In this broad philosophical examination of the relationship between religion and the family, Jay Newman delves into issues concerning Biblical religion, culture, sociology, and family values. He maintains that recent media debates about the Bible and family values have obscured the complex relationship between the family and religion.

Focusing on how the family values that the Biblical literature imparts might be relevant--or irrelevant--to family problems and other cultural problems in a modern Western democracy, this study contributes to the understanding of basic cultural relations between religion and the family. After reflecting on the effects of much Biblical teaching on the family, the book proceeds to explore the cultural and existential significance of competition and cooperation between Biblical religion and the family.

From a seasoned insider of global finance comes a "stimulating, relevant, and dramatic" (The Wall Street Journal) thriller about a group of American operatives who secretly take over the world's largest dark money fund--"a gripping thriller that takes you into the world of New York hedge funds, Russian money launderers, and DC power politics [that] makes you feel like you're actually there" (Bill Browder, author of Red Notice). When a US airdrop of billions of dollars disap-pears in the desert sands of Syria, only a small group of military operatives knows its ultimate destination or why it has been stolen. Their goal is no less than the restoration of America's geopolitical dominance on the global stage. Essential to this scheme are Greta Webb, a sophisticated CIA operative who is an expert on dark money, not to mention lethally skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and Elias Vicker, the damaged, dangerous soul who runs the world's largest hedge fund. To achieve its goals, the group must form dangerous alliances. One is with the hidden family that manages the largest private pool of capital that has ever existed. Another is with Fyodor Volk, the ruthless founder of Russia's most successful private military company, a mercenary with ties to Vladimir Putin. Volk has his eye on Greta. She would be wise to avoid him but cannot. Arcing from Manhattan's finest apartments to Washington, DC, from Middle Eastern war zones to private European bank vaults, Jay Newman's Undermoney follows the Americans as they are enmeshed in the world of dark money and confront ever-increasing danger. Ultimately, they must decide whether their objectives are worth the cost of sacrificing not just a few but potentially many human lives. "Unexpectedly timely" (The New Yorker), Undermoney is a "wildly entertaining peek behind the curtain of American politics, financial skullduggery, and high-stakes global conflict" (Nelson DeMille).

In an age of terrorism, religious skirmishing, global revolution and counterrevolution, political assassinations, moral conflict, and unceasing turmoil, there are many ideas and concepts that remain in desperate need of clarification not the least of these are fanaticism and hypocrisy. Newman's fascinating investigation sheds much-needed light on these concepts.

Each chapter has three types of learning aides for students: open-ended questions, multiple-choice questions, and quantitative problems. There is an average of about 50 per chapter. There are also a number of worked examples in the chapters, averaging over 5 per chapter, and almost 600 photos and line drawings.

The subject of competition between religion and television has, if only indirectly, received considerable attention, particularly from religionists disturbed by the threat posed by television programming to traditional religious beliefs, values, and attitudes. This detailed study considers the competing cultural forces of television and religion from a wider and more theoretical perspective. Newman examines the major forms of competition and the various motives and strategies of the people and groups involved. His philosophical approach allows us to see that the most important aspect of competition between television and religion is their rivalry as cultural forces. In this rivalry, religion continues to have a profound influence on the shaping of television, just as it has always had on all newly developing forms of culture.