Is there still hope for the Palestinian prime minister?

I pray this is true.

Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman has reportedly warned Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to relax his grip on the reins of Palestinian power or face the possibility that Egypt and the US will cease to block Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from carrying out his threat to "remove" the chairman.

I still think the Quartet's plan for the Palestinian prime minister is the best hope for progress.

Eleven Hundred Per Day

Night in this place and night across the world
Starry cloudy sky turned black with redness
Steel and fire and oil and flesh and salt
And roar and silence and women crying someplace else.

White and green and cloth and steel
Ghosts with clean hands in the hallways
One of the youngest remains when others go home
One to wait and remember and know and report.

This new Hastings this revenge on Hengest
This arm reaching into the Sleeve instead of out
Iron and coal to return the favor of wood and cloth
The ocean flowing backwards the Sea Lion flying in reverse.

Hands hard and cracked and lying still with yellow nails
Hands with blue and brown in lines and spots
Hands that grasped a world a world away
Like stone like wood like iron and now like water.

Lost arms and lost arms in the sand lying
The living carrying arms or their arms or their legs
Love of a nation spilled on the cement
Power of a nation impaled on little bits of lead.

Night and morning and very little sleep
For those who wait another longest day and night
The outcome certain but not yet established
The body that loved unto death dying slowly.

Stepping over neighbors who loved as much as themselves
Killing neighbors further away looking into their eyes
At the top of the hill stopping for a moment
Hell behind and hell ahead and heaven everywhere.

White face on white then gray face on powder blue
Moved from bed to box to ground to memory
The real heroes are still there he once protested
Accepting his flag his widow thought otherwise.

Shadows of inhumanity, points of light

I have just finished watching the National Memorial Day Concert on PBS. The show airs live from the Mall in DC every year. By now I am quite familiar with the format of the program. Each year, actors dramatize a few first-person accounts from veterans in the audience. This year, actor Charles Durning (a regular at the event) presented his own story instead, recounting his experience at Normandy. A few popular entertainers also come on stage each year to perform patriotic and nostalgic music. A bugler performs "Taps" on the steps of the Capitol. The program ends with all of the performers and the entire crowd singing "God Bless America."

One image in particular caught my attention. A young Marine sat in the crowd. He was perfectly rigid, motionless, and expressionless. His eyes were concealed by the brim of his white cap. Seated beside him, leaning on his arm, was a pretty young woman. She watched the show intently. Her dark eyes gleamed in the dim light. I wondered what she was thinking. Was she frightened? Was she proud? I wondered whether her man had recently returned from a theater of war, or whether he might soon go to one. And what was the Marine thinking, as his love rested her head on his shoulder? What does this night in Washington mean to him?

Fun ways people find this site: # 3

Guess who comes up first when someone Googles frankenstein "he's alive"?

Bakhtin and Life of Brian

In an essay entitled "Epic and Novel," M. M. Bakhtin identifies comical writing as a bridge in history between ancient literary genres and the novel. In fact, he identifies laughter as a key element in the growth of Western thought:

As it draws an object to itself and makes it familiar, laughter delivers the object into the fearless hands of investigative experiment -- both scientific and artistic -- and into the hands of free experimental fantasy. Familiarization of the world through laughter and popular speech is an extremely important and indispensable step in making possible free, scientifically knowable and artistically realistic creativity in European civilization.

The old epics, Bakhtin writes, place an irreconcilable distance between a story and its audience. Nothing can bridge the gap between the world of Odysseus and the world in which readers of the Odyssey live. The novel, however, puts a story into the "language" of real people. Novelistic literature adapts to fit the language -- that is, to match the way the audience thinks about its own experiences. The ability to laugh and parody was important to the birth of the novel because it allows an audience to compare literature to real life. If an audience can laugh at a parody of a great myth, it can question the myth itself. The vulgarity of humor brought literature and even other academic disciplines into the real world.

If Bakhtin is correct, parody can be beneficial apart from any satiric norm. Humor need not have a message in order to be useful; humor facilitates freedom of inquiry simply by creating an atmosphere of familiarity. I see merit in this idea, but I also see drawbacks to an indiscriminate application of humor. As Bakhtin himself writes in the next paragraphs, "One ridicules in order to forget. . . . What reigns supreme here is the artistic logic of analysis, dismemberment, turning living things into dead objects." Few people would always view forgetfulness as a good thing. Some things are best not killed, no matter how ancient they are. Surely it is possible to study an idea critically and respectfully. It would be unwise to kill ideas that happen to be true, no matter how liberating it might seem.

