Rating: 
Summary: stirring consience
Review: After reading this book, I was full of shame and guilt, because I also didn't keep even one off the Ten Commendments. It should be an honourble ultimate goal in our life just to live up exactly to those commandments. Which are more then 4000 years old and still not old fashioned. Dr Laura does an excellent job by explaining every commandment so detailed. (didn't know this was sin..too!) Its amazing that in the world we live in nowedays, people get shocked and upset by a book like this. But smile when they read the Kenneth Starr report........
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Summary: Looking for a gift for the "pampered hag" in your life?
Review: An excellent read without question. Although I am a Christian I found this book to be a great blessing and a relief. It's time there was a little good old fashion preaching on morals, ethics and maybe, if it dosn't jolt your complacency too much, Gods laws - for those other than Christians. A super gift idea for the credit card weilding, pampered individual who needs to have a slightly different topspin to their ball.
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Summary: The Book of Laura
Review: Any work on ethics and morality must answer three questions:1. What is the right thing to do? 2. Why should I do this? 3. How do I know this to be true? The second question is where most moralists stumble and Laura Schlessinger is no exception. However, her answer to this question may possibly be the worst answer ever given. What is the right thing to do? Schlessinger's answer to this question is simple: Follow the Ten Commandments. Devoting a chapter to each commandment Dr Laura and her co-author (Rabbi Stewart Vogel) draw on Jewish traditions to explain individual applications of God's laws. Why should I do this? When explaining why one should follow these rules Dr Laura becomes ambiguous telling readers on one hand to follow these rules because of the good consequences and on the other hand because "God said so!" In one passage however, Schlessinger makes clear which of these is the true reason. One of her listeners, a teacher named Debby, talks about a discussion she had with an elementary school student of hers about why it is wrong to steal. The student gave many practical reasons including a sophisticated argument about the lack of trust that would result if theft became commonplace. Debby told him that he missed the important point "The reason I don't steal is simply one: BECAUSE GOD SAID NOT TO. End of reason." (Page 236) She should have said "End of reasoning" because the phrase "God Said Not to" is not a reason, but a veiled threat of punishment by an omnipotent deity. One obeys the Ten Commandments because not doing so will anger God and what sane person would anger an all-powerful all-knowing being? Schlessinger's theory of right and wrong is based upon authority, the ultimate authority of God. Disappointed by the fallibility of earthly authorities Schlessinger sought an "objective" authority and, for personal reasons explained in the book, was drawn to Judaism. Her argument for accepting the authority of a deity is essentially this: As children, we all hated being told by our parents that we had to do something because they "said so". Just as children cannot understand the reasons a parent has neither can adults understand God's reasons. In other words, do this because it is simply too deep for you to understand. While not original, Schlessinger's answer is, nevertheless, the worst ever given. Schlessinger ignores the fact that children grow up and acquire the capability of understanding their parents' reasons, but adults can never achieve an understanding of God. We are condemned to remain children, forever incapable of appreciating the mysterious ways of God. Since God's wishes cannot be known directly (He has been rather uncommunicative for the last two millennia) we are to mindlessly follow the traditions of the past and remain blissfully oblivious to the real world consequences of our actions because "God Said So". Western civilization has tried this before, the result was known as the Dark Ages. Schlessinger cannot grasp that morality is a science and that in science, there are no authorities. There are facts and reasoning but in each case you have to look at the facts and decide if the reasoning is correct. You have to understand, first hand, why something is true. You do not look for some "authority" to hand you ready made rules that you can follow blindly. Facts are independent of "authorities". How do I know this to be true? Schlessinger's answer - You don't and can't. You must accept these commandments on faith. The alternative is to live one's life by one's own subjective feelings. Schlessinger rightfully abhors those who want to "listen to their hearts", "follow their gut feelings", "get in touch with their inner child" and other subjective nonsense. Her solution to the problem of human subjectivity is to follow the "objective" laws of God. And how does she know these laws to be objective? Dr Laura justifies her eternal, unchanging principles on the grounds that she FEELS that they are true! Schlessinger says "Through some inexplicable emotion, I had always felt a Jewish connection..." (Page xxi) "Feeling God's involvement in our own daily lives..." (Page 16) and quoting a listener "...He can only be heard in the quiet of the heart." (Page 17). Rabbi Vogel agrees "...I can see and feel His presence in the creation..." She makes numerous