Why are so many individuals discouraged, at spiritual dead ends, even when they are active participants in their churches? Righteous Religion exposes the authoritarian misuse of Christian teaching that often leaves its members ignored, chastised, or belittled. This new book offers hope for anyone who has struggled with disillusionment in the face of an unbending religious system. After unmasking a bewildering network of illusions that operate beneath the surface of Fundamentalism and dogmatic Catholicism, the authors help readers find their own voices of truth. This is a candid book that analyzes the grip of Fundamentalism and Catholicism on their respective followers, despite financial and sexual scandals, misuse of power and influence, apparent hypocrisy, and selective self-righteousness of these two religious systems.Using real life stories of ordinary people in ordinary churches, Righteous Religion demonstrates that the efforts involved in maintaining illusions are incompatible with claiming a personal spiritual voice. The authors discuss the relationship between the breakdown of erroneous notions and the growth that will involve readers in finding their own voice. From the stories presented, readers will see the journey progress from questioning previously unquestioned assumptions, reclaiming the best out of their religious traditions, and then transcending that which is no longer viable by grieving over illusions, learning to live with paradox, and transforming illusions into a new, valid, and spiritually personal religious truth.As readers begin the journey of finding their own spiritual voice, their experiences will be validated by the prose and stories in Righteous Religion. Those outside of Fundamentalism and Catholicism can begin to understand the practices of these religious groups through the authors'clear explanation of the dynamics and inner workings of creed bound Fundamentalism and Catholicism. This book has appeal to anyone--whether from within or outside religious tradition--who has questioned the grip of Fundamentalism and Catholicism on individuals.

This publication comprises the first monographic survey dedicated to artist Kevin Schmidt. Based in Vancouver, Schmidt is an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, video, photography and installation who has exhibited widely across North America and Europe. He is perhaps best known for performance expeditions and interventions into the natural world, which are documented in photographs, installations and videos, such as his eleven-and-a-half-hour Epic Journey, which documents a marathon nighttime screening of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in a small boat as it drifted down the Fraser River, or his Aurora with Roman Candle, which shows him firing roman candles at the Aurora Borealis.At a time when we might consider cultural production as being democratised through the Internet, Schmidt combines notions of the heroic with the seemingly amateur by using visible reminders of construction and theatrical devices-smoke machines, stage lights and DIY photographic equipment. Through this he proposes a utopian assertion of "the commons", where both land and culture are publicly accessible to all.Presented in partnership with Kamloops Art Gallery and Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, this publication features essays by Charo Neville, Kathleen Ritter and an artist interview with Nigel Prince. The book charts Schmidt's ongoing body of work addressing the tensions between man and nature, performance and document and indoors and outdoors. These propositions are tackled through references to landscape, the invocation of the sublime at the point of apprehending such wild beauty, and by juxtaposing seemingly disparate elements within these environments. Works are often situated in remote locations, where Schmidt stages remarkable events that transfer elements of urban culture into untouched natural contexts. In this way, he simultaneously examines both the seductive elements of contemporary cultural production and the constructions that surround the idea of nature.

Ian Wallace: At the Intersection of Painting and Photography is a monograph on the photographic work of one of Canada's most significant contemporary artists. Ian Wallace's influence is lasting and broad. He has made an outstanding impact on both his contemporaries and subsequent generations through his important work as an art historian, critic and educator and also through an art practice that has consistently demonstrated conceptual rigor and aesthetic innovation. The book draws together these key themes by presenting the images alongside essays split by nature Still image; Studio; Museum; Street and including a chronology of key works. This book covers the full range of his distinguished career and the principle themes that he has evolved over four decades of work.