by frankiespeakin 19 Replies latest jw friends
I remember awhile back many said they enjoyed the fictional book "The Celestian Prophecy" by James Redfield. Well they are making a movie that has been in production for some time now and should be released some time this year. Hear is a site that can give you some interesting info about the author. I'm currantly reading his book "The Celestine Vision" I started in the middle which is my usual way of reading anything these days.
Here's the site for more info if your interested:
I read the The Celestian Prophecy about a dozen years ago. I thought the book was okay, but nothing to get excited about. It?s somewhat of a mystery to me how certain books and authors create a following that goes beyond the norm of popular reads. Maybe it?s a religious mystery that can?t be understood, and requires faith! :-)
I really liked both of his books and appreciated them as fascinating works of fiction. I lost interest, however, when I found out people were taking it seriously and starting religions based on the books. Sad.
The same thing seems to be happening with DaVinci Code. People are up in arms about that book and are calling it anti-Catholic. I even saw an hour-long documentary (Discover Channel?) named something like "Debunking DaVinci Code". That was hilarious. It's a work of fiction!! Talk about overreacting. No need to debunk it, since no one ever claimed it was true. Next people will debunk comic books.
Java & Rebel,
I think the reason some people take the book seriously is because it's about evolution and man morphing to a higher realm of existance. While it is a fictional mystery it incorperates almost plausible happenings. It kind of blends some true facts with an imaginative mind working in the "what if plain" in my opinion.
I like your example of ?evolution and man morphing to a higher realm of existence.? The blending of facts and ?an imaginative mind? is needed and is part of normal growth. However, I believe growth stops and regression sets in when the imagined turns into a religion, and in time, ?the Truth.? As rebel8 pointed out, some are nearly doing this with the DaVinci Code. Now the Catholic Church is up in arms about that book, telling Catholics not to read it, which will cause most within the church to run out and buy a copy. :-) Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading The Celestine Prophecy, and liked the DaVinci Code even more. But when readers turn into followers -- that's a turn off for me.
lemmings ...
... i swear sometimes i think people are desperate to follow a crowd, pick a crowd, any crowd ... as long as its moving uniformly forward with joy and reverence, it matters not that they'll walk into the sea and drown.
its almost scary.
What book isn't ficton to one degree or another?
I found some of the concepts expressed in the book to be interesting.
Who is to say that the bible isn't a fiction book based loosely on some fact. I say whatever people believe is fine and dandy as long as they aren't infringing on other people's rights and causing harm to the world or its occupants.
Summertime -- I think you're comments about the Bible is on target. However, when folks become believers based on a book or ism, do they usually leave others alone and cause little or no harm? If history is our teacher, the odds are against that happening. Some believers seem less harmful than others, for example, the Quakers come to mind.
JAVA - I agree that for the most part the human race has a problem believing anything without taking it to the n-th degree and causing harm in some way or another. I am sure religious wars have been around since the inception of religion. But I don't think that it is necessarily what they believe that causes the hysteria, but the type of personality the followers posess. Someone said that it seems people are looking for somewhere to fit in and need to be lead. I agree with that statement. So if the leaders of their belief system call for something their sheep will follow, regardless of how insane it seems.
