An undeciphered sacred text functions as a blank check for interpreters

Evidence

To the modern skeptic (and no doubt to the sixteenthand seventeenth-century skeptic as well) this undeciphered text waiting in the background must appear as a sort of religious blank check, to be filled in when the occasion demanded by those who controlled the process of translation/interpretation. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1266 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Interpretation lets interpreters privately reveal larger truths behind facts — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 127; Undeciphered sacred texts function as blank checks for those controlling their interpretation — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1266; Hammer-Purgstall’s translators fabricated content by guessing from a few words — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists…, 269 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Undeciphered sacred texts function as blank checks for those controlling their interpretation #corroborates (0.98) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1266