"Sacred" books at British Library

The British Library's exhibit, "Sacred," (April 27 through September 23, 2007) looks like it must be a wonderful parallel demonstration of the iconic and artistic power of scriptures in multiple traditions. See the exhibit website and the review in The Times. Would anyone like to report their impressions of the exhibit?

Desecrating scriptures

Accusations of desecrating physical copies of scriptures are becoming a stock feature of tit-for-tat inter-religious conflict. See the following:

• Nigerian teacher dies 'over Koran' (BBC March 21, 2007)
• Muslim boys urinate on Bible (The Australian, December 6, 2006)
  

Congressional oath on Qur'an

After much controversy, Rep. Keith Ellison has been sworn in on a Qur'an (an event being publicized by the federal goverment for its positive spin). I think Ellison or his staff showed great intuition into the iconic symbolism of the oath. He countered the controversy over using a Qur'an by asking the Library of Congress to borrow Thomas Jefferson's copy. So he neutralized the criticism by employing a relic book associated with one of the country's founding fathers.

Copying scriptures

The hand copying of Buddhist sutras is an active religious practice for lay people in Japan today, according to the Japan Times.

Cures with scriptures

Talismanic uses of scriptures remain quite widespread. For one interesting example, see Quran-O-Pathy.