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Re: obscurity in religious texts
JOHN LANGDON (LANGDON@GANDLF.UINDY.EDU)
Thu, 7 Apr 1994 12:37:53 -0400
In message "Bonnie Blackwell, (519)253-4232x2502" writes:
> Stephanie Nelson raises an interesting issue with her comment about the
> obscurity in many religious texts. I maintain that the purpose behind
> those texts is not that to which we should be aspiring. With very few
> exceptions, those texts were written to empower an elite within their
> respective cultures. That elite used the obscurity in those writings
> to justify their own existance, namely the need to "translate" those
> texts for the common man within that culture. Moreover, the obscurity
> in those texts often served to protect the religion in times of persecution
> by its very obscurity. Neither of these purposes serves to empower
> everyone. I would like to think that as humans with a global perspective
we have grown beyond such ethnocentric and xenophobic motives.
There are other reasons for calculated ambiguity, although they might not apply
to religious writings. Stephanie Nelson's comments suggested to me political
accords, which are intended to satisfy multiple constituencies with different
agenda. For example, the recent UN Security Council statement concerning North
Korea was a compromise between the US and China. The message that each of those
countries wanted to convey was quite different, but they agreed on a single set
of words to convey it. Similarly joint statements by the PLO and Israel in their
recent talks are aimed at both Israeli and Palestinian audiences. Ambiguity and
lack of specification and sometimes obscurity in such statements is intrinsic to
diplomacy. There are times when clarity is not desired and anthropologists above
all should be sensitive to that. A second example is poetry which attempts to
stimulate diverse "imaginitive interpretations." Poetic style is at home in
poems, fiction, essays, and other types of literature. Again clarity is not
necessarily a virtue.
Academic writing usually does not permit such flexibility, but it is up to the
author to decide what style and degree of clarity is appropriate in his/her
work. This does not, however, excuse obscurity derived from poor thinking and
poor writing.
JOHN H. LANGDON email LANGDON@GANDLF.UINDY.EDU
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY FAX (317) 788-3569
UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS PHONE (317) 788-3447
INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46227
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