Fatherless

by James Dobson and Kurt Bruner
Hennepin County Library hardcover 431 pages
genre: Christian fiction, dystopian future

I am not a huge fan of Dr. Dobson (gasp! What kind of Christian doesn't *adore* him?) so I wasn't really eager to read this book club title. But when I heard a couple of people talking about it and got the gist of the idea (oh? Dystopian fiction? That seems to be all I read these days.), I was ready to tackle this. So much to dig into here!

From the front flap: "The year is 2042, and the long-predicted tipping point has arrived. For the first time in human history, the economic pyramid has flipped: The feeble old now outnumber the vigorous young, and this untenable situation is intensifying a battle between competing cultural agendas. Reporter Julia Davidson - a formerly award-wining journalist seeking to revive a flagging career - is investigating the growing crisis, unaware that her activity makes her a pawn in an ominous conspiracy. Plagued by nightmares about her absent father, Julia finds herself drawn to the quiet strength of a man she meets at a friend's church. . . . Julia faces choices that pit professional success against personal survival in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world."

One interesting thread of our book club conversation dealt with how likely it is that this future could happen. What parts of it are already happening? Certainly, we have already read reports about the falling birth rate in America and Europe (except among immigrant and hispanic populations). And the aging baby boomers and crisis in the cost of medical care are already issues. It will be very interesting to see what the future brings and how our politicians deal with it.

Chapter 29 and its discussion of changes in worship interested me. What is "normal" to us now that will seem passe' in the future? Are we changing for the sake of change? Would the new testament church even recognize what we do as worship?

On page 155, how interesting that Julia observes that "1. Angie embodied everything Julia scorned. 2. Angie had everything Julia wanted." Isn't it true that the grass is always greener . . . 

On page 205, I found it interesting that Matthew thought "He should not have sought the advice of Father Richard Tomberlin." It's so true that we only "seek advice" from people we are confident will tell us what we want to hear. In his case, Matthew wanted confirmation that it was okay to encourage his mother to "volunteer" to "transition" so that he could have any remaining money to go to college.

On page 237, Julia is reciting the feminist perspective that she has so thoroughly recited. "The days of patriarchal dominance are dead. Our generation of women can see an endless horizon because we stand on the shoulders of our courageous grandmothers. Show me a home with more than two kids and I'll show you an oppressed woman." It never seems to end well when people adopt an extremist perspective, no matter which end of the spectrum (of any issue) they're on.

I love it (next page) when Troy says "Imagine a world of people trying to out-serve, out-love, out-sacrifice, and out-honor one another. Sure beats a world of people trying to outdo and outsmart one another."

And a little later when Julia is trying to challenge Kevin on his perspective (in regard to Angie squandering her potential by raising children), he replies, "A lot of people consider bearing and rearing children a noble and highly meaningful calling." I love that! A noble calling. I wish more parents felt that way.

I didn't like page 314 when Matthew was so deceptive in talking to his mom about "transitioning" (aka volunteering to suicide) not being a sin and having talked to Father Tomberline about it.

I was so glad that Julia quit her job! After that nasty stunt her boss did, publishing her story with the other reporter's edits and hatchet job (and sleezy photos) . . . that was the only good choice for her.

I enjoyed this book enough to want to read the second one, Childless. I just have so many books piled up already! I need to kick through more of them more quickly.