No, I have not read the book. I first became aware of the book yesterday
when I read your response to Tom Pearson. I must say that your response
came across to me as astounding. (But I respect you.) So, doing the next
best thing, I looked for book reviews and found the one by Barbara
Ehrenreich. What she said struck me as careful and knowledgeable. And she
comes to what seems to me as a reasonable assessment.
Burgy, you have not really responded to her concerns. Instead, you have
attempted to dismiss it with the comment "one critical review hardly makes
the case." It might.
Look. I am willing to stipulate that there are extreme examples such as
your 1938 Berlin example when practicing honesty is problematic. But
Christians have responded to such situations in varying ways.
What comes out of a variety of examples, I believe, is this:
1. "Honesty" is seldom ambiguous, but can be difficult to apply.
2. In contrast, what constitutes "integrity" is highly subjective -- even
in the cases you cite. Does this not bother you? Given human nature, it
certainly bothers me.
I suggest you read or reread Corrie tin Boom's _The Hiding Place_. Some
Christians were scrupulously honest when few of us would be, and God
honored it. Others were not, and God honored that. So your case against
honesty seems less than obvious.
Gordie