I find alternate readings of religious texts interesting though I haven’t looked into it much because my foundation is so weak I cannot discern fact from fiction. There is a book by Periyar about an alternate reading of Ramayana (a Hindu epic). Periyar was a South Indian activist advocating for the rights and identity of South Indians. He says that the villain in Ramayana was not really bad etc. I don’t know Ramayana enough to judge the work but it’s very interesting. My religious relatives got really mad when I talked to them about it.
Well people used to call alternate readings “heresy”, “blasphemy” and so on (some still are). Problem with religious texts is that they are usually written more or less purposefully vague so interpretations can vary wildly and you can prove basically whatever you want since it’s all based on faith anyway, you cannot observably prove anything.
I find alternate readings of religious texts interesting though I haven’t looked into it much because my foundation is so weak I cannot discern fact from fiction. There is a book by Periyar about an alternate reading of Ramayana (a Hindu epic). Periyar was a South Indian activist advocating for the rights and identity of South Indians. He says that the villain in Ramayana was not really bad etc. I don’t know Ramayana enough to judge the work but it’s very interesting. My religious relatives got really mad when I talked to them about it.
Well people used to call alternate readings “heresy”, “blasphemy” and so on (some still are). Problem with religious texts is that they are usually written more or less purposefully vague so interpretations can vary wildly and you can prove basically whatever you want since it’s all based on faith anyway, you cannot observably prove anything.