Fans of To Kill a Mockingbird will not want to miss the special guest on this coming Friday’s edition of “Five Good Answers.” Best-selling author Charles Shields,who wrote biographies of Harper Lee – Mockingbird and I Am Scout, was kind enough to spend some time answering questions here onthe blog. He talks alittle about To Kill a Mockingbird, his opinions of Harper Lee, and his wonderful new biography of Kurt Vonnegut. Mr. Shields is a skilled and thoughtful biographer and an engaging personality. Iexpectyou will enjoy his answers.

Ipenned an Op-Ed for CNN.com last Fall about my book, The Mockingbird Parables, that highlighted the spiritual lessons we can draw from Lee’s classic novel. The piece drew over 200 comments and 1,000 recomendations on Facebook. On this “Mockingbird Monday”, I wanted to share it with those of you who missed itthe first time around:

The social relevance of Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird and the subsequent film is profound. It has remained a beacon of hope for the marginalized, pointing the way toward our continued pursuit for equality.

The novel has been described simply as the story of one man’s stand for racial justice, but we cannot ignore the other valuable messages–including Christian ones-fortoday’s culture of distrust.

From Wall Street to Washington to Main Street, it seems our decisions are governed by what is financially, politically, and socially expedient. Oour faith is more of an afterthought than a guiding force.

The many lessons of Lee’s novel can lead us back to a restorative way of making choices by following these four principles:

1. Try understanding others. The theme is revealed in lawyer Atticus Finch’s memorable explanation to his daughter: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view–until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

The Christian faith originated with a God who moved into our neighborhood, who”climbed into human skin and walked around in it,” and whotruly understands and connects with humanity…

Read the full article here: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/03/the-mockingbird-parables-christian-lessons-in-harper-lees-classic/?hpt=C2