@Vic – +1 on your comment re: Joel Osteen and his prosperity gospel.

@BigRed – I too am interested in Islamic law and finances, in particular it’s treatment of interest. No interest is an interesting concept :-)

Not to nitpick, but actually it was Peter who denied knowing Christ. Judas betrayed him to the chief priests which led to his arrest, his condemnation and his crucifixion.

I certainly don’t understand all the tip-toeing about on religion but I think the heads-up is a good courtesy to your readers.

My question is this: why is this sort-of question generally so one-sided? In other words, why do so many of you think of religion shoving things down your throat and not think of anyone who holds to any position at all “shoving things down your throat?” How is writing on and exploring things from a faith-based point of view “shoving things down” anyone’s throat? Have we come so far that we must apologize anytime we invoke religion, faith, or God? Is that true tolerance? I don’t know of anybody that writes a post and says up-front: “Now be careful, I’m going to post from my secular, liberal point-of-view and I don’t want to offend those of you who do not hold that point-of-view.”

The idea that we must apologize for what we believe, whether liberal or conservative, religious or non-religious, troubles me. We should be willing to consider the truth of another position and hear someone out from their perspective. Responding with “don’t shove that down my throat” to another person speaking forthrightly, firmly but considerately and clearly from their point-of-view is not true tolerance but shallow and lazy. If you’re truly open-minded and tolerant, then “put your money where your mouth is” and give an ear. Just a thought.

Anyways, I think we all need to understand the significance of our own “worldviews” and recognize that none of us operate from a completely value-free, unstructured, frameless mindset. Nor do anyone of else really hold that all worldviews are equal and exchangable. Push all of us to the limit and we would like to think that our worldview is true or that we at least hold to some basic true beliefs, anyone who doesn’t is either willing to live in cartoon-land or has some serious angst issues. I recommend James Sires, “The Universe Next Door.”

Keep up the great blogging!

Like one of the earlier commenters said, a good idea is good, irrespective of where it originated.

You are a preacher of good PF habits and practices, and if you need to quote or relate to references which include religious texts, by all means.

This blog is a personal finance blog. If you were to decide to not review a personal finance book because it contains Christian theology and teachings, then you are moving your blog from personal finance to something else entirely. Instead of making a statement on personal finance (which is the whole reason I come here), you are making a statement on the value of Christian content.

I’m glad you’re going to review this book. And I think it’s worth pointing out that you seemed to have no problem reviewing “Your Money or Your Life” despite it’s “New Age-y” themes. I doubt there could be any good arguments for including New Age thinking in personal finance while excluding Christian thinking.

While I understand your reasons for not doing it so far, I applaud your willingness to open the discussion up to matters of faith as it relates to financial management. And I would still applaud even if I did not share your beliefs.

I’m sorry to disagree with you, but I couldn’t agree less with that statement.

Most of the close-mindedness and bigotry I encounter comes from Christians beating me over the head (usually metaphorically) with their religious diatribe. Your comment that ‘no alarm bells go off in your head’ simply indicates that you are part of the vocal majority religion held in this land. What to you is ‘preconceived notions and judgements’ is to myself and other people simply experience.

I do look forward to both Trent’s review of and my own reading of Margin and I am grateful when Trent mentiones his faith in his posts – they add to a more complete view of his personality and present more of a context in what he says. I don’t see him as ashamed of his faith (your words) but as considerate of his readers — not all of whom share his religious faith, but do share many of his experiences and goals in the financial matters of their life.

“You are correct when you say that a simple mention of religion is NOT a religious agenda. But it rarely stops at a simple mention and, sadly, usually develops into a heated agenda-laden argument rather than a wonderful discussion of philosophical differences and religious similarities.

“This just shows preconceived notions and judgements about people without even listening to them.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Second, reading through these comments, there is a lot of close-mindedness and bigotry here. Comments like “I don’t think a personal finance book is any place for a religious agenda.” and “As a non-Christian, little bells go off in my head whenever faith is mentioned.” This just shows preconceived notions and judgements about people without even listening to them. People need to be very open-minded, and yet very firm in their beliefs. If someone mentions God or atheism to me, no alarm bells go off in my head. And the simple mention is religion does not indicate a religious agenda. People need to listen to others, understand where others are coming from, and understand what other people believe in. There’s a huge different between being open-minded and wishy-washy. We don’t need to be the latter. We have the right — and even the responsibility — to be firm in our beliefs. We need to debate our beliefs politely with others, and work with each other towards the betterment of society and ourselves. This might involve incorporating religious beliefs, and it might involve incorporating non-religious philosophical beliefs. But please don’t be judgemental and bigoted towards others simply because they hold a belief you don’t.

No matter what faith or no faith, like you said, one would be foolish not to draw wisdom where it is available. You are doing great, keep it up.

No matter what faith or no faith, like you said, one would be follish not to draw wisdom where it is available. You are doing great, keep it up.

Honestly as a Christian I hate most Christian living books.

I often feel like they put too much pressure on people to be a particular way, they simplify complex issues and make people feel left out (Christians, I mean), etc. They act as if being a Christian solves all your problems…forgetting so many people with strong faith who have battled depression and feelings of abandonment even by God. There you have it..

The reason I look forward to reading about this on your blog is a) Life balance is definitely an issue for me. b) I think you’ll be presenting the best parts of the book and not in the fashion which drives me away.

As far as the book, sounds interesting and more or less up my alley. For the last year or so, I’ve been pushing to create a more peaceful life. I went from being a commercial video editor working from 9am – 8pm most nights, frequently worked overtime until 1-2am, and even worked 32 hour shifts straight at some points. I had clients who were abusive, workaholics, some even cried, and others who had no business ethics. So I put a major focus on slowing down, finding writing work, and getting to know my true goals and happiness. So far, it’s been great.

http://www.theinnovativetraveler.com