Would you delete a copy of the Koran?

[TGS]

Originally Posted by Lbooker

Psychoanalysis could give you far better insights.

Or not.

[suelange]

I wouldn't and in fact, I'd love a copy. I'm reading the Book of Mormon at the moment. Would love to read the Koran after that.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Lbooker

Psychoanalysis could give you far better insights.

I don't place much stock in Freudian psychoanalysis. Freud deserves credit for getting people to think in new ways about mental illness and for bringing it out of the closet, but his theories were pretty shaky in my opinion. There's more to human beings than simply the sex drive, and I don't think the Oedipus complex plays as big a role in human behavior as he does.

Neither do I accept the metaphysical underpinnings of the world's sacred texts, but I find things of value in all of them.

[SneakySnake]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

And just because a few crazed Muslims like to throw fatwa, doesn't mean that all Muslims agree.

Methinks that they protesteth not enough!

[wodin]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I don't place much stock in Freudian psychoanalysis. Freud deserves credit for getting people to think in new ways about mental illness and for bringing it out of the closet, but his theories were pretty shaky in my opinion. There's more to human beings than simply the sex drive, and I don't think the Oedipus complex plays as big a role in human behavior as he does.

Neither do I accept the metaphysical underpinnings of the world's sacred texts, but I find things of value in all of them.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar!

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by wodin

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar!

Exactly!

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by suelange

I'm reading the Book of Mormon at the moment.

Ahh. Mark Twain's "chloroform in print." I can understand how members of the Latter Day Saints church find it of interest, but I couldn't get past the first few pages.

I'm impressed by how many people on this board have the patience to read through what seem to me the most boring of books.

Right now, I am reading a related title, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, by Fawn Brodie, who published in 1945 and was ex-communicated in 1946. Now there is a one super-readable library book (not available for my Kindle).

[Emmaleigh]

No, I would not delete it. What would that accomplish except a moment of hoity-toity? These are words from a book upon which a large portion of the world has based their beliefs, and while I certainly do not believe the same that doesn't discount the importance of studying it.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by happy_terd

How about:

Would you burn every religious book if 100% guaranteed to get rid of religion once and for all and for good?

I was going to say I'd consider it if it got rid of organised/forced/obligatory religion (but in a more flippant manner), but giving it more thought I don't think I would. Getting rid of them all would add some kind of authority to them for starters; and it's people who interpret, reinterpret and misinterpret them to suit their own needs, consciously or sub-consciously.

Originally Posted by ellimak

Frankly, if you are a Westerner, there are a lot of things in the Qur'an which simply aren't going to make sense if you don't have some knowledge about pre-Islamic Arabia. For example, you won't have an understanding of the idioms used, you won't understand how the split between Sunni and Shi'a happened, and you won't know the importance of the spoken word to this culture (which is important to understanding how Islam spread and why there are still Qur'an recitation contests to this day). I could go on about these kinds of things for pages and pages.

There are currently three Muslims in my team at work, two of whom are very happy to expound at length about their religion, its history, interpretations and so on - what makes this genuinely fascinating to me is that one is a Sunni (as is the less verbose one) and the other is a Shi'a. It takes me back to encountering the children of Catholics and Jews at school for the first time and seeing the differences between the non-Christianity I was brought up (*) with and the upbringing given by more religious families.

(* (my nanna and aunt both professed to be CofE, but raised me (unintentionally, I suspect) as a pagan agnostic) )

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

I am far too busy buying copy after copy of Dan Brown's books and deleting every one of them. And I will keep buying and deleting his books till he learns his lesson and quits writing them!


... OMG... what have i done?

Originally Posted by mrscoach

I am against all book burnings, unless it is for the purpose of keeping warm and there is nothing else to use, i.e. wood. And religious texts would be the last to be burned, no matter what religion.

Ditto. Except the books that I would burn last would be the ones I was most fond of. The ones I was least fond of would go first, regardless of any religious content.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by astra

The topic's idea has never been about deleting a file. The OP hoped that we will digress to discussing political issues...I am very tempted to say

OP (me!) most certainly did not want digression to political matters.
I'm happy to hear peoples views and opinions on this matter. It's an awkward thing for me, the idea of deleting anything - let alone books.
It makes me hesitate to download the Koran just in case someone decides I'm evil for deleting it later on to make space for something more readable - for instance, just to ensure that it is not publicly known that I'm reading a religious text that attracts negative attention here. (Think about how many times one has handed a liseuse to a stranger to demonstrate it.)
It doesn't sound like an especially good read and I feel ambivalence towards religious texts in general, so your opinions are of interest to me!
I once had a great satirical novel written from God and Satan's perspective respectively and that got negative attention once upon a time - people mistook it for the Bible!

[ellimak]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

I once had a great satirical novel written from God and Satan's perspective respectively and that got negative attention once upon a time - people mistook it for the Bible!

One of my favorite books is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. So funny and engaging! (And insightful, of course. I mean, it is C.S. Lewis) I don't know if you've read it yet, but if you haven't, you should definitely take a look. Sounds like something you might be interested in.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by ellimak

One of my favorite books is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. So funny and engaging! (And insightful, of course. I mean, it is C.S. Lewis) I don't know if you've read it yet, but if you haven't, you should definitely take a look. Sounds like something you might be interested in.

Borders.com.au have it for AUD$19.90 - may be the next book I get

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by ellimak

One of my favorite books is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. So funny and engaging! (And insightful, of course. I mean, it is C.S. Lewis) I don't know if you've read it yet, but if you haven't, you should definitely take a look. Sounds like something you might be interested in.

I read that nearly 40 years ago. It's an interesting book; written from the point of view of a demon named Screwtape who is advising his nephew on the finer points of tempting souls to damnation. Christian apologetics to be sure; but done with a light hand and an entertaining style.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by AprilHare

It makes me hesitate to download the Koran just in case someone decides I'm evil for deleting it later on to make space for something more readable - for instance, just to ensure that it is not publicly known that I'm reading a religious text that attracts negative attention here. (Think about how many times one has handed a liseuse to a stranger to demonstrate it.)
It doesn't sound like an especially good read and I feel ambivalence towards religious texts in general, so your opinions are of interest to me!
I once had a great satirical novel written from God and Satan's perspective respectively and that got negative attention once upon a time - people mistook it for the Bible!

I have trouble picturing a situation where someone would know that you had a Koran on your reader and deleted it, and feel offended by it. But of course if you don't want to read it in the first place, it's simpler not to put in on your reader or your hard drive.

I have several books on my reader I feel mildly ashamed for reading, or that might lead to misconceptions about my beliefs. I would not choose these books to demonstrate my reader, but I wouldn't hide the fact that they are there. I have created folders, one is called "religion" and has the Bible and other texts in it (not the Koran I think but it may end up there at some point, though I don't really plan on reading it). Another is called "romance" and has all the trashy stuff, and some not trashy at all but still romance. If someone wants to see my reader, I will just navigate to another folder and a book I'm not reading (don't want to lose my place), and show it to them.

[AprilHare]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

I am far too busy buying copy after copy of Dan Brown's books and deleting every one of them. And I will keep buying and deleting his books till he learns his lesson and quits writing them!


... OMG... what have i done?

It's all fun and games till someone ends up with an empty bank account, a rich Dan Brown and nothing else to show for it..