<snip>
>One of my favorite novels is Dostoevsky's "Crime and
>Punishment". I suppose that in the years which have
>followed its publication, some number of misguided or
>disturbed individuals have taken murderous action,
>inspired by the fictional exploits of Raskolnikov.
>Even so, we can be confident the death toll associated
>with "Crime and Punishment" is very small (perhaps
>even being zero).
>To phrase it another way, no wars have been waged,
>riots staged or communities divided by the contents of
>"Crime and Punishment".
>The Bible, on the other hand, another mere work of
>fiction, has provided material for the shedding of an
>ocean of blood.
I think what Wojtek was saying (and correct me if I'm wrong, Wojtek), was that the actual stories themselves aren't to blame. I sincerely doubt anyone has ever read anything since reading and writing were invented and then "just done it", as if they were some tabula rasa "written on" by the work in question. People aren't robots to be programmed by what they read to carry out the instructions of the text. They might be inspired or frightened or excited by what they read or simply agree or disagree with it to some degree or another, but they aren't controlled by it any more than I control you by your reading these words of mine. Other, deeper, more important, factors come into play too.
Blaming the text is just missing the forest for the trees.
<snip>
>Should we ignore these beliefs as we try to understand
>Sistani and his followers and simply assume this work
>of fiction is no more important than the latest spy
>thriller languishing on the bargain shelf at Borders? Or do we take
>people's beliefs seriously even as we
>maintain skeptical distance?
No, you don't ignore the beliefs or the text; they all can say something about the phenomenon in question. But you don't assume the book simply sucks people's brains out of their heads and replaces it with carbon copies of the words in question. You don't assume, even unconsciously, that getting rid of the text will help.
Todd
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