Remove Religious Texts from Syllabus (4 Viewers)

[Misturi]

l go to a Christian School, but l am not christian. When l read Donne's poems l understood them, even with only a little knowledge of the bible. For the parts l didn't understand l got my Christian tecaher to explain them to me.

 

[Misturi]

Originally posted by Lexicographer
Nope! The bible is STILL the number one most read book of all time. Consider that it is 2000 years old, and there are currently 2 billion Christians worldwide (one in three people!) as well as (historically) an even higher percentage in previous centuries.


Still not enough to outdo the people that have throughout history read the bible. There are only currently 1.2 billion people in China, not even close.

exactly..when l searched Bible on Google l got a whopping 23,800,000 matches.

When l searched Lord of the Rings l got 6,370,000 matches.

hmm..l'm guessing that the bible is way more popular

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Originally posted by glycerine
yes. but. my point is, a lot of texts have some kind of religious reference. (for example, if you do blade runner, theres a lot of symbolism, esp. towards the end quarter). therefore, it IS beneficial to have at least some grasp of bible concepts and stories... also, there's a difference between reading the bible as a piece of religious truth... and reading it as a piece of literary allegory.

Agreed. Throughout the history of literature, religion has heavily influenced many composers, particularly in a pre-20th century millieu. Of course, which religion is reflected in the texts of a certain context is dependent upon the dominant religion of that society. (For instance, look at the use of Greek deities in The Illiad, or Roman in The Aeneid.) As almost all of the texts we study come from the Western literary tradition, Christianity is reflected in canonical texts from Beowulf onwards. [Even in King Lear, the character expressing the most overtly Christian beliefs is Edgar, and unsurprisingly, he ultimately becomes King.]

Whether or not you are religious, (I'm agnostic) religion is a major contextual factor, and thus relevant in studying texts, and their changing impact with time. Studying the connections between religion and literature isn't an attempt at conversion, but merely emphasising textual influences.

 

[jm1234567890]

hmm... i suppose...

However, they should at least strike a balance between christian
and non-christian texts.

 

[Bolkonski]

Originally posted by Newbie
If HSC was to ensure fairness in procedure, then it would leave the religious stuff in Studies of Religion.

So... all those texts about sex... would disadvantage all the virgins out there huh? so we are getting to the point where we disallow certain texts because some people, a minority, yes christianity has become a minority these days, might understand things better? Oh wait... we should disallow subjects like physics, because all imigrants have the tendancy of working really hard and excelling in them?
this is actually discrimination.. do you think a government run education board would allow this?

"After all, religion is not an important part of life. It only exists because some people cannot find a direction in life. "

well... so whats anything if thats a case? marriage is just society filling a void.. shoes, clothes, drink...
you know... the bible can be interpreted differently, and in my opinion God is not meant to be proven to exist, (yes im a christian) because, having a relationship with God is about trusting, putting faith in something, and faith is when you trust your whole being to something which cannot be touched.. palpable.. so theres no point in proving if god exists.. and theres no way.. put bluntly, if you dont believe that Jesus died for our sins so that we can have a relationship again with god which was broken by sin, then you shall all be judged.. believing in god isnt enough, nor is proving that he exists.. ...

AND... at the basis of Christianity is FAITH.. faith in the fact that Jesus died for all of us.. Look up John 8 onwards.. as Bono sings... (lame reference i know) its a place thats got to be believed to be seen..
I agree that religion is a tool, traditions and a whole bunch of codswallop that is meaningless because it has no real value in terms of salvation... however, if you had a point that christianity is a creation of man simply to fill some gap (your right in one aspect.. in the way that its reuniting us as holy and righteous people under God) then your wrong and I would glady continue this.

anyway... back to the point... text is text.. and studying text is about studying its form, meaning, and subtextual layers... to disallow texts on the basis that some people may have a little headstart wont work because some people

and in reference to the opinion that we should balance out the texts... theres no ovberbalance of christian texts now... so why should we balance it.. that wouldnt work your argument right now... it would bring in more religious texts... anyway, tolkien, cs lewis, elizabeth gaskell, even tim winton are all christians.. LOTR has christian subtext to it everywhere...

 

[AsyLum]

hahha damn this discussion is getting long, sorry for my initial outburst jm

 

[= Jennifer =]

Originally posted by bubz
wow, this thread's back from nearly a year ago... (march 03)!

aud revived it

 

[aud]

Originally posted by = Jennifer =
aud revived it

So I did... I didn't check the dates before I replied

I've given up thinking about this discussion, it's so confusing... but people really should learn the difference between 'discrimination' and 'prejudice' - discrimination could be me saying that one person has black hair and the others have brown - not derogatory or anything, just a fact - I'm still discriminating though

I still don't think texts with a basis in religion should be allowed - so hard on people if the best part of understanding a piece is hidden beneath Christian values and symbolism...

 

[CHUDYMASTER]

Originally posted by Lexicographer
Nope! The bible is STILL the number one most read book of all time. Consider that it is 2000 years old, and there are currently 2 billion Christians worldwide (one in three people!) as well as (historically) an even higher percentage in previous centuries.


Still not enough to outdo the people that have throughout history read the bible. There are only currently 1.2 billion people in China, not even close.

Bah, if you're looking at what scripture's been around the longest-look to Hindu scriptures...EONS old! Sure they're in Sanskrit, but they have english translations and furthermore, the Bible itself was not originally in english, so I see no harm in my suggestion.

In fact, the Ancient Hindu Vedas have some very interesting and easy-to-follow stories, unlike the Bible, which is all over the place (meaning no offence to Christians, but that's my perspective after reading portions of it)

Never the less, this argument is ludicrous - don't believe in God? T'bad. If we erradicate religious texts, forget studying Shakespeare EVER again. Just look at Hamlet- totally God-centered, with the Divine order and such.

Suggesting we remove Hamlet eh?? EHH?! EHHAAAAAAHHHH....!!

Case closed.