other references to feelings about God but does she have facts or reason on her side? No, and she does not want reason as an ally because reason is inadequate. "Human logic and rational thought or nature's laws do not fully provide that framework in a universally just way" (page 18). Pretending to be the subjectivists' worst enemy Schlessinger actually lends credence to their arguments by sharing the same moral roots - feelings. Lacking any concept of objective reasoning or logic Schlessinger refers to human attempts to understand the universe as "rationalizations". Here she retains the worst of her pop-psychology past by attributing unconscious motives to anyone who argues logically. For Dr Laura, people have a dual nature, part spiritual and part animal. When people deny the validity of God's commandments they are merely "rationalizing" their animalistic drives. The denial of reason permits Schlessinger to state "Judaism has always rejected all the caste and race ideologies of the ancient world..." despite the fact that the Old Testament permitted slavery and commanded different treatment for Jewish and gentile slaves. A Jewish priest must be descended from Aaron and strict bloodlines must be followed. Jewishness itself, is passed through the mother's line. To pretend that Judaism is a kind of predecessor to the 14th Amendment is an extraordinary feat of intellectual evasion made possible by ignoring reality and simply "feeling" that it is true. As a guide to morality this book is worthless. For true believers who seek to assuage their doubts it may help.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, But Misses the Bigger Picture entirely
Review: By writing on this subject, Dr. Laura has opened herself up to an entirely new audience, and to a new level of accountability for truth (Read the Bible quotes on God's higher standard for anyone who claims to teach his words--woe to false (even if simply naive) teachers. Book was ok as far as explaining the 10 Commandments, however she uses quotes from many Christians and fails to point out the critical foundational view that Christians have of the 10 Commandments -- which is that the 10 C's main purpose is to point to the human inability to keep those commandments perfectly. The 10 C's cause us to recognize that we will never do them well enough, because God's standard is perfection. God gave us Jesus Christ so that we could stand before a perfectly holy God, clothed in Christ's righteousness, given to us as a gift. To fail to mention this while using Christian quotes seems fraudulent to me. Trying to keep the 10 Commandments apart from Christ leads to pride & self-righteousness (if we think we're doing well) or despair (if we realize how far we fall short). My prayer for Dr. Laura is that she does not attempt to USE God to backup her previous opinions, but that she truly open up to God and ask for his wisdom, even if its not what she expects. And meanwhile I hope she doesn't put all her readers on a performance treadmill, trying to please God through their works because its clear in the Bible that that will never happen. It is our gratitude to God for what he has already done (thru Christ) that leads us to greater love to God and to others.
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Summary: "Rules" seldom change lives
Review: Dr. Laura has done a fair job of explaining the commandments. I'd like to hear her "explain" the people of the Old Testament to whom these commandments were (supposedly) first given. (I don't actually believe it ever happened. I believe one of Dr. Laura's high priest ancestors from a few thousand years ago sat down one day and wrote out the commandments he decided needed to be imposed on society from his point of view). No doubt, the ideas and principles are good-I believe in honesty and integrity and morality. However--LOOK at the people they were given to, & the subsequent generations of people who were instructed to keep them. They were never able to do it! As a matter of fact, nearly every generation (if you believe the Bible) ended up abandoning them completely and resorting to complete debauchery & evil. Those RULES placed a burden of guilt on the people that they were NEVER capable of living up to, and subsequently, they gave up and quit trying. God's "chosen" people were some of the bloodiest and most barbaric people who ever lived--slaughtering their "neighbors" right and left (at God's command, of course--the same God who "issued" the Ten Commandments). If you choose to believe the Old Testament, which is based mainly on pagan myths. Dr. Laura is right on in what she believes about moral character. There is a need for the commandments. But she is operating from her "mind" and not her "heart." Telling people what is wrong with them will not change them. Telling an alcoholic that he is stupid to drink, will not stop him from drinking. (It will only increase his sense of shame and failure). Telling a 14 year old who has been sexually abused all her life to "Honor her parents" will not resolve the inner conflict between what she knows and what the "rule" implies. Life just isn't that black & white. Dr. Laura will never "fix" the world with her "rules." People are human, and they fail. It's a fact of life. And there are a thousand "gray" areas in every human life. One day, when Dr. Laura begins to combine the compassion & forgiveness of God in her "heart" with the knowledge in her "mind", she will be truly effective--not in shocking people, but in honestly helping them.
