| ...I might consider a book on Native American legends to be science, since I would consider that pertinent to sociology or possibly anthropology -- but then again, I'm one of those people who considers the social sciences to be legitimate science, and not everyone does. However, I wouldn't consider such a book to be a religious text, strictly speaking. One of the conditions by which I would tend to judge whether or not a book is a religious text -- even if it contains many positive references to a specific religion -- is whether or not that book was intended and/or can readily be used for evangelical purposes, either to bring new converts to that religion or to strengthen the faith of those who practice it. Even though such a book as you describe might contain many references to Native American spirituality, I wouldn't see it as passing that particular acid test. A book on how to incorporate Native American spiritual practice into one's own life...that would be another matter altogether.
It depends largely on your usage of the word "favors" -- do you mean to argue that these books advocate or encourage such practice? If so, I hope you realize that the same argument would have to apply to any book on Egyptian or Greek or Roman or Norse mythology. After all, the myths of those people were an integral part of their religion as well -- but I highly doubt that most people in this day and age would consider Homer's "The Odyssey" to be any sort of religious text!
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