PZ's Panopticon: An Off-the-Wall Guide to World Religion by Paul F.M. Zahl


PZ's Panopticon: An Off-the-Wall Guide to World Religion
Title : PZ's Panopticon: An Off-the-Wall Guide to World Religion
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 149298924X
ISBN-10 : 9781492989240
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 228
Publication : First published November 27, 2013

Imagine you have ten minutes to live. You're in a near-death situation, like the patient who's being operated on and suddenly finds himself looking down on the action as the doctors try to save his life. What do you need to know when your life's end is near? What is there "to" know? What can this religion or that religion say to you when you really need some light? "PZ's Panopticon" weighs the world's organized religions, such as Christianity and Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism; but it also weighs "dead" religions like those of the Aztecs, the ancient Egyptians, and the Greeks and Romans. There are also religions that are not called religions, like money and fame and sex; family and your children; ideology; and power. "PZ's Panopticon" is a wild ride. But it's part of a trip we are all going to take.


PZ's Panopticon: An Off-the-Wall Guide to World Religion Reviews


  • Alison

    It's hard to know where to begin with this bizarre and offensive book. It is highly disrespectful to followers of the many religions Zahl attempts to describe. He has little to no insight into the religious practices of others. He makes sweeping generalizations that would be laughable if they weren't also harmful. He mocks what he calls "dead" religions, with no regard for the descendants of the practitioners, or those who may hold some of the values or principles of these traditions today. In my view, he also makes a mockery of the concept of religion itself, by suggesting that one must be near death to truly understand the value of a religious tradition. With such a narrow lens, it is perhaps no wonder he does such little justice to the traditions he describes.

  • C. Doyle

    Loving this book! Very interesting conversation.

  • Tim

    Always entertaining, and at times profound as well! It's a great idiosyncratic yet well-informed look at religion (and "quasi"-religions).