My religious sister once told me she was not afraid to read books other than the bible, so I was like OK, here is one - John Rechy's "City of Night" She did not get far, and she was telling me "I can't read that." Same way with religio-nazi younger brother . . . . I told him there was no way there could be some merciful god, and I had a book that pretty much proves it . . . . So he is like, yea, I am not afraid to read it . . . . I gave him Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet On The Western Front", that did not last long either and he was saying the same thing my sister said . . . . These folks are all weak and scared, they can't face up to what is real, so they hide in their own fucking bubble, and try to draw other people into it with them. I almost feel sorry for them, but not quite.
. Experience is what teaches, and reading widely in scope teaches you things beyond the normal, the wider your scope, the greater the benefit and insight into the world as it is, not as you wish it to be.
I remember reading "All Quiet On The Western Front" when I was about 11.
Definitely impacted by it.
Believers are so profoundly brainwashed, that they feel compelled to reject
anything that makes actual sense and defies their cognitive dissonance.
So many of them cannot be led to reason, and they reject it out of hand.
My ex was religious but not born in this country. Her college courses included a course in ethics. She was top of her class but a GF of hers who is American and semi-religious said she could not do that course. It was against her god beliefs, she said.
I agree. I have a few older friends who's fathers fought in WW! and there is one thing in common with them all. they never talked about their experiences for the rest of their lives.
If you do not read about the realities of war you may have some romanticised idea of what it is like. Maybe it should be mandatory for youngsters to read some of them.
I've always been extremely suspicious of people who claim you shouldn't read or know or imagine something, especially if they are the type of person too lazy to attempt to do all three and incorporate that laziness into their religion as if willful ignorance (or lazy ignorance) is a virtue to beat down smarter, more industrious thinkers.