Canadian Law and Religous Freedom

After I had written the review for Bruce Feiler's "Abraham", my thoughts started to continue on about Faith and Conflict, and eventually landed on questions about the Church and State.

I guess in Canada here, we put "religion freedom" into practice by saying we cannot legislate anything that prevents you from practicing your religion. However, with that said that doesn’t mean we can’t legislate anything that would make it more difficult (and yes there is a fine line, and some interpretation here). We also take into the governing principle that rights of many outweigh the rights of the few.

So, as a practical example, we allow for Sunday shopping where I currently live. Now this is some forbidden by strict adherer of certain faiths that believe that the Sunday is the Sabbath (holy day of rest).  Now, from a legislative point of view, this law does not prevent any people from those religions from observing the Sabbath themselves, opting or exercising their right not to work or shop on Sunday. Some would argue that God has ordained Sunday as a day of rest. In this case, the rights of those people who believe people should not work on Sunday, would be imposing on those who do recognize this, if the law were changed that no store could open on Sunday. Some would say that they would miss out on possible earnings or employment opportunities because they cannot work on Sunday for religious reasons. The law would view this not as discrimination, but the burden (some would say ‘Cross’) you must bear to practice what you believe in. After the separation of Church and State, the law is there to allow you ‘ability’ to practice what you believe in, it isn’t there to make practicing your religion any easier (tax receipts aside).

 I end this with a  response to those who believe that the law should be written your specific religions principles in mind. My answer would be, what if someone on the other side of fence was thinking the exact same thing. In today’s world, the law is there to protect the rights of the weak.

Abraham - Bruce Feiler

I picked this book up new from a discount BookStore. I was initially looking for Feiler's other book, "Walking The Bible", after watching the documentary on PBS. This paperback edition was one of the newer ones with the additional multi-faith discussion topics at the end.

Bruce Feiler continues his journey to the middle-east, in search of finding harmony once again among the Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In this second book (after the success of “Walking the Bible”), Feiler tries to objectively find similarities and differences, as all three religions claim a common ancestry in 'Abraham'. Whereas initially I thought this book would have a more travel guide, archeological bend, I found that this book was more a grouping of interviews with various “experts” from the 3 faiths.

 Feiler is Jew who was in New York, who witnesses the destruction of 9/11 (fitting today is the anniversay of the tragic event). He provides some new questions that did exist in similar books written before the most recent conflicts. Although Allegro’s “The Dead Sea Scrolls” also involved armed conflict, the tension portrayed in Feiler book is quite real and quite frightening. Often times, Feiler asks the people in the region why are they still here. They all answer, drawing strength from their particular religion, all fiercely stating there is specially significance living at the power base of these three religions.

 A not-so-subtle goal of the author is to promote inter-faith peace among the three faiths. However, one of the truest saying is from a person who is quoted saying that most inter-faith talk is “bunk”. I understand the need for peace in the middle east (although some will say that the fate of the lands is to be turmoil until the end of time), however I’m worried that too many people will confuse acknowledgement/accommodation with amalgamation. I feel that people should have a right to defend what they believe, and feel free to “choose”, however that does not mean that you can turn that defense into offense, oppressing those who do believe in the same things.
 
Personally, I do not want a bloody-“jihad” (mis-use of the word, as explained in the both), or do I want to have to worship in a new-age multi-faith amalgamation, where all faiths lead to the same God. There is a good reason I believe in my faith, to “Jealous God”.

This book is a very quick read, and the people interviewed are very interesting, keeping you tied to the book. I found that Feiler had some very interesting insights, and although he would not be confused with Zacharias, or another big name “Bible Thumper”, I found his insights very enjoyable to read. So far, I’ve been very happy with both Jewish authors I’ve read, Rabbi Harold Kushner and Bruce Feiler. I would definitely suggest reading this book to anyone who has any interest in Old Testament history or the currently middle east situation.

The Dead Sea Scrolls - John Allegro

This book is fairly old, a second edition from 1964, back when this paperback seemed to cost 5 cents. I paid $2.99 at a local used bookstore (which I thought was a great deal, ironic huh?). The book is written by one of the people who actually worked on piecing back together documents found in Qumran caves, so he is a first hand expert. The book is culmination of a variety of information on the Dead Sea Scrolls, including how they were found, what was done to restore them and also their impact on the Church and the New Testament.

