Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book 1 [Hardcover]

I've never written a review on any book but after reading many negative reviews on this one, I felt obliged to defend Mr. Walsch and his attempt to help his fellow man from mind deceptions that generations of non-thinking humans have forced upon us. Fortunately, most people understand the message of self-love and acceptance that are presented in these pages. I have noticed that the only negative thoughts are from "true" Christians. These people seem to feel they are superior in their knowledge of God and Christian truths and yet I am willing to bet if a prostitute, drug addict, sex addict, murderer, etc. were to ask them for help or try to join their churches, they would be shown the door and discard like refuse (not ALL Christians FEEL this way but their ACTIONS contradict their well-intentions). These types of "Christians" are the kind who think these "deviants" will corrupt their moral fiber, children, and their way of life in general when they in actuality are doing it themselves by teaching their children REJECTION and FEAR. It is irony at it's best that men who HATE evil, unconsciously impose it upon themselves and others because they commune only with others with their same beliefs. This is ALL about sustaining a COMFORT LEVEL and REJECTING REALITY. The reality is that not everyone understands the Bible and your actions make others NOT WANT TO SEARCH FOR GOD. You then call them lost children, doomed to wander "godless". You know they will be punished ONE DAY! Your beliefs are sad and almost comical. Fundamentalists, know this, YOU ARE the "godless" because you don't think for yourselves. I am a follower of Christ myself and ernestly seek to follow his teachings. These CWG books follow all of his teachings of love and acceptance. I find nothing deceptive in these pages. Mr. Walsch does have a conversation with "himself" and he never denies that fact, at the same time he realizes that he is part of something much bigger than himself, a force, a truth, a light, a God with many part and many manifestations. Many men have done this through history famous and not famous. Jesus was only one. Christians miss Christ's message by looking right past it, which is, YOU can be as I AM. This is done not by the blind following of the man himself but by soul searching and love "SINNERS" just as HE DID. Christians are the WEAKEST spiritually because they deny the human gift of exsistance and all of its pleasures which GOD has given us. The saddest thing is that the STRICT FUNDAMENTALS are the one who want the fleshly "SINS" the MOST!!! The non-fundamentalist does not obsess on these trivials but accepts the gifts which make life worth living. For example, I myself have never regretted a sexual experence immediately afterwards nor in hindsight. The man who regrets is the man who does not accept his humanity and HATES others who DO LOVE and ACCEPT themselves for "Who They Really Are" as Mr. Walsch puts it. Sex is only one example. This book breathes truths of a living God that is with us every hour of every day, in fact, He/It is us and we are He/It. Many of these fundamentalists don't think beyond their "box" because of FEAR, a limiting emotion that shuts down human sensitivities and seperates them from the human family which they HATE and call "EVIL". They are haters of MANKIND and teach their followers we are all born into SIN and not LOVE yet the Bible teaches that we and God are One. I see nothing in this book that contradicts Genesis' claim that we are made in God's image and likeness. We are His image because We are physical manifestations of Him. We are His likeness because We are Creators just as He is. The evidence that man-made religions are destructive is so clear and evident through history. "Christians" called the American-Indians pagans because they did not know Christ, even though these Indians shared their bread and land with them and never forced their God or culture upon the white men. These "followers" of Jesus Christ the "Only" Son of Man, in return, tricked the American Indian into forfeiting their land and when this didn't work they enslaved them or outright slaughtered them ALL IN THE NAME OF GOD and the PROMISE of a HOMELAND (they didn't see or understand the HOMELAND is our planet). Christians, this is only one example of your true history out of THOUSANDS, although the message of love is heard through your ears, your idea that you are seperate from God allows you to claim ignorance. The fact is, you choose to be ignorant. Christians the ETERNAL LIFE you seek is NOW not later. Quit seeking and hating your fellow men. You are as ignorant as they are. We all need to grow our CONSCIENCENESS together as a WHOLE and not as different parts. Neil Donald Walsch's book are an eye opener for any layman who is unhappy with himself. I earge any critic of these books to open his or her third eye and quit living your life in hope for DEATH to give you the paradise promised. Paradise is here on earth. The garden of eden can be ours if we all work together to restore it and love each other as Christ loved everyone. Fundamentals, I tell you this, you will never convert strong and loving humans, you will convert fearful, self-hating, power driven, weak-minded humans with superiority complexes. This is the true evil in our world because it claims to be TRUTH and is it's opposite. You will all self destruct and blow away like the wind that clears the path for people to see. YOU MUST, MUST, MUST, MUST, MUST think for yourselves! I beg you to re-evalute yourselves and love existance for the gift it really is. Thank you Mr. Walsch for being a voice for the common man and hopefully opening the eyes to a new millenium of humans with SELF-LOVE as our TRUTH. Without SELF-LOVE you are the embodiment of SELF-FEAR and ultimately, SELF-HATE.

I am a real skeptic on the subject of automatic writing or channeling. I don't beliee God needs any channel other than His/Her direct link to my soul to communicate with me. So I began my experience with this book with a healthy dose of skepticism.

As I read, I encountered passage after passage where the message resonated with my life experiences and with long-held, unarticulated beliefs. The book literally transformed me at a fundamental level that I, at the age of 51, did not believe was possible. Or even desirable. Yet, I find I like myself better now and I am at peace in my center.

Whether God -- whatever you understand Him, Her or It to be -- actually spoke to and through Walsch to you or whether you conclude these are Waslch's studied ideas passed on to you in the form of a God dialog, you will find the content to be thought-provoking, challenging, and immensely spiritually insightful.

Ultimately, I think books such as this should be judged not on their claims but on their results. In my case, the result is a spiritual renewal that has my family, friends, coworkers and acquaintances staring in genuine shock. My life has been changed...and I can now make a real contribution to changing the world.

I just read a preview of Book 2 and I can't wait. Meanwhile, I'm re-reading this one and highlighting things that are particulary important to me.

If you're an open-minded person who believes that God never stops talking to us, then you really owe it to yourself to buy this book. It may not change your life as it has mine, but it will certainly challenge your thinking. And that, in the final analysis, is the best commentary I can offer on any book.

..but I could not make myself finish this one.

I have believed for a long time now that all religious doctrines at their most basic level are all telling humanity the same things: "you know when you're doing something wrong, so don't do it; do unto others as you'd have done to you." As with any kind of doctrine, religious or otherwise, individuals and/or organizations will re-interpret, alter, confuse, criticize, twist, etc, etc, those doctrines to serve their own purposes.

As I began reading "Conversations with God", it appeared at first to confirm my own theories. I eagerly looked forward to reading it through. But before I finished the first chapter, I couldn't return it to the bookstore fast enough. I didn't even want it collecting dust on my bookshelf. I found it superficial and self-serving. To quote another Amazon review titled "God of Baby Boomers", 12/12/1996: "The morals (or the lack thereof) in the universe seem a TAD convenient for what the boomer generation is hungry for (essentially, do what feels good...and gobble up all the money and sex that feels right for you)."

I admit I am no literary critic. Bottom line, this book just creeped me out.