In matters of faith and community values, frivolity could lead people to abandon important ideas. After all, a standard may seem strange up close even if it is valuable in the abstract. By definition, the transcendent may not translate well into contemporary "language." The vernacular may be inadequate to express certain ideas.

Even so, the Bible finds familiarity useful in some religious matters. The writer of Ecclesiastes, for example, explores all aspects of existence in order to demonstrate the meaninglessness of life apart from God; his bitter acquaintance with the ways of the world provides fodder for religious discourse. Many times, as well, the prophets use biting humor. This use of humor, however, does not apply equally to God and his enemies. In the presence of the Lord, familiarity vanishes into fear and trembling. Mockery is not recommended.

A different sort of "familiarity" exists between God and his people. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 commands Israel to meditate on God's law at all times. Although sin places a great distance between God and humanity, Christ came to provide reconciliation. The literature of the New Testament is obsessed with history and personal communication, and even its most genre-bound book (Revelation) seems to be a product of the political situation of its own day. Lastly, the incarnation is the ultimate divine concession to human language.

I can see value even in mocking treatments of religion, however, if they accompany honest thought. Just as Job's anguished questions and Ecclesiastes' existential musings are appropriate to a point, so humor too sometimes exposes an important struggle. I think Christians should avoid taking offense too quickly when they perceive that their faith is being questioned. We may need to hear what our neighbors have to say.

The film Life of Brian (1979) comes to mind as an example. For obvious reasons, many Christians find this movie repugnant. I believe it has value, however, because it asks the audience to consider religious questions in a personal, immediate way. It breaks down any "epic distance" between the New Testament and modern audiences. It asks whether the doctrines of Christianity make sense in today's language. The "blessed are the cheesemakers" scene and the Latin graffiti scene are both blatant references to language and the proper transmission of ideas. Meanwhile, the crucifixion scene has an even more important message. This scene parodies those who view the cross as a good thing; its chorus of optimistic crucifixion victims is a bitter comment on the futility of faith in the absence of resurrection. The apostle Paul makes the very same point. Religion without resurrection is an exercise in lofty but empty language. Death is death, unless it's not.

For those who put their faith in Christ, such an idea is not a threat. Our faith is true and living. It is neither limited to contemporary language, nor unapproachable and removed from reality. "Our truth," as the postmoderns might call it, is both transcendent and immanent.

Mundane

I fell asleep while trying to watch Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) this afternoon. Not that it was not interesting; I had never seen Cary Grant's face do those things before. Other than that, I have little to report. Oh, I am listening to lots and lots of NPR. And I need the weekend. And this paragraph needs a topic.

Fun ways people find this site: # 2

A visitor in China arrived here by searching for peter speech. Apparently I am the Web's top authority on that subject. (Another visitor tried peter and the pentecost.)

Fun ways people find this site: # 1

Somebody in Delhi found me by searching Google India for jane austen metanarrative. I was the top result. That says sad things about the Internet.

Je pense que le français est vraiment cool

I am finally relearning French, stateside, after several years in the linguistic wilderness. For the first time I have the advantage of being taught by a native speaker (master's degree in French literature -- and coauthor of the textbook).

Class began yesterday. I enjoy it already. I have little real work to do yet, since everything so far is review for me. Things are coming back to mind readily. I have already made badly-needed corrections to my accent, however. I also have a better perspective than I had when I was twelve; since I have seen France and Belgium for myself, and generally have a better grasp of the scope of the world, I can place the language in a fuller context.

See no contemporaneity, hear no contemporaneity

The caution placed by ABC at the beginning of its airing of A Beautiful Mind:

Due to current events, viewer discretion is advised.

A couple of pictures from home

I have been planning to take a few photographs around town to post here. I think my friends might be amused by my surroundings. I haven't had a good chance to go into town with the camera lately, though. This teaser from the family property will have to suffice for now.