After reading some of the books by Robert Lomas and Christopher Knight and seeing all this renewed interest in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Templar Knights and other “ancient” documents (like the Gospel of Judas), I decided that I would get some ‘authoritative” information about the Dead Sea Scrolls, preferably from a direct source, and also from a time period where books about the “Da Vinci Code” and “The Hiram Key” haven’t tried to bend the truth a little toward their liking. The result was this fairly small, but very rewarding book.

I definitely enjoyed the three chapters of the book, which dealt with in detail the struggles that faced the Jordanian Government and the group of people who worked so hard to make sure that these treasured were not lost, destroyed or horded from the public. For, my previous misconception was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls resembled that of many Dinosaur find, with lost of people with garden tools and small brushed working in neatly string-sectioned off, organized sections (think CSI but much more boring). I couldn’t have been more wrong. The struggle resembled more of Indiana Jones type storyline, full of soldiers, midnight raids, black-market dealers and cunning bargaining. Also included in this edition is has 24 pages of black-white pictures, which really quite amazing.

This book also has quite a bit of additional information on XXII (Septuagint) and MT (Massoretic Text). Chapter 4 is all about the impact of the Qumran texts on how we interpret the XXII and other contemporary translations. This book should not be looked at as a historical account of the discovery of the DSS, but rather a generic primer on the Dead Sea Scrolls, Qumran community and impact of this discovery on modern day Christianity. There are many interesting theological points that John Allegro makes as well.

If you want some substantial information on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Qumran community, go out and find this book. Mostly likely it’s only available used or at your local public library, as it is long out of print. Sadly, Allegro’s (1923-1988) later writings became more and more controversial, later believing that Jesus used psychedelic mushrooms in his later book “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross”. However, his later actions this should not take anything away from his previous collection of academic work, or that he was leading figures that helped to bring public awareness of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Can Man Live Without God - Ravi Zacharias

The Gifts of the Jews - Thomas Cahill

How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels

To be honest, I wasn’t planning on purchasing this book. I was looking for another book, which had been bought before I got back to the bookstore, and while I was madly scouring the shelves, a polite middle-aged gentleman (who could have been Jewish) recommended this book to me.

At first glance, this is not the book that I would have been pining for. This is definitely a book where an author has what they think is novel concept, and then tries to build it up, and stretch it to where it can fill an entire book. As a “believer” in Christian, I am less shocked when someone appeals to me with the notation that before Judaism (and hence Christianity), there was nothing on the world like it. To me, the Bible is God inspired, so it’s not that much of a stretch that God created someone that different (read: better) than man created. If I was an atheist, who was a combination of philosopher and archeologist, this would be a neat book.

This book, at least at the begging is a little graphic about pre-Jewish pagan rituals and may be a little too racy for some. The later parts provide some interesting discussion and observation of people of the Old Testament, namely early Old Testament heroes, like Moses and Abraham. The author does have a slight chip on his shoulder, basically spelling Abraham “Avraham” or something like that, because it’s closer to the original Hebrew.

Personally, I’m a little confused at this book, is it a reflective type of book to renew excitement for Jews and Christians? Or is this book a sort of apologetic type of book, meant to convince non-believers into taking Christian seriously. His range of topics is so vast that often the reader can get confused on what the take home message is. Is the tribe of Abraham the father of American capitalism? Or did we look at Moses’ parting of the Red-Sea incorrectly? (The author has a theory about the “Sea of Reeds” [vs. Red Sea], and that Moses just walked across the mud before high-tide came in and stuck Pharaoh and his army in a sticky situation. I cannot say I’m convinced or impressed.)

All in all, I can’t say that I can recommend this book. If you want a new look at an old story, maybe you can pick this up in your spare time on the cheap. Personally, I’m thinking I’ll eventually get to Brian Fieler’s Walking The Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses, which would probably be a better use of time and appreciation of the wanderings of the Tribe of Israel. (note: this book has now been made into a DVD and has been playing on PBS on weekends. It’s great if you can catch it on Cable!)