Another winter storm

I'm starting to feel a little cabin fever - with two storms in a week! It's been snowing and blowing all day and I haven't even opened a door to look outside! At one point I thought I might go out to shovel the front walk, but then decided to get my exercise indoors on my rebounder. Way less cold! But there is bad weather everywhere it seems - snow in the north, tornadoes in the south. I spent the day reading - finished a book called "Jesus Land" which is a memoir. When I read things like this I cannot believe the things that people do in the name of God. I've read other things that detail abuse, but when it's done because of some strange religious beliefs it simply baffles me. The book is written from the teenage perspective of the woman writing it. It's the story of her family life, her adopted black brothers, their abuse, her abuse, and the parents finally sending one of her brothers and her to basically a Christian (and I use that term lightly!) "boot camp" in the Dominican Republic where more abuse is doled out in the name of Jesus. Do the people in charge really believe what they say and do, thinking that severe conditions and punishment are what God would require? How can parents pretend to be so pious when they treat their children in this way? It was a difficult book to read - and even more difficult when you realize this "boot camp" still exists and people pay LOTS of money to send their children there!! This is the book for next month's reading group we belong to at our church. It will certainly prompt an interesting discussion! This is a horrible, but important book if you have the stomach for it.