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Summary: Couldn't put this down.
Review: Dr. Laura has done another outstanding job! This is one of my favorite books of hers. Also recommend "How Could You Do That?!" This book is great and I would recommend it to people of all or no faiths - not just those from a Judeo-Christian background. She brings in real-life examples to the Ten Commandments. This is a book that I am sure I will read and refer to again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent source of inspiration & understanding
Review: Dr. Laura is controversial, no doubt. That's what makes this book a MUST READ for any parentŠor child. Try it! You will find you will talk with your kids about its contents. Dr. Laura puts an unusual and uplifting focus upon morality.
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Summary: The 10C's on the dissecting table
Review: Dr. Schlessinger and Rabbi Vogel have organized their book in the most straightforward fashion imaginable. The 319 pages of text are doled out at the rate of one chapter per commandment, in numerical order. The back cover contains a handy condensed list which shows, at a glance, how the commandments divide into two natural groups. The first group, 1 through 4, contains doctrinal commands bearing directly on religious practices and traditions. The second group, 5 through 10, consists of social interaction rules which are not intrinsically religious at all, but rather address behavioral issues very familiar to anyone who has reached adulthood in the company of other humans. It has always seemed to me that the doctrinal commandments (I'm your God; don't worship any other gods; don't blaspheme; keep the Sabbath) offer next-to-zero practical guidance for solving moral problems. Hence I was especially curious to see how Dr. Schlessinger and Rabbi Vogel would treat the initial four commandments in their effort to relate them to everyday life. One answer is, "thoroughly" -- roughly 44,000 words of commentary for 190 words of commandment. The result literally defies summary, but I'll try. C1). The authors characterize the First Commandment as a challenge to take relationships with God seriously, as a means for laying down the authority of one God, and as a reminder that proper interaction with God is covenantal, not casual. Five supporting points are made by stating reservations that a person might have in accepting doctrinal-command obligations, then giving a rejoinder or counter-argument in parentheses. The first is "Abdication of personal freedom (but not so - you always retain free will)." Fair enough. The fifth is "Acquiescence of intellect to ancient mysticism (but imagining one's own intellect as the ultimate possible intelligence and power is supreme arrogance)." Oops. Note that the rejoinder spuriously attempts to limit the possible responses to two. In truth the reader does NOT have to choose between a) acquiescing to mysticism or b) appointing himself Master of the Universe. It is entirely possible to reject mysticism and remain one's humble self. In fact, I and many others do it regularly. In the end, the First Commandment remains about as simple as it sounds: I'm the main man; I rescued you from Egypt; take it or leave it. C2). In the opening pages of the C2 (false idols) chapter, the authors quote from Exodus 34:6,7, describing God as one "...Who cleanses -- but does not cleanse completely, recalling the iniquity of parents upon children and grandchildren...". In my Bible, a similar threat of generational pass-through punishment for idolatry is included in the wording of C2 itself (Exodus 20:5,6). If there is any moral point on which every resident of Earth could intellectually and instinctively agree, it would be that each child is rightfully born innocent. What, then, should we think of an authority figure who takes vengeance by deliberately subverting that eminently just and fair principle? According to Dr. Schlessinger and Rabbi Vogel, C2 is taken so seriously in Judaism that breaking it, i.e. engaging in idolatry, is a sin one must be willing to die to avoid. They go on to define idolatry as everything from full-blown, golden-calf idol worship down to common foibles such as superstitions, Princess Diana fixations, egocentrism, bowing to feelings, selfish pursuit of happiness, and love of things or style. If you would, then, rather