frostymama

... without totally offending them and pissing them off?

Certain circumstances have arrisen with some family memebers that has me worrying for their safety. They are trying to "minister" to a large comuntiy of "new agers" and neo pagans without having any real grasp on what they believe (still spouting stuff about witches having orgies with the devil, poisoning Halloween candy, and sacrificing blonde Xian babies to the death God, Samhain).

Are there any comparative religion books that deal with world religions without dissing (or maybe even ignoring) Christianity? I would prefer something that takes a detatched or academic view of the whole thing... without being difficult to understand. I definitely need something that discusses some basic neo-pagan beliefs (at least Wicca) and some of the more popular "new age" concepts. A discussion of major world religions would be a plus as well. Their knowlege of world religions comes from a book written by some guy named Larson who believes that anyone who isn't a fundamentalitst christian worships demons.

Rhea

Frosty, try these...

Bill Moyer's interviews of Joseph Campbell, or find the video/DVDs.

Huston Smith's World Religions.

My Friends' Beliefs, a kids' book, but good for simple explanations of various faiths.

Walter_Mitty

Frosty, try:

The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions by Huston Smith. (Date?).

AND

Religions of the World: the illustrated guide to origins, beliefs, traditions & festivals. By Elizabeth Breuilly, Joanne O’Brien, Martin Palmer, Martin E. Marty. (1997).

Neither go into paganism, wicca, etc., as far as I can recall but they do paint a fair rendering of all the "great" religions without making judgements as to who has the "truth" figured out.

I know that Barnes & Noble or Borders usually carries the second title so maybe you could take them out for coffee!

Walter_Mitty

Also try:

Illustrated Dictionary of Religions by Philip Wilkinson. (1999).

It DOES cover paganism, etc., though overall it applies a more topical view of all religions. If you want to get "down 'n dirty" with the inlaws you may have to crack open some of the religious encyclopedias which are more thorough.

Good luck!

stryder2112

Others have mentioned some good leads. However, for a quick and rather good source go to the <a href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/" target="_blank">Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance</a> website. They have a great deal of information about numerous world religions, but especially neopaganism, wicca, and new age beliefs. I find that site to be rather even handed and objective in their evaluation of individual religions and conflicts between religions - including fundamentalist interpretations of non-christian religions. They are also very thorough in citing their sources, so it's also a good site for finding good books on world religions, etc.

Stryder

Godless Dave

Keep in mind that any book that doesn't acknowledge that fundamentalist Christianity is the one true faith could be construed as "offensive" by some fundamentalists.

Rhea

And re: the religious tolerance website, keep also in mind (I'm sure you know, and you know where I've heard it, but I'm saying it for the masses) that I have heard fundies call that site "inaccurate and intolerant of Christianity, totally wrong about Christianity, therefore I can't trust anything it says." Sigh.

So while it has terrific information, that's the extent to which some Christians cannot be objective.

frostymama

I know exactly where you were told that. As I recall I was told that by the same people.

That is exactly why I have to be especially careful of how any book I get treats Christianity. If the book's explanation of Christianity doesn't line up with their idea of True Christianity (TM) then they will see it as some sort of Satanic propoganda or that I am trying to sway them toward the occult or some such nonsense. The fine line I am having to walk just gets narrower and narrower all of the time.

stryder2112

I'm not sure what you can do, then. If your family members are of the mind that anything not their version of fundamentalist christianity is satanic and any common ground between their religion and others is either 'diabolic mimickry' or a 'spiritual trap', then there's not a whole lot you can do.

Perhaps you can go for fostering a 'live and let live' attitude, but that's about the best you could probably hope for.

Stryder

Walter_Mitty

I happened to check the above titles while on break. (mainly 'cause they both have some pretty cool pictures and charts)

In any event, they do show some interesting timelines. If your relatives look at those timelines they'll see that Christianity was not the "first" religion historically. They also do a nice job of listing the various religions' version of the "golden rule". (to inlclude a pretty cool Norman Rockwall painting on the topic)

Of course, if your relatives are YE creationists you may have a really tought row to hoe. Otherwise, these books might make them go: "hmmmmmm."

[ September 24, 2002: Message edited by: Bibliophile ]</p>