Now that we have finally finished reading all of Karen Armstrong's book, I think now is a good time to reflect on the book as a whole. When we first started reading this book, I know many of us had reservations about Karen's writing style, her fact-checking, and many other things. After getting through these reservations, I believe that her book has given me new insight on Jerusalem and an enlightening history on a world that I had very little knowledge about.
As you can see in my previous posts, I learned new things about religion that I wouldn't have known otherwise. I was able to read about the evolution of Christianity and Judaism, as well as Islam. Since I was raised in a household where we didn't attend church on a regular basis, I enjoyed gaining insight on topics that I had known nothing about. It was also interesting to have my opinions swayed when it comes to Jerusalem, and being able to have a new perspective on the conflict.
It was also interesting to learn about the different facets of religion in general, and how critical a role it plays in people's lives. I still find it fascinating how much this small piece of land means to so many people, and what they are willing to do to call it 'theirs.' Overall, I think that this book has given me a great insight into Jerusalem and religion, and this information will come in handy when we begin to dive into our group projects.
I also think this was a good book to use to introduce the class. I have seen multiple films and have read a couple other books about the history of Jerusalem, and I have to say that this one does a great job at showing all sides of the story. I look forward to reading more articles that deal with the present-day conflict. While learning the history will help us understand the current conflict, many people fighting for Jerusalem are very young. I almost feel like a multiple books could have been written for each chapter of this book.
ReplyDeleteI too had reservations after reading the Introduction to One City, Three Faiths. While they lingered in the back of my mind, they were largely displaced by my sheer interest in the book and the subject matter. The religious-political history will definitely help me decipher various mythologies about Jerusalem without thinking of the mythologies as pure truth. The various methodologies of governance, that Karen analytically compares, shed light on the status quo, societal sentiment, and patterns of peace, war, prosperity, and poverty.
ReplyDelete