Not My Words

So, I have a degree in Comparative Literature. "What does THAT mean?" you think. Well, it can be a lengthy explanation. In fact, one of the courses I had to take was defining the discipline. I find that funny because I'm not sure how many other disciplines are out there for study that have to first be defined. I mean, you go into biology, you know that it is the study of life. It's the title. But, somehow, comparative literature is a bit more elusive than that. But, to break it down, it is the comparing of two of more cultures through a medium of art; be it the literature of books to books, or even literature and film or whatever. It is mandatory to have a minimum of two languages with which to use in comparison, and by this, also the cultural background to discuss theories, sciences, social changes, etc.
Because of the blessing of this training, when I read something, I tend to look at a lot of different perspectives considering what is being written. With that in mind, the number one rule in comparative literature is to GO TO THE SOURCE.
Every time someone references a quote, a link, a theory, or what have you, I am searching for the original context. There are too many times that people pick up on something they were looking for and exclude the rest of the context with which it was said, written, or done. In fact, within the church culture I live in, we are constantly reminded NOT to quote apostles and/or prophets unless we can give the exact reference so that the context can be read by listeners/readers at another time.
I read something today and was shocked at the way information was presented. I am not doubting the person had good intentions, but the quotes used were severely out of context. We have to be careful that when we are looking to "justify" our reasons for doing something that we use our own words and stop pretending that we are standing on the shoulders of others. If it isn't in the context of the quote, we lose a lot of understanding when separated from the rest of the speech, book, film, or novel. Even if we are taking great care and don't think we are doing it, we easily slide in to manipulating other people's words for our own purposes and typically creating our own propaganda. I'm not excluding myself from doing the same thing, but ask that you please take into consideration when reading bits and pieces of things. Just as statistics can be swayed greatly for a particular purpose, so can words.