Both pictures were taken from the approximate perspective of my house, one toward the north and the other toward the south. When my family first moved onto our property, that neighboring field (a few dozen yards from the house) was home to a herd of cattle.

Bored this summer?

Try the excitement of extreme ironing.

His Majesty's Own Suicide Pigeon Brigade

Documents now released to the National Archives reveal that the War Office intelligence section, MI14, warned: "Pigeon research will not stand still; if we do not experiment, other powers will."

Veddy good, suh.

*Squawk* *Boom!*

Apocalyptic foreign policy

An article by Rick Perlstein at the Village Voice has been causing some commotion among the commentariat. Until now, I hadn't been able to read it for myself. The opening paragraph contains a sort of synopsis:

It was an e-mail we weren't meant to see. Not for our eyes were the notes that showed White House staffers taking two-hour meetings with Christian fundamentalists, where they passed off bogus social science on gay marriage as if it were holy writ and issued fiery warnings that "the Presidents (sic) Administration and current Government is engaged in cultural, economical, and social struggle on every level"—this to a group whose representative in Israel believed herself to have been attacked by witchcraft unleashed by proximity to a volume of Harry Potter.

I find this less alarming than Perlstein does -- not because the theology and political science in question are sound, but because the White House has to deal with a wide variety of rather special interest groups. Nevertheless, I find this information fascinating on all levels; the opinions and rhetoric of the religious group, the response of the White House, and the interpretation of the left are all entertaining.

How to save Episode III

In many ways, “Phantom” and “Clones” were the answer to the unasked question “What would the director of ‘Plan 9 From Outer Space’ have done with a talented effects crew and a $200 million budget?”

. . . .

Maybe the best thing to do would be to get Anakin to embrace the Dark Side as quickly as possible, perhaps by forcing him to confront some terrible disappointment that will haunt him for the rest of his days. We suggest this two-line scene set in a Coruscant restaurant:

WAITER: Here’s your green salad, sir.
ANAKIN: What? You fool, I told you NO CROUTONS! Aaaaaaargh!

Christopher Bahn elaborates at MSNBC.

Congratulations, hawks -- update

An afterthought on this post.

Surely the war proponents who were trumpeting Monday's artillery shell as evidence of Saddam's noncompliance are aware that live but abandoned munitions are fairly common -- in the United States?

Unexploded munitions are a big headache and public relations nightmare, with nearly 2,300 sites around the country suspected of harboring old bombs, shells, and other lethal devices. California, Texas, and Florida are at the top of the list of states with the biggest problems.

A single pre-1991 artillery shell in a country as chaotic as Iraq is barely news, let alone a casus belli.

But let's get a little more interesting, shall we?

According to Wikipedia:

July 28, 1957 – A C-124 Globemaster with 3 nuclear weapons and a nuclear capsule from Dover Air Force Base lost power in two engines. Two weapons were jettisoned somewhere off Rehobeth, Delaware and Cape May, New Jersey/Wildwood, New Jersey; they were reportedly never found.

Have a paper-related problem?

Dan Kennedy Solves Your Problems with Paper.

Defining an educational focus

My interest in politics has waned as my interest in political science has waxed. Political discourse, including my own, is largely sophomoric and short-sighted. Everyday partisanship rarely reflects sound political theory. For me, disgust with the puerility of American politics began with the polarization over Iraq; neither the "Saddam is evil" nor the "Bush wants oil" arguments gave me much faith in the sophistication of the commentariat, and I have found my own contributions to the debate to be decreasingly insightful. Disillusionment in other areas of debate followed. Yet there is something futile in a political scientist who tires of politicians, pundits, and voters in general. This has forced me to reconsider my educational priorities.

The one area of political science that really interests me is international relations. It offers the most opportunity to develop new models and effect radical change for good. At the international level, theory still means something and the fundamental forms of government are still being defined. I have recently become convinced, however, that professional involvement in international affairs is not for me. This recognition has been painful and disorienting.

So I have begun turning back toward the field of history. Specifically, I am interested in history as it relates to other social sciences as well as literature. I view history as a sort of unifying academic discipline. History encompasses all of human thought, as well as all of recorded divine intervention and revelation. This is leading me toward a specialization in historiography.