die than break C2, you'll be very careful or very short-lived. Having twice absorbed all 39 pages of C2 elucidation, I can pretty confidently reduce it to this: God is really, really touchy about competition. C3) and C4). My reading of the C3 (blasphemy) chapter led to an interesting discovery. Back on page 33 of the C2 chapter, the authors had pointed to mass killings in Russia, the Third Reich, China and Cambodia as "blatant testimonials to godless chaos and cruelty," the implication being that if people who are not religious do bad things, it must be BECAUSE they are not religious. A little additional thinking would have helped the authors realize that lack of Judeo-Christian religiosity may, or may not, account for a given instance of bad behavior. I wondered why the alternative cases where bad things are done by religious people, such as Northern Ireland, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, etc., were omitted. A partial answer came when I reached page 93, at the end of the C3 chapter. Sure enough, the Crusaders were condemned for "raping and murdering with the sign of the cross embroidered on their chests and banners," but as blasphemers, not as religious criminals! That, I had to concede, was ingenious. Evidently the reasoning goes as follows: No evil can be done by religious people, because if you're evil, you're not really religious. So the Crusaders can be passed off as blasphemers who were merely masquerading as murderous religious zealots. It is a perfectly circular bit of Catch-22 logic that Yossarian, the Abyssinian bombardier, would have loved. The fullsome C4 chapter says, six ways to Saturday, that the Sabbath or day of rest is enhancing and uplifting, provided it is dedicated to spiritually acceptable activities. A list of suggestions is provided to clarify what is acceptable. Coincidentally, there are 10 of them. Having learned many things about the four doctrinal commandments, I was nevertheless left with the depressingly tautological conclusion that they can be inspiring, but only if you are religious to begin with, or become religious while studying them. The remainder of the book, covering the social interaction commandments 5 through 10, deals with common-sense moral rules that can help anyone, religious or not. But they consist of isolated cases rather than embodying a general principle that covers all situations. I can't write much more and stay within the Amazon word limit, so suffice it to say that I'm coming to believe the moral-guidance value of the 10 C's is rather overrated, and the power of the golden rule is definitely underrated.
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Summary: Who is she kidding?
Review: For a doctor Dr. Laura does not know much about life. She preaches about being good and following the ten commandments, but she bends them to fit her own needs. Its really hard getting along with your parents. I have too. But Dr. Laura can't get along with her Mom, so she just bends that one enough to where She doesn't have to follow it but she pretends that its ok for her. That is a terrible example. She thinks she doesn't have to get along with her Mom, and she won't even talk to her...for something like ten years now. She says in her book that .... the commandment doesn't say you have to "love you parents". If she had bothered to read the New Testament she would have read about a great Jewish man named Jesus who when asked, ... which of the commandments is the greatest.... He answered.... I give you a NEW commandment..... THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Dr. Laura needs to learn something about love and soon because she is only kidding herself.
Rating:
Summary: Move over, devil, I'm on my way.
Review: Heaven is vacant and hell will be crammed full. I can never be this good. I pray that God IS merciful and full of pity for me, a miserable sinner. As you read this book, keep in mind that Dr Laura is all about being provocative and outrageous. That's what keeps her on the air. She's opinionated, but she will be the first to say so, and that's what people call to hear. Take her with a grain of salt; she will make you think about your own interpretation of the Ten Commandments. Pay special attention to the areas where you think she's full of prunes; that's probably where you need work.
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