The Bible - memorize, ask questions or both?

This fall we had Rally Day. All across the world Methodist youth were studying the Bible, and youth of other faiths were studying their religious books. This stirred up memories of when I was a teenager in our Methodist Church in Lake Placid. Our teacher was discussing "the fear of God." I replied that I am not afraid of God - he is my friend. For years I was upset about this concept until a minister said fear has many meanings, such as awe and respect.

A friend suggested I read the article about Muslims in the June issue of The New Yorker magazine.

It is an interesting article about a Muslim writer, Dr. Fadl, who by the time he had finished sixth grade had memorized the Koran. I had read before that one of the great achievements for Muslim teens was to memorize the entire Koran. Some students could do it in two years; others took longer

Memorizing has its good points. One of my favorite passages is The Sermon on the Mount. And I have memorized passages from Isaiah, such as "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

In 1986 UNESCO convened scholars from relevant sciences around the world that released the following statement: "It is scientifically incorrect to say that war or any other violent behavior is genetically programmed into our human nature."

It great to memorize favorite passages of the Bible and other religious books. As important, however, is encouraging our youth to ask questions as to why different faiths aren't working closer together. There are so many areas where different faiths can work together - for example, world poverty, better schools, health care.

Bob Pendleton

Elk Grove Village