Historiography is the study of the study of history. It is the theory behind the practice. Historiography examines the rules of evidence, the motivations of the historian, and the validity of metanarrative. When the historian writes, "Jill stole Harry's lunch money," the historiographer shakes his head and points out that the only documentation for the story comes from a bitter enemy of Jill, and that this account was first written down forty years after the theft supposedly took place. (A somewhat more realistic example of historiography can be found in my review of Big Fish and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.)

Historiography is a gatekeeper to political science, sociology, and literature. It has the added attraction of being an arcane and boring field. Unlike political science, in which everyone seems to have a very strong opinion, historiography rarely forces me to disagree with strangers. I have never had to smile and nod while a new acquaintance espoused a maddeningly uninformed opinion concerning R. G. Collingwood or Giambattista Vico, as I have had to do when discussing topics such as economics or states' rights.

This shift in priorities will have no short-term effect on my formal education. It may do interesting things to my extracurricular reading habits, however. I think it's worth a shot.

The silent Austenophile majority

Ever notice that any given young female in America has seen the 1995 film version of Pride and Prejudice multiple times?

In addition, ever notice that any given male in America either (a) has never read Jane Austen and hates her, or (b) has read Jane Austen and secretly loves her novels?

Congratulations, hawks

The Coalition has found, if that verb is accurate, one weapon of mass destruction in Iraq.

Far from expecting that this is the first evidence of the promised thousands of tons of WMD, the US is worried that this might mean there's another rusty artillery shell in a collector's basement somewhere.

Unless we invaded Iraq on account of one unexploded field munition from the 1980s, the Iraq Survey Group had better keep looking.

Update: I have posted a follow-up here.

Observations from church this morning

Observation # 1

It seems that middle-aged ladies find my "soft suede" polyster shirt attractive. They cannot seem to keep their hands away from the sleeves. One lady said something about "beating off the girls with sticks." Regrettably, the shirt did not seem to have even the same effect, much less one justifying a resort to cudgelry, on the younger ladies.

Conclusion: Results mixed. 50-year-old men should ask for the name of my tailor.

Observation # 2

Conservative Baptists still have few qualms about applying the Old Testament directly to modern society. According to the pastor, the drought this area experienced two years ago could have been ended more quickly if the county had repented of its sins with greater haste; prayer is the handmaiden of irrigation (2 Chron. 6:26-27).

Conclusion: In accordance with the following chapter, the Building and Grounds Committee should make immediate plans to slaughter 120,000 sheep (7:5).

Observation # 3

So far, data suggest that country gentlemen who speak with a twang, at a rate of approximately one word per hour, should never be permitted to think out loud. They may take forty minutes to decipher the fine difference between "obedience" and "honor"; meantime, the Methodists will have swarmed the local restaurants.

Conclusion: "Honor your father and mother" is not a very difficult concept, but it can make a college-and-career Sunday school class hungry.

Observation # 4

The previous two observations had a far less displeasing effect than anticipated. Despite the nearly Talmudic nature of some of the doctrinal discussions today, this researcher found fellowship and worship to have been left largely intact.

Conclusion: It is probably a good thing that I reread Life Together this week. In any event, Christian fellowship can triumph even over people like me.

Inspirational

From the acknowledgments at the beginning of Charles W. Hedrick Jr.'s History and Silence: Purge and Rehabilitation of Memory in Late Antiquity:

I spend a great deal of time in this book disagreeing with Alan Cameron. I would regret our disagreements if they had not been so pleasurable and educational for me. Here I would like to thank him for his help. He read the manuscript and gave me supportive criticisms that saved me from many errors. He also let me see a manuscript draft of his forthcoming book, The Last Pagans of Rome. He is witty, erudite, engagingly polemical, and intellectually generous: an exemplary scholar.

I want to be like that. That's just cool.

A proper start to summer

The University of Texas Press is holding a sale today and tomorrow, offering a decent selection of textbooks for lovely prices. My mother and I dropped by the tent in Austin this afternoon. My acquisitions:

Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays

Bakhtin, Toward a Philosophy of the Act

Bromley, Rethinking Middle East Politics

Gill and Wiseman, Lies and Fiction in the Ancient World

Hendrick, History and Silence: Purge and Rehabilitation of Memory in Late Antiquity

Johnstone, Disputes and Democracy: The Consequences of Litigation in Ancient Athens

Williams, The Word of Islam

All of the books are new, although some are slightly damaged (with slightly dented corners, for example). None cost more than five dollars.

