When people think of religion and literature, The DaVinci Code comes to mind. Its deep and detailed storyline was something that readers grasped on to. However, it was the book's controversial material that really put the book ahead in the race for religious truth. The controversy has created quite a stir among the religious. As we have learned
in class many study groups and religious classes have been created based solely on this book. Some have taken the popularity of the book and used it to create Web Sites that allegedly dispel the rumors and lay down the truth about Mary Magdalene and other DaVinci Code falsehoods. Below is an example of such a Web Site. The creator and content manager of this site have dedicated a large amount of time to "de-coding" The DaVinci Code. Most of the content is in response to the book and the claims that it makes about the Catholic church and Mary Magdalene. Such effort spent focused on proving false someone else's work seems like a waste of time and a bad idea if you want to convince people that the book is false.
To me, it is an example of the power of the medium of literature. Some put so much stock into fictitious literature that they spend most of their time trying to prove it is false (even though it is "fiction"), for fear of someone fostering ill feelings toward their beliefs. As my mother used say, "I wonder how much good people could people be doing with all the time they spend trying to prove other people wrong?"
The following video asks an interesting question:
(double click to view)
"How can a novel, a work of fiction, have such an impact?"
Exactly. A work of fiction. How does it have such an impact? And how has it cause you to hold a seminar for hundreds, maybe thousands, of people?
I don't know the answer to the questions above, but I do know that, in some cases, people are spending too much time worrying about this work of fiction and what it means to their faith.
On the other hand, I do feel that The DaVinci Code and other religious literature does do good among those that are "questing." At times, I am of the opinion that any press is good press for religion. Those who truly want to learn about the truth can be urged by books like The DaVinci Code and, through sincere research, can be educated and enlightened. Those who don't really care about religion and what the book says will take is as a good story, maybe accept some of the "facts" presented and move on.
With the explosion of the Internet at a tool for questing, what role does literature other than canonized scripture play in finding religious truth? Does religion benefit from any mention in literature or does some literature negatively affect it?
I find the hoopla about the Code very interesting. I believe that literature can play a strong role. One role that is plays is that it allows people to read about religion with having to read scriptures. There are people who want nothing to do with scriptures, but will read these fiction novels.
ReplyDeleteWith religion you have got to start somewhere.
Also the reason these works of fiction have impact is because we spend so much time talking about them. Much how the media new coverage can being something very insignificant to the forefront of conversation. These websites and conventions to disprove these books give them the press and popularity.
There are two kinds of books in regards to religion: those that mention religion only through allusions to a doctrine or a belief, and those that are solely based on doctrines and beliefs. I am afraid that the books which gain widespread recognition are not the ones solely about doctrine because those books tend to have a more “boring” reputation and are therefore only read by religious zealots.
ReplyDeleteThe exposure that the mainstream is getting to religion in literature is books that have quick allusions that do not fully explain the doctrine behind the allusion because it is not central to the premise of the book. Because of this, religion in literature may confuse people and bring up more questions. This could be good if the reader is willing to begin questing for an answer once a question arises, but I think more often than not people just accept what they read and do not take the time to search for an answer.
I think fiction books, just like any other book can have a huge impact in someone’s life. Not all fiction books are about unicorns and Star Wars. Fiction books such as PUSH, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Color Purple, etc. have story lines that are believable and can make the reader irate because of the high level of hatred some of the characters have to go through and the pain they suffer in life. The reader is then put into a position where they find themselves questioning what they would do to fix the problem or if it was themselves being abused.
ReplyDeleteAnother good example is C.S. Lewis who is famous for his fiction books...but yet he is the most quoted person (other than other General Authorities) of members of the church throughout the world; including the Prophet!
Therefore, the classification of the book does not determine the emotions involved. Another good example is the book titled A Million Little Pieces which the author said was non-fiction but when it was discovered to be fiction people (like Oprah)mad a big deal out of it but then even more copies were sold.
I feel that this is a situation where a friend tells a story about you, that you and your friend both know is false, but for some reason you sit there and defend yourself to everyone that heard the story. We all have a defense mechanism in us that spikes when we are humiliated and look bad in front of our peers. It's the simple fact that people don't care about truth anymore, they just care about the story and what kind of impact it has on the people. We all love telling stories and being sarcastic because it gets a reaction out of people. Literature can do the same thing. Newspapers are a little different because sometimes they actually can be true, but with books, it is a completely different ball game. The authors don't want to look like know it all's. That is why it is called fiction. They want us to think differently and hope that they get some great reaction out of us. We as members of the church get so frustrated at anti-mormon literature. Even when we know it is false! Obviously it effects those who we are trying to teach and those learning about the gospel, but for us who do know, why do we make such a big deal about it. We know what we believe, why let someone tear that down by publishing a false book they think is true. If only we as humans could be more confident about ourselves we wouldn't allow "stories" to hurt us so much.
ReplyDeleteI think that literature has a huge role in discussing religion because there are a lot of people that believe things that are in books because they are written down on paper. Having a written document makes something legit. People can read stuff on the Internet and they might be wondering if it is true, but isn't quite sure.
ReplyDeleteFrom literature we can learn about the basis of religious values of charity, sacrifice, love and righteousness. Some examples of these religious undertones are found in books written by C.S. Lewis, Charles Dickens, J.R.R. Tolkien.
For example, we can learn a lot about Christianity by reading C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. The Lord of Rings books are filled with religious examples and people are drawn to these books because something seems real or true to life about the moral and emotional dilemmas that the characters experience.
The DaVinci Code is an excellent example of how literature teaches about religious doctrine. Catholics had the opportunity to discover to see if what Dan Brown talks about in this book is truly a part of their history and doctrine. This could lead them to share what they believed in if they chose to do so.
The same can be about negative articles and anti-Mormon literature about the LDS church. It's an opportunity for us to study our doctrine and know how we can explain our beliefs and principles to those that have read this negative literature.
I think that all news is good news when it comes to religion, because it gives people the opportunity to think, analyze, re-analyze their beliefs and decide what they will stand for.
Personally I think anti-Mormon literature is trash, because it's laced with lies and I've studied our doctrine and have a personal testimony of it. But I'm grateful for my friends that have asked me about stuff that they have read and I've been able to share with them our core beliefs. So I believe that literature is a huge medium where religious thought and belief can be discussed.
Sorry I forgot to post my name...Em is Emily Borders. :)
ReplyDeleteI believe the role that literature plays in finding religious truth is that it does not necessary change any of the canonized scripture as written but rather it helps one to further understand the religious beliefs more. By that I mean that we can read a piece of scripture and not understand it’s meaning. It could be written too long ago to understand what they were trying to say or even in another language. There is literature out there that can break it down and translate it into more easier wording that we can understand today. I think that religion mentioned in literature can be positive as it can greatly help one to understand the true meaning of what was written. On the flipside, it can also be negative because if someone doesn’t believe in the religion or misinterprets the wording, they can portray it wrong and therefore cast a negative effect on the religion.
ReplyDelete