Christian Culture Lecture

       Maria Rosa Menocal was chosen for this years Christian Culture Lecture. I thought her topic was really interesting and her pictures to demonstrate her ideas really made the presentation. One of the things that really grabbed me were her comparisons between Don Quixote having his books burned and Cardinal Cisneros burning many Arabic texts in Granada. To think of all the history that was lost because of this is staggering. It would be hard to even imagine if all of my favorite books were burned how I would feel. I think I might be devastated. Or even worse if I had not been able to read all of those books, how would my knowledge of the world diminish? 

        Even though Cardinal Cisneros burned the Arabic texts he could still not extinguish the influence of the Arabic cultures. For example, many of the churches she showed us had Arabic writing as part of the decoration. This did not take away from the beauty but added to it and demonstrates the importance of living together and appreciating other cultures. 

Ultimately, I think her topic was very interesting but I wish she had stayed a bit more focused. I really enjoyed how she related parts of Don Quixote to the history at the time and I would have liked more examples like that. She was sometimes hard to follow, when so many new ideas and quotes were thrown out. Overall I enjoyed the lecture and would like to hear more about the subject.