Perhaps I will be able to finish reading most of these books before fall. I have started a Wheelerian booklist as a motivator and gauge of progress.

Somebody revoke his pundit's license

John Derbyshire at National Review's The Corner:

My mental state these past few days:

The Abu Ghraib "scandal": Good. Kick one for me. But bad discipline in the military (taking the pictures, I mean). Let's have a couple of courts martial for appearance's sake. Maximum sentence: 30 days CB.

He also accuses the press of trying to "re-live the glory days of Vietnam" by bringing down the president; attacks Bush for apologizing to "some barbarian chieftain"; and does at last express some outrage at US troop behavior -- for having sex with each other.

Clearly, I am only posting this because I want Bush to lose the election. That's the only possible reason I could have for criticizing Bush's war policy or US troop behavior or the vengeful right wing in general. Clearly I should shut up and stop being an America-hater. Clearly I should stop undermining the war effort.

Yes, I realize Derbyshire was just blowing off steam. And that's all our troops were doing when they started treating their captives like animals. It's the same reason I keep talking about the rule of law: the behavior of the "good guys" must be controlled too.

The only answer

Early Arab media reaction to the videotaped execution of Nick Berg is intriguing.

Mustafa Bakri, editor of the weekly Al-Osboa newspaper in Egypt, said Berg's execution will only harm efforts to expose US offences against Iraqis.

"Such revenge is rejected," Mr Bakri said of the execution. "The American administration will make use of such crimes just to cover their real crimes against Iraqis."

Ladies and gentlemen, you see the solution before you.

The trouble is that it works the other way around, too.

How do we prevent a revenge-fest like the one in Israel and the Occupied Territories? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, as Fiddler on the Roof says, will make the whole world blind and toothless.

The answer is law. Everything within the rule of law. Even if our enemies refuse to observe the law, we will. In other words, the United States of America -- the most powerful organization on earth -- will subject its own might to a framework of international justice.

Bored and lonely

I really wish I were at LeTourneau right now.

The Elfin Ethicist uses the R-word

My cousin Jared has posted an impassioned condemnation of equivocation regarding the prison abuses in Iraq. Since when, he asks, do Americans view barbarity in other lands as an excuse to be barbaric ourselves?

At the risk of tiresomness, I note that I have been saying this for months. I have been worried about equivocation since late 2001 or early 2002; that was when I saw half of the audience of a Nightline town meeting in New York advocate the use of torture on suspects.

But I think the problem goes deeper.

I wanted to scream when, during the invasion, someone at my dinner table explained that "they're all terrorists to me." I objected when conservatives (defending the government's irregular detainment policies) used absurd arguments like "they didn't give our people their Geneva rights; why should we give them theirs?"; but I also objected when I heard the words of a country song about 9/11 -- "I'm not sure I could tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran . . . . But I know Jesus and I talk to God . . . ."

This is not stupidity. This is racism. If you cannot even tell one foreigner from another, stay in America. You are causing pain for the nation I love.

Un-American -- inhuman -- but not unheard-of

The democracies are as human as the dictatorships. Power corrupts. But, Tom Regan says, the American way of doing things is different. Let's not forget what that difference is; good intentions are nothing without the rule of law.

How time flies

Beloit College Mindset List: 1918

Domestic culture shock

It happened at Christmas break, and it has happened again.

I realized it when ABC aired the first Harry Potter movie this evening. I have not seen it; I wanted to watch it. Unfortunately, the only television in the house at the moment sits in the middle of the family room. So I am limited to what the other members of the family will tolerate. And they will not tolerate the obvious wickedness of Harry Potter -- so obvious that they need not read any of the books or see any of the movies in order to pass judgment. I did not even need to ask. I knew.

This television set, by the way, has a V-chip installed. This V-chip is set to block anything with a rating higher than TV-PG. It is protected by a password that was probably forgotten years ago. Sometimes it randomly blocks sporting events and news programs.

