[bookshare-discuss] Re: I think Roger was answering me. Mostly.
- From: roger.loran.bailey@xxxxxxxxx
- To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:55:51 -0400
First, I did find one of those messages from myself that I thought had
not posted in my gmail archives, so after I get through all the
overnight email that was waiting for me I am going to try an
experiment to find out exactly how these emails are being received in
my gmail account.
Second, I have no idea how you got the impression that I would
consider commentary on Christianity and the bible as nonfiction and
consider such commentary on Wicca to be fiction. I regard all religion
as equal, equally wrong, but still equal.
On 10/20/08, Linda Stover <liamskitten@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Roger,
>
> Firstly, I have no idea why G-mail is not allowing you to view your
> messages along with the accompanying replies, as this has never been a
> problem for me.
>
> Secondly, let me see if I can illustrate Cindy's point from another
> perspective. I, personally, am a very proud practitioner of Wicca.
> If I hear your discourse correctly, and please correct me if I am
> wrong because I do not wish to foster misunderstandings, you are
> saying that any commentaries/religious writings which cover my
> religion would be considered fiction, while the Bible would be
> considered nonfiction. Although to a practitioner of Christianity,
> this is in no way offensive, it would be to someone who did not
> practice Christianity. By simply classifying everything as religious,
> Cindey very diplomatically avoids offending anyone, since the Bible,
> too, could be considered a religious text.
> Courtney
>
> On 10/19/08, roger.loran.bailey@xxxxxxxxx <roger.loran.bailey@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>> Okay, I still need to figure out this gmail. I am new to it, but I do
>> recall someone mentioning that it does not receive messages from
>> oneself posted to a list. I may end up resubscribing from my other
>> address and perhaps stop having those emails forwarded to the gmail
>> account. I am not certain if I got the responses to my posts or not.
>> As for whether to classify the bible and bible stories as fiction or
>> not, the bible is full of myths and legends passed off as history as
>> is the case in virtually all ancient writings. Oftentimes ancient
>> writings actually are history as is the case in the bible, but in
>> ancient times the dichotomy between materialist and idealist
>> philosophy had not yet been discovered. Mor specifically, materialism
>> had not been explicated even though it could be said that it had been
>> discovered or at least used from the time of the evolution of human
>> consciousness. What it comes down to is that the ancients were unable
>> to distinguish between reality and superstition. That means that
>> pretty much all of the bible was written with the intention that it be
>> regarded as nonfiction. Now, much of this material was written down
>> very soon after writing was invented. Before that there was an oral
>> tradition in passing information from one generation to another. If
>> writing had just been invented then what was there to write about. The
>> obvious choice would have been these oral stories that had been passed
>> on over time. Were those regarded as just entertainment, that is,
>> fiction? If one can infer the intention from more recent prehistoric
>> illiterate peoples living in historical times, that is, if we look at
>> anthropological studies, we can see that for the most part these
>> stories are meant to be taken seriously as either the literal truth or
>> if not the literal truth then as very serious stories meant to convey
>> a profound point much as an essay is. That would mean that the bible
>> as a whole should be classified as nonfiction. There is one book of
>> the bible that many scholars do think might have been intended as
>> fiction though. It is the book of Ruth. That one was written about a
>> hundred or more years after the time it portrays and might have
>> actually been an early form of an historical novel. I would say that
>> if that one is published seperately and out of the context of the
>> bible it might be classified as fiction, but since there is still a
>> lot of disigreement among biblical scholars about the intention behind
>> its writing I think it could be equally as well classified as
>> nonfiction. As for a book of "bible stories," if they adhere closely
>> to an accepted translation of the bible and if it is meant for adult
>> consumption, in which case it is probably published as a method of
>> preaching or converting, then I would suppose it probably should be
>> classified as nonfiction. However, the only "bible stories" books I
>> have ever seen were intended for children. The intent is clearly to
>> indoctrinate the children, but from what I have seen the stories are
>> greatly modified, simplified and written in a fictional manner with
>> the purpose of entertaining the children apparently to keep the
>> interest of the children so the main purpose can be carried out. If I
>> am to pass judgment on whether a specific book of that type should be
>> considered fiction or not I would have to examine the specific book,
>> but all the "bible stories" books I have seen are written in a manner
>> such that I would feel comfortable in classifying them as fiction.
>>
>> On 10/19/08, Cindy <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> Roger,
>>>
>>> All your discourses were posted, including the very long one, and were
>>> interesting reads and provoked interesting discussions. It's unfortunate
>>> that you weren't able to see the replies. smile
>>>
>>> If an author is expressing/his opinion on a religious matter, or
>>> delivering
>>> a sermon, yes, that would be nonfiction, and for the list I probably will
>>> note that it is nonfiction. The title and synopsis will give more
>>> information about the content. But the Bible, and books entitled stories
>>> from the Bible--those fit your definition of fiction, do they not? Yet a
>>> lot
>>> of people would disagree. smile
>>>
>>> G. Cindy
>>>
>>>
>>> It went like this: My point was that fiction
>>>> does not equal
>>>> falseness and nonfiction does not equal truth, so there
>>>> should be no
>>>> problem with classifying religious books as nonfiction if
>>>> it was the
>>>> intention of the author that they be nonfiction. Books
>>>> classified as
>>>> fiction should be a story with a plot and narrative without
>>>> regard to
>>>> whether they were written from a religious point of view or
>>>> not.
>>>
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