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i've never heard such a thing said about this book, but when reading bits of this post to D., before we got to the end, he said to me, "you know what other book has worshipping of false gods? THE BIBLE." and then i read the end of your post. :)
After reading this, I got curious, and went to the infamous Wikipedia to research a bit... In explaining the characters in Moby Dick, there are quite a few references to the Bible. But, nothing I can see about any Christian grievance. Being Christian myself, I have NEVER heard of anything of the sort against this story... BUT... Remember, there are those out there that can find a grievence in any story that is not in the bible.
I finished reading Moby Dick recently. And I agree with the sentiment (if not the syntax) of the bus weirdo. Ishmael may be a good Christian, but I think Melville may have been much more ambivilent. I recall a chapter (the number is lost, now, in the blur of the wholeness of the book) where I thought Melville got in some really good digs at organized religion.
And it's not just Queequeg. The Parsee (Ahabs bowman) is clearly non-Christian. Ahab himself appears to have rejected God and gone straight to defying the universe, nobably in the chapter where lightning strikes the ship's masts and spars.
I found the book to be very rich with religious ambiguity -- and liked it for that. I can understand why some narrower-minded Christians who don't feel up to withstanding challenges to their faith would shun it and tell others to do so.
i'd guess that your intuition about the woman's syntax is dead on. 'worshipping false gods' is central to one of the Ten Commandments, if I remember correctly, or, at the very least, is probably used in exactly that syntax in a lot of ministering/preaching. 'he found them worshipping false gods,' or 'we went to where they were worshipping false gods,' are probably common utterances in settings where missionary work is valued. anyway, i wonder if it isn't adopted as a stock phrase, which would normalize the 'there's' construction. it might sound (to a Christian who has heard it a lot) like any noun: 'there's sin,' 'there's sinning,' 'there's loving god in that book.' -Cristi
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And it's not just Queequeg. The Parsee (Ahabs bowman) is clearly non-Christian. Ahab himself appears to have rejected God and gone straight to defying the universe, nobably in the chapter where lightning strikes the ship's masts and spars.
I found the book to be very rich with religious ambiguity -- and liked it for that. I can understand why some narrower-minded Christians who don't feel up to withstanding challenges to their faith would shun it and tell others to do so.
GK
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anyway, i wonder if it isn't adopted as a stock phrase, which would normalize the 'there's' construction. it might sound (to a Christian who has heard it a lot) like any noun: 'there's sin,' 'there's sinning,' 'there's loving god in that book.'
-Cristi
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