wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] User-friendly books on religion are sacred texts for

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Note #9058 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05005
Jan. 5, 2006

User-friendly books on religion
are sacred texts for 'Dummies,' 'Idiots'
      
by Cheryl Heckler
Ecumenical News International  
      
OXFORD, OH - User-friendly books with such titles as Spirituality For Dummies
and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jesus are becoming best-sellers in the
United States.

      "Many people ... see spirituality as a tool to be understood and used
in life," said Mary Kupiec Cayton, a professor of history and American
studies at Miami University in Oxford, OH. "These guides can help bring
people up to speed on subjects where they have little prior knowledge."

      The books are known for their distinctive, colorful packaging - the
"Dummies" series is in yellow and black, the "Idiot's guides" in bright
orange and white - and for their simple, straightforward explanations.

	There are volumes about sacred texts, major religions, personal
devotions and figures including Jesus, Buddha and Pope John Paul II. The
series also take up such subjects as car repair, home design, computer
programming and history.  
       
      More than 450 "Idiot's" titles are in print, and there are at least
twice as many for "Dummies."

	Nearly 50 of the volumes are related to religion; subjects include
witchcraft and "divining spirits" as well as Islam, Judaism and Hinduism.
Their authors are clergy, journalists and professors.  
       
      Such series are successful because they help people make sense of a
subject quickly, Cayton said.  
       
      But some readers are offended.  
	
      "These guides are often written in a light-hearted way that might make
some think that sacred topics weren't being taken seriously or were being
handled superficially, Cayton said.  
       
      "For liberals, the guides might seem to indicate that there is one
appropriate way of understanding complex topics, when in fact the 'one
appropriate way' conveyed by the author might be only one perspective ... of
many," she said.  "Alternatively, for more conservative believers, topics
might be presented as matters of opinion when they ought to be seen as
matters of faith."   
       
      Current subjects include C.S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of
Narnia, which recently was released as a film, and a book on Pope John Paul
II marking the first anniversary of his death last April.

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