Quakers, and also belittles the Quaker-to-be who doesn't believe in Jesus Christ. He pushes hard on the supercession theory, claiming that the Jews were "rescued" from a tradition of too many laws by the newer and more enlightened Christian tradition. I simply cannot imagine any of the kind Quakers in my community expressing opinions like those found in this book. Apparently, the author has not yet seen the light.
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