Karen Armstrong’s Fields of Blood will have a reader ask the question, “Is violence endemic to human nature?”  From mankind’s early beginnings there was a great struggle for survival.  When our ancestors were hunter-gathers they had to hunt and kill their prey.  These humans lived through violent periods in the Paleolithic and Neolithic age.  Later Mediterranean peoples continued to experience struggles during the Constantine’s empire, Crusaders, Spanish Inquisition, Wars of Religion, Thirty Years’ War, and Reformation.

 

In the 17^th and 18^th century religion was rejected in the West.  During the Age of Enlightenment John Locke propounded the belief of the separation of Church and State, but this period saw the rise of scientific and cultural racism.  In Europe and America the suppression of the indigenous populations and African slave trade for economic profit flourished.  And Germans, who were world-leading secular thinkers, gave rise to death camps under Hitler that exterminated millions of Jews.

 

Secularism was marked by Western imperialism, and an imbalance of power.  But what became of Asoka’s concept of peace, India’s ahimsa – non-violence, China’s Golden Rule, and Jesus Christ’s teachings to love your neighbor as yourself?  In India there were renouncers, European monks took to monasteries, and Confucian and Taoist’s ideals, but still violence was prominent.

 

In the 20^th century violence continued to rage in the Middle East.  Historical observers point to many reasons, but one of Islam’s tenets is that of peace.  Still there was 9/11, the Israeli-Arab conflicts, jihads, and the horrendous effects of the Jews Six-Day-War.  Yet people were witnessing the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, the rise kookism of the Israeli secular right, and fundamentalism in America.  It appears that with the rise of more nations with nuclear weapons humankind’s future has become more problematic

This Great Course Lecture series covers the religion by considering the historical context of the faith. (I'm not even sure if "faith" is the correct word to use in this context since as a whole Buddhist don't seem to believe in pretending to know things they don't know). I'm not sure if there is a source for what I want regarding learning about the tenets of Buddhism. As the lecturer said one of the early beliefs for Buddhism is all things are impermanent and that includes Buddhism itself. Well, I'll still be on the look out for a book on the subject to read in order to understand a little bit more about Buddhism.

Publication date: Sept 1, 2012The foremost ultimate question is "What is the ultimate reality?" For theists... the answer is God. Buddhists say the answer is Nothing... Secular Humanists say it's the material universe, beyond which nothing else exists.In this collection of forty 15-minute segments, the author attempts to characterize the main religious (and religious-like) groups of the world in a way that is accessible to anyone. Starting with Christianity and working through folk religions, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Secular Humanism, cults, and contemporary religious movements, and all of these major groups' offshoots, the author explains the basic origins of the religion, outlines their basic beliefs, and includes pertinent information into the culture and heritage of each group.The author was certainly zealous in trying to condense all of the information contained in this book into forty short chapters. Oftentimes I found myself having to re-read sections in order to get a better grasp of what was being said, particularly when religious terminology/jargon was involved. The author often compares other religions to Christianity, as is obviously his bias and will likely be the majority of his readership, but it's done in a way that is respectful to other religions. After completing the book, I don't feel that I know a whole lot more about world religions -- since there were so many covered, it had a tendency to all meld together after awhile -- BUT I do now know I have a tool to use if I'm looking for a short bit of information on any particular religious group.Overall: A great reference tool to keep around for a short summary of religious beliefs of various groups.

The one thing that I really liked about this book was that despite it being written by a Christian, it was incredibly objective (though it is difficult to be objective with Christianity when one is a Christian). A lot of books on religions that I have read, that have been written by Christians, tend to pretty much bag the other religions and then really talk up Christianity. Dickson doesn't do this, rather he tries an objective approach so that those who read this book and make up their own mind.

 

Now, I am a Christian, so when I read this book, it ended up messing with my head. All of the sudden, Hinduism and Buddism made perfect sense. In fact the Christian concept of hell, as I understood it, could be similar to the Buddhist concept of Nirvana. In fact, so could the Hindu afterlife as well. However, I now doubt that Hell and Nirvana can be considered the same (but I thought so back then). In fact, after reading this book, Buddhism suddenly became very appealing (which horrified my small group leader).

 

Being a Christian makes me very exclusive, however this is the theme of Dickson's book: all religions simply cannot be the same. They are simply not compatible (well, Buddhism could be, but pure Buddhism is more of an atheistic philosophy than a religion), and while we may preach toleration (and I try to be tolerant to other's beliefs) those of us who cite that all religions are the same really have not looked deep enough into these religions to see the differences.

 

I guess that is why Dickson doesn't attack any of the other religions, because his purpose is not to promote Christianity (he does that in other books), nor to prove the authenticity of Christianity (once again he does that in other books) but rather to challenge the idea that all religions are the same. I agree with Dickson, they are not (okay, in ancient times they may have been, but that is no longer the case). The other thing that I like about this book is that it teaches me about these other religions, though I would be more interested in knowing about a lot of the minor ones.

 

A great sage in our time. A core root of the Interfaith movement and an incredible speaker. This is the perfect book for the seeker who wants to understand the great stories of all major religious traditions and see the interconnecting threads.