Since this isn't a blog about personal religious beliefs, but a place to talk about history, language and culture, it'd be nice to hear about people's educational and personal histories, to better understand their takes on the coming material.
I have a BA in Anthropology from Stanford University. I was raised Mormon, though never considered myself a believer, even as a child, and I never practiced in the Mormon church, nor went on a mission. Nowadays, I don't subscribe to any particular religion though I'm socially a "secular Christian," by virtue of the fact that I celebrate Christmas and Easter rather than Hanukkah or Diwali.
I have always been wildly interested in comparative religious study, however, and read quite a bit, or had actual classwork, in the following:
- Christian history
- anthopology
- archaeology
- linguistics and socio-linguistics
- ancient Near Eastern studies
- history of science and technology
- Modern Hebrew (two years)
- German (two years)
- Roman history
- Greek history
- Jewish studies
- Mesoamerican studies
- ancient and modern Mayan languages
You don't need to have the same background or, for that matter, any background, to enjoy the coming readings. Just be curious!
I think this is a valuable idea, I'm hesitantly dipping a toe into this blog because you seem to have a whole lot more knowledge than I do.
ReplyDeleteMy higher education is scientific and technical (maths and computer science) but I learned a lot of history (in the French high school system), and I was (as a teenager) and still am very interested in linguistics and civilizations. I learned English, Latin and German in high school, and some Spanish later.
My parents and I were always non-believers. I call myself atheist, although I'm not (unless provoked) taking pains to argue against other people's beliefs. My interest in religious texts is that they have obviously shaped our civilizations... and it is quite possible (in my view, probable) that in the early days, while they were repeatedly transcribed and translated before they got more or less fixed, it was the opposite: our civilizations shaped the texts.
So again, I'm not making promises that I'll stay the distance, but I'm interested in trying.
Hey Claude, no background required!
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