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+--- Thread: Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 (/thread-803.html)
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - zachandhobbes - 2011-07-12
As someone who just recently found out Jerusalem is a real place (I know absolutely NOTHING about ANY religion!!) and that Mary the Virgin was a real person (apparently... I thought the whole bible was metaphor/myth), I did not particularly like the Christian ones either because I didn't even realize that they were Christian references.
The Judas tree thing for instance, I didn't realize that was a religious reference until this thread, and I did have problems remembering that one.
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - Hashiriya - 2011-07-12
zachandhobbes Wrote:As someone who just recently found out Jerusalem is a real place (I know absolutely NOTHING about ANY religion!!) and that Mary the Virgin was a real person (apparently... I thought the whole bible was metaphor/myth), I did not particularly like the Christian ones either because I didn't even realize that they were Christian references.wait... are you from America? I thought everyone here knew at least a little about the Bible whether they believed it or not...
The Judas tree thing for instance, I didn't realize that was a religious reference until this thread, and I did have problems remembering that one.
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - DevvaR - 2011-07-12
I had no clue what a Judas tree was either. I didn't even realise it was a religious symbol. So I had no clue how to relate kanji to anything, even when I searched up what a Judas tree. But by now, me being lazy, brute force rote crammed it into my head.
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - kazelee - 2011-07-12
Hashiriya Wrote:wait... are you from America? I thought everyone here knew at least a little about the Bible whether they believed it or not...Didn't you know? The only thing worse than the education system in America is its teaching of the Christian religion. Unfortunately, this most evident in the most fanatical practicioners of Christianity.
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - yudantaiteki - 2011-07-12
zachandhobbes Wrote:As someone who just recently found out Jerusalem is a real place (I know absolutely NOTHING about ANY religion!!)Well, that's not even religious knowledge -- Jerusalem is constantly in the news because of the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Quote:and that Mary the Virgin was a real person (apparently... I thought the whole bible was metaphor/myth),Well, there's no independent evidence of Mary outside of the Biblical accounts, the Qu'ran, and related writings. But since most people accept that there is some historical figure behind Jesus Christ, he must have had a mother.
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - Jarvik7 - 2011-07-13
WCellon Wrote:First off, I don't perceive Heisig as being all that Christian, as in one frame (元) he refers to God as "she" and in another (明) to the "biblical myth", neither of which are pro-Christian wording. I was mildly annoyed by his wording, but it doesn't matter because it helped me remember them and that is the point of the book.Heisig is a professor of religious philosophy at a Christian university and a recognized expert on the subject. I'd say that strongly suggests he's very much Christian.
While I don't slight him for putting Christian stuff in RTK, some of the Christian references he puts in are pretty obscure unless you are REALLY into Christianity (evangelical etc). I had to rack my brain and I went to a private Christian school as a kid. In other words, many are not common western cultural knowledge the way Noah's Ark or Adam & Eve are and should not have been included. Though of course once you're immersed in something long enough you tend to forget what the common knowledge of laypeople is.
One can be a Christian and accept that the Bible is allegory (I couldn't respect one who thinks it's historical fact) and have views that differ from other Christians (god is a woman, etc). Christianity has many sects.
(note: I am not a Christian)
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - WCellon - 2011-07-13
bodhisamaya Wrote:Why is calling God "she" annoying?I don't feel it is appropriate to start a religious discussion here and neither of us is going to change the others mind, so it would be pointless.
Archeology has proven this to be fact.
As to it being annoying, it is because it is disrespectful to the word of the Bible, as the bible does not support either of the above statements.
I don't personally believe everything in the bible, but I have friends and family that do, so out of respect for them, I don't try to alter its meaning or refute it's words.
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - nest0r - 2011-07-13
WCellon Wrote:I don't feel it is appropriate to start a religious discussion here and neither of us is going to change the others mind, so it would be pointless.My assumption was that @WCellon necroposted here precisely to start a religious discussion, but I'm a cynic.
As to it being annoying, it is because it is disrespectful to the word of the Bible, as the bible does not support either of the above statements.
I don't personally believe everything in the bible, but I have friends and family that do, so out of respect for them, I don't try to alter its meaning or refute it's words.
@WCellon, are you not familiar with exegesis? Everyone has a right to interpret the Christian mythology how they like. The Bible's meaning, even if you believe it is intrinsic/the word of the Christian god, is subject to the vagaries of human understanding; various people, religious and otherwise, have interacted and engaged on such matters, respectfully and mutually helpfully, for ages, haven't they? If you prefer it be done respectfully, that's one thing, but to treat it as entirely off limits and even refuse to posit alternatives to Christian beliefs seems extreme to me.
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - WCellon - 2011-07-13
Jarvik7 Wrote:While I don't slight him for putting Christian stuff in RTK, some of the Christian references he puts in are pretty obscure unless you are REALLY into Christianity (evangelical etc). I had to rack my brain and I went to a private Christian school as a kid. In other words, many are not common western cultural knowledge the way Noah's Ark or Adam & Eve are and should not have been included. Though of course once you're immersed in something long enough you tend to forget what the common knowledge of laypeople are.Many of his references are obscure, depending on your background. For example, I had never heard of the following keywords:
portent
decameron
elucidate
as well as some others...
And I had no idea what "Ponte degli Angeli" was, but that is ok, because I looked them up and learned about them, so not only have I learned kanji, but I have learned more about my own language.
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - WCellon - 2011-07-13
nest0r Wrote:@WCellon, are you not familiar with exegesis?Actually, I am not. But I will look it up. I love learning new stuff. That is why I am trying to teach myself Japanese.
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - kirakiracupcake - 2011-07-15
I wasn't offended or annoyed as such but for those ones I mostly have to make up my own stories as I can't remember/don't know the religious teachings behind them and therefore it makes it hard to remember the kanji.
There are quite a few others that work on "sayings" that I dont know/haven't heard and therefore have to come up with my own stories for.
Obscure religious and cultural references in RtK1 - totallymike - 2011-07-15
All religion aside, the point is to make you remember. And given that, it's a safe bet that many people are going to know at least a couple stories from the bible and thus have a good footing with those mnemonics. Otherwise, their stories (he even encourages you too look up some of the more obscure ones as a memory aid), and if you put the story in your mind associated with the character you're fine no matter what you believe.