Bible poll: fiction or nonfiction?

[sirmyk]

This is just a simple A or B poll regarding the Bible's placement on bookstore shelves: fiction, or nonfiction?

 

[ruach]

I thought it had its own section.

 

[mehastings]

I think it is usually under "Spirituality". It's a nice neutral title that they put all the mainstream religious texts under. I believe that it is treated as a non-fiction section though.

 

[Stewart]

Only ignorant assholes would vote for fiction.

 

[Shade]

Only ignorant assholes would vote for fiction.

And yet ... and yet ... all that creating the world in six days, and talking serpent, and Adam living nine hundred and thirty years, and the flood (just to pick a few choice extracts from Genesis), seem so John Twelve Hawks somehow.

 

[Stewart]

And yet ... and yet ... all that creating the world in six days, and talking serpent, and Adam living nine hundred and thirty years, and the flood (just to pick a few choice extracts from Genesis), seem so John Twelve Hawks somehow.

That was olden days...it was different then.

Ah, John Twelve Hawks...Dan Brown by any other name would surely write as shit.

 

[novella]

Neither fiction nor nonfiction. The Bible is the end result of a very long game of Telephone, in which the original bits and pieces get misremembered and exaggerated so many times, and everyone who passes it along adds a little bit of this and that, and the truth just falls through the cracks, and you wind up with parting seas and talking shrubs and white guys who live in the Middle East, walk on water, and view the world in terms of Eurocentric bigotry, a nice irony.

 

[Stewart]

Telephone? We call it Chinese Whispers.

 

[sirmyk]

I should have added "telephone game collaboration" to the list of choices. Excellent analogy.

 

[Kookamoor]

It should go wherever other books on faith and spirituality go. You may not believe in what it says, but you must recognise that others do. There's no way it would go in 'fiction'.

 

[sirmyk]

It should go wherever other books on faith and spirituality go. You may not believe in what it says, but you must recognise that others do. There's no way it would go in 'fiction'.

What about books like The Book of Mormon? Same "no way it would go in 'fiction'" deal?

 

[SFG75]

Non-fiction-like other spiritual works, it is the product of someone's view or orientation to the world, no matter how flawed that given view may be.

 

[RobertFKennedy]

it's neither fiction or non fiction as it cant be proved to be either and never has been. I'd class it seperately as Religious Text.

 

[raffaellabella]

I believe that the bible is a lot of embellished stories.

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

Although the bible will always go under "Religous Texts" or "Spiritual" in the bookstores, and I have no problem with that, I believe that it should go under fiction. I treat the bible just as I would treat Greek myths - a book including some embellished stories, some slight twists of truth, and some completely fictional pieces of work.

And I don't mean to offend - just my opinion

MonkeyCatcher

 

[Kookamoor]

What about books like The Book of Mormon? Same "no way it would go in 'fiction'" deal?

Absolutely.

Remember that such divisions are rarely so absolute. If you're in a book store there are categories (religion/spirituality being one). If I were putting the Bible/Book of Mormon, etc, in a library, I would classify it under the reference section or under the appropriate Dewey decimal call number of religion.

 

[jay]

Don’t’ insult some good fiction. Keep it in „fantasy“ and the „mental help“ (psychology, if you prefer) section.
And or get it OUT of the bookstores. If one needs a bible, phuck knows there’s enough in print, they can go stay in a hotel or nick one from a, whattayacallit it, church.
Isn’t it a little twisted that one would have to pay for the supposed word of gawd?
And what’s his/her/its royalty rate?

Many a moon ago while I ran a bookstore I _did_ keep a copy in Fiction (under “anonymous”). Very few ever said anything about it, sometimes I’d point it out to a few if showing them a book around that area (cuz, you know, the alphabet is a difficult thing to grasp) and most would laugh. An old lady found it once, bringing it to the counter, pretty peeved off. After she left I returned it to its rightful place (again, under “anonymous”) and she would come in future times checking on it always given me some flack. Thankfully I kept pepper spray behind the counter.

This was around the time Rushdie’s _The Satanic Verses_ was released and I got softly reprimanded by the Higher Ups (basically anonymous figures themselves) for goading the few bomb threat people peoples that graced our lil’ bookshop.

Whatever happened to all the fun in the world?
j

 

[sirmyk]

Personally, I would feel guilty paying money for a religious book. I would rather call up some white shirt/black tie missionaries or contact a couple Saturday warriors for some freebies. Or steal one from a motel. Who are those Gideons anyway?

 

[SFG75]

Personally, I would feel guilty paying money for a religious book. I would rather call up some white shirt/black tie missionaries or contact a couple Saturday warriors for some freebies. Or steal one from a motel. Who are those Gideons anyway?

LOL-I do buy some works on occassion. I'm particularly fond of Sufi poetry, as well as "Mystical" esoteric writings of groups long forgotten. The only material I'm the least bit hesitant about to purchase in public, is anything that is new age.

 

[sirmyk]

Thanks for mentioning this thread in another, Motokid. It was great to read again. But, I was surprised it hasn't been closed, due to it's philisophical/religious/political nature.