I suppose it also could have been this guy.
I recently finished a book which deals with some of those issues and more, The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson, ("TFQ"). Let me say first that I'm not a fan of books about Jews. I'm a Jew, (genetically at least) and I have read, mostly on my mother's suggestion, a shitload of novels that could best be described as Jew centered fiction. There was the one about the inquisition, the biblical one; she just tried convincing me to read one about a Jewish civil war soldier. I picked up TFQ because I heard the end of an interview with Jacobson on NPR where his response to a question about winning the Man Booker Prize was, "it was about time." So I read TFQ and was not disappointed.
The novel revolves around three friends (two Jewish and one who desperately wants to be Jewish) and touches upon the complexities of their relationships and their feelings about their own religion. The book, though not lengthy, is not what you'd call a fast read. What little action there is takes place early on and sets the stage for many chapters which can best be described as "discussion of earlier events". The entire novel is set against a backdrop of ever increasing European anti-semitism and its relationship to sympathy for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. One of the main characters has chosen to be an "ashamed Jew" speaking out against the occupation while the other Jewish character is less political and deeply mourning his wife. The main character, a gentile, longs to be a Jew; something which he perceives to be special with an intellectual flair which he cannot grasp. There are other minor characters all which play somehow into the themes of being Jewish in a Christian world. The book is funny at times, incredibly well written and rewarding. It may have Jews but my mother will probably hate it because it's not pulpy trash.
There is one overarching reminder throughout the book. This is a Christian world (at least Europe and America). My son is about to start public school after going to a temple school for pre-kindergarten. We didn't want to send him there but we quickly realized that the non-denominational schools were by default, Christian schools. Now we are faced with the same problem, public school is Christian. Christmas is in the curriculum. We are not religious people, really we are atheists. But if there is no true non-denominational option, we'd rather him have a Jewish education than a Christian one. Today we were at local public high school for my son's basketball trophy ceremony. The High School rents its cafeteria to a church on the weekends and there were church flyers everywhere. I wasn't offended but should I be, it's a public school. We're going to see how it goes with public school, but the second my kid tells me Jesus died for my sins I'm going to start saving up to get him back in the Jewish day school.
Anyone who thinks there is a war on Christianity should feel secure that the war is over and the Christians won.
4 comments:
One time my oldest came home from preschool...."Mommy, do you know Jesus loves you?". Another time, he said he really wanted to go to church on Sunday so that he could see the Easter Bunny. We were assured that religion was not part of the school and that people of all faiths were welcome to attend. But Christians don't really understand the meaning of secular....to them, secular and the separation of church and state is considered blasphemy. This is unfortunate. They are so offended when someone attempts to make public schools religiously neutral. However, they do not give one thought to how offended someone else might be by the messages they infuse into the school.
First, I personally think it's good to teach morals and ethics in non-religious terms, but I advocate for more of a Bearenstain Bears approach.
Secondly, I advocate for learning about all major religions from an academic point of view. I recently bought a book for my boys called One World Many Religions by Mary Pope Osborne (the same author as the Magic Tree House books). So far, I feel the book is very objective, and does not favor any one religion over another.
Third, I think stories from religious texts should be studied from a literary point of view, otherwise so many important references are lost. A well educated person needs to recognize these references.
Fourth....all the issues you are struggling with related to public school are part of the reason we are homeschooling. As you well know, homeschooling comes with it's own set of issues related to religion, but I'm feeling ever more confident that we can overcome that.
I wish both our K boys the best of luck avoiding the fundi influence....
I've always said, it will just be my luck that my son becomes a Republican, born again Christian, who has terrible taste in music. But of course, I will love him still.
More posts please!
Rebecca, Funny you mentioned the Berenstain Bears, the ones co-written by the son have a decidedly churchy angle. The ones by mom and dad are perfect.
Interesting....I did notice a few of them being a little churchy, but I didn't catch on to the difference in authors. Thanks for the info.
Post a Comment