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  • Possible SpoilerVery, very interesting. I think this is a very interesting look at the power of suggestion. The main character, Jason, invents a religion in which they worship the water tower. The reader never really gets the idea that Jason completely believes in what he is spreading, however, his ... Continue

    Possible SpoilerVery, very interesting. I think this is a very interesting look at the power of suggestion. The main character, Jason, invents a religion in which they worship the water tower. The reader never really gets the idea that Jason completely believes in what he is spreading, however, his friend Shin becomes obsessed with it. I would love to discuss this with students, other Christians, basically anyone who will read it besides me.Hautman did a nice job writing the "holy text" and integratting it into the headings on each chapter. I think this made it more accessable to the reader and less heavy then if he had included it right within the text.Quotes & Questionsp. 89 Jason is speaking to the reader which is interesting in itself, rarely does a narrator stop and talk to the reader...You don't believe any of this, do you? Do you really think that I think the St. Andrew Valley water tower is the all-powerful, all-seeing ruler of all-that-is? Let me ask you something. Do you think every single person sitting in, say, your local church (or temple or mosque or coven or whateer the hell it is your parents drag you to) believes everything they hear? What about the guy who goes to church on Sunday but cheats on his taxes. That's a sin, right? If he truly believed in God, would he sin?But that doesn't mean the tax cheat isn't religious. Religious is a whole different kettle of fish, as my grandmother would say. I'm religious. And I'm serious. Serious as a heart attack (Grandma again). Chutengodianism is important to me. But that doesn't mean I think that a big steel tank propped up on a few I-beams is omnipotent. I might be a religious zealot, but I'm not crazy.So, you ask, how can Jason Bock be serious about a religion that worships a false god?Are you kidding?You ever watch a football game and get totally into it? Why? It's not a real battle. It's just a game somebody made up. So how can you take it seriously? Or, you ever see a movie that made you cry? Why? It wasn't real. You ever look at a photo of food that made your mouth water? Why? You can't eat the picture.Ah, you say, but the food that the picture shows is real. Is it really? Maybe that tasty-looking apples is made of wax. Maybe that loaf of bread is plastic. Maybe the football game is fixed. Maybe the movie is nothing but computer-generated pixels. So it's not as if the picture shows you reality. What you see is somebody's idea of reality.Same thing with water towers and God. I don't have to be a believer to be serious about my religion.What does this say about Jason? Is he a hypocrite?p. 145 Jason and his dad discuss Chutengodianism and compare it to Catholicism"You are comparing worshiping a water tower to a two-thousand-year-old religion.”“What's the difference? It's all made up anyway”I may have gone too far. The vein in his left temple is pulsing.He stands up abruptly and walks out of the room. Two minutes later he is back, carrying a stack of books.“Since you’re so interested in theology, you might want to read these.” He sets the books on my desk. “I'll expect book reports on all five of them a week from next Friday.”I think this particular quote is the heart of what a lot of teenagers think about organized religion. This quote kind of makes me think this might be a good book for a youth group to read and discuss. Maybe assess how they can help their peers to know the truth about Christianity. What do you think about Jason's reaction? His Dad's?p. 146 Jason’s conversation with Just Al, his youth leader (of sorts, anyways, it was called TPO) and the other youthMe: Why is it that new religions always get persecuted?Just Al: What do you mean?Me: The Jews were persecuted by the Egyptians, the Christians were persecuted by the Romans, and the Protestants were persecuted by the Catholics. The Pilgrims came to America because everybody in England was giving them a hard time. Every time somebody starts up a new religion, the old religions get all twisted over it.Just Al: I, uh, er...Me: What does the pope care if some kid in St. Andrew Valley decides to worship dogs?Just Al: Ha ha ha!Brianna: Jason, you are so lame!I catch Magda’s eye and wink at her, Chutegodian to Chutengodian. She looks away, flustered.Me: this is a democracy, right? I mean, I have a right to worship dog piss if I want to.Brianna: That is just sick.George: Why dog piss?Me: Why anything? Why not worship the sun? Why not worship a water tower? Isn’t it arbitrary?Tracy: How can it be arbitrary? God isn’t a made-up thing. He’s God.Me: Prove it.Tracy: I don’t have to prove it. I know it.Just Al: I have to agree with Tracy here. I know that God is real. I feel his presence in my heart.Me: What does it feel like?Just Al: It’s hard to describe, Jason. It feels good.Me: Oh. I thought maybe it was like heartburn or something.Another great teaching passage for a pastor or youth group leader.How could have Just Al have handled this conversation differently? Do you think he was affective the way he handled it?

    

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• ― SheReads said on Mar 5, 2007 | Add your feedback

"Why mess around with Catholicism when you can have your own customized religion?"

Fed up with his parents' boring old religion, agnostic-going-on-atheist Jason Bock invents a new god -- the town's water tower. He recruits an unlikely group of worshippers: his snail-farming best friend, Shin, cute-as-a-button (whatever that means) Magda Price, and the violent and unpredictable Henry Stagg. As their religion grows, it takes on a life of its own. While Jason struggles to keep the faith pure, Shin obsesses over writing their bible, and the explosive Henry schemes to make the new faith even more exciting -- and dangerous.

When the Chutengodians hold their first ceremony high atop the dome of the water tower, things quickly go from merely dangerous to terrifying and deadly. Jason soon realizes that inventing a religion is a lot easier than controlling it, but control it he must, before his creation destroys both his friends and himself.

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