Like we said in class, it's interesting that books used to get banned because now everything is on the internet and there's no way to stop the viral spread of newsworthy information. Today what makes books so much more acceptable? How come it feels more "ok" to read a book with inappropriate content than to watch a movie with the same content? Religion today is not as sacred to the majority of people as it once was. Because of the internet, religion as become more widespread; however its practice has become less prevalent.
I'm currently reading a book called "Left to Tell." It's about a survivor's experience through the Rwandan Holocaust. She talks about her attitude throughout the experience as she lost every member of her family, yet still retained a solid faith in God.
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"A Thousand Splendid Suns" and "Kite Runner" by Khaled Housseini are also religious affiliated books that made discuss the dominant religious beliefs and cultures of many Middle Eastern countries. “A Thousand Splendid Suns” reflects the male-dominant society and the torture that women experience in their lives because of the religious beliefs that are forced upon them.
-What is so captivating about reading books whose authors and characters have completely different beliefs than our own?
-Does reading these books enhance our understanding of other religious beliefs and diminish our own or the other way around or both?
-Can we all have a spiritual experience by reading a book that talks about religion that is completely not of our faith?
Books can be tricky. I feel like there are so many books that share messages that go against our beliefs, yet we seem to get sucked into them because they are "well written", they "have a good story line" or it's just "a good book." With that said, I do think we need to be careful in choosing which books we read the same way we need to be careful in determining which movies to watch. All to often, in my opinion, to many people are reading books that would be rated R or worse if they were a movie. So, in that light, books can have a negative effect on our own spiritual growth.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I also think that books not of our faith do have the ability to enhance our spirituality depending on the content and the message. We can learn valuable lessons from view points of people from other faiths. We can also see how individuals from other faiths interact with others and how they handle different situations. Some stories can be very motivating and faith building even if they are not specifically about people in the LDS faith or community.
I am not a very big reader but I know of some books that my parents or siblings have read that I would be interested in reading that deal with other faiths and their backgrounds and stories. I have learned valuable lessons from people of other faiths through hearing stories or simply observing their way of life. I think that books can be a great way to learn these valuable lessons as long as we apply the message appropriately in our own lives.
it was interesting to me to read "a thousand splendid suns" because, like you said, it portrays a very male dominant society- something of which i'm not used to here in america. but at the same time you have to be careful because books are still from the author's point of view and may not completely capture the whole picture. so while much of what he wrote might be accurate, i would be foolish to base my entire opinion of middle eastern culture soley off that book. i think that's what makes those kinds of books so interesting, is because we dont really know anything about that culture and all we have to go on (unless we visit there personally) is what we see in the media or read in books.
ReplyDeletei dont think reading books like that necessarily have to diminish our beliefs at all. i think they can be enhanced about others cultures while maintaining our own identity and beliefs. a person just has to remember that they live their lives according to what they think is right- which may not coincide with what we think is right in our own culture.
so yes i do think that a person can have a spiritual experience while reading of other faiths, if for no other reason than to see that another religions belief on the treatment of women isnt right, based on what they believe in their own religion to be "right"
Reading spiritual books or books with different religious views is like living every day of our lives -- we use the Spirit to discern or pick out the truths amidst any errors. I am reminded of a quote by Elder George Q. Cannon which my English professor gave me the first day of class:
ReplyDeleteAnd there is no sect or party upon the face of the earth that we have ever read or heard about that does not possess some principles of truth. . . .Confucius, Socrates, Mahomet, Plato and the noted men of antiquity, as well as those who had lived in modern days, who taught truth, had not the keys of the Holy Priesthood nor the power and authority thereof to guide them in their teachings; hence, they ran into errors, and this gave rise to a great variety of views and doctrines and to schools of divinity that have existed and that still exist among the children of men. The truth which they had was not unmixed with error, and many times the error was in larger proportion than the truth. This of course made everything uncertain, and the great cause of thankfulness which we as a people now have is the removal of this uncertainty and the bestowal of reliable knowledge, pure unadulterated truth.
D&C 91 says of the Apocrypha that "there are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly; there are many things contained therein that are not true, which are interpolations by the hands of men...Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth; And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall benefit therefrom; And whoso recieveth not by the Spirit, cannot be benefitted.
These readings should not so dominate our lives that we neglect the writings and pure doctrines of our own scriptures and modern-day prophets. Yet I believe there is much good that can be taken out of such books.
I think it is good to read books writtn by people of other religions. I agree with thr previous post that they shouldn't be our only source of information about that religion or dominate our lives but I do think that they are good and can give some first hand information about a religion. It's also good to go to written materials from thr leaders of the religion but it's neat to have first hand accounts. However, I also do believe that we should realize that what is being written is the opinion of one person in the religion and does not speak for the religion at whole unless the author is a leader.
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