Delayed reaction

Wheeler and I watched Schindler's List two nights ago. I must say that while many good World War II films have been made, few approach this one for artistic quality. Although the story is not exceptional, the cinematography is original and searing; the best words in the film never leave the lips of the actors. I nearly had to leave the room during the epilogue.

Eleanor Stump, in "The Mirror of Evil":

So you become accustomed to bad news, and to one extent or another, you learn to protect yourself against it, maybe by not minding so much. And then good news cracks your heart. It makes it feel keenly again all the evils to which it had become dull. It also opens it up to longing and hope, and hope is painful, because what is hoped for is not yet there.

Summer begins

I am safely back at home. Further reports at a later date.

6 May 2004

Two years. Four semesters. Seventy hours of credit actually earned in the classroom. Six times as many solid friendships as I have ever before held simultaneously. Four groves of trees (puréed) and several dozen squid (milked dry). Every known male descendant of Earl Grey (liquidated). Four identifiable personalities. One roommate. One room. One computer. No romances.

"Poor-choice slip"

Clearly, this is why dancing is forbidden at LeTourneau. At least for honors students.

Just for Gallagher

Guess who invented the search engine.

Tin foil hat update: Sun Myung Moon edition

Um . . .

This speech seems to have taken place in the US Capitol, Dirksen Senate Office Building:

The five great saints and many other leaders in the spirit world, including even Communist leaders such as Marx and Lenin, who committed all manner of barbarity and murders on earth, and dictators such as Hitler and Stalin, have found strength in my teachings, mended their ways and been reborn as new persons. Emperors, kings and presidents who enjoyed opulence and power on earth, and even journalists who had worldwide fame, have now placed themselves at the forefront of the column of the true love revolution. Together they have sent to earth a resolution expressing their determination in the light of my teaching of the true family ideal. They have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent. This resolution has been announced on every corner of the globe.

We seem to have pictures from the event as well. There was a crown involved.

Via MetaFilter.

Jesus in Jerusalem, part 3

Read the previous section

The Teachings in Jerusalem

Jesus does not spread his message merely by taking part in a series of challenge-riposte situations, however. He also articulates teachings on his own that contradict the ideas and demean the honor of the powerful. In his public and private comments, Christ takes the initiative in decrying the political status quo. Whether condemning the abuse of the poor by the powerful, ridiculing the pride of the religious leaders, or predicting the destruction of the errant city and temple, Jesus makes it his business to criticize the leadership of Israel. He attacks the leaders for serving themselves rather than God. They are self-righteous and unfit to rule.¹⁷

Continue reading "Jesus in Jerusalem, part 3" below the fold . . .

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Jesus in Jerusalem, part 2

Read the previous section

The Challenges in Jerusalem

In Luke's narrative, Jesus enters the temple immediately after his arrival in the city. There he turns his attention to the merchants who sit in its courts, driving out these "robbers" in the name of spiritual purity (19:45-46). Halvor Moxnes explains that the vendors in the temple were tied to the system of national sacrifices, tithes, and taxes, which involved central control over the resources of Israel.¹¹ A distinction between religious leadership and economic power did not necessarily exist. Indeed, Sean Freyne goes as far as to describe the temple as "a functioning mobilization exchange system, legitimated by shared religious values, but which could be both punitive and exploitative as far as the country people were concerned"; the inequities of this system were responsible for many of the revolutionary sentiments of the time.¹² The fact that the cleansing of the temple is Christ's first recorded act after his long-anticipated arrival in Jerusalem indicates that Luke attached great significance to it. Kingsbury argues that this act represents a confrontation not only with the sellers but also with the authorities who sanctioned them. By evicting these traders and establishing himself as a teacher in the same location, "he effectively takes possession of the temple."¹³

Continue reading "Jesus in Jerusalem, part 2" below the fold . . .

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Kubricht quotes

Barbour, a new but consistently good blogger (and one of the Glorified Ones -- i.e., a history major), has posted a long list of amusing quotes from Dr. Kubricht.

Now we need to convince Dr. K to start commenting at this site (I know you're lurking out there) and to start a blog of his own.

Jesus in Jerusalem, part 1

Presented to Dr. Renate Hood, LeTourneau University, 26 April 2004:

Jesus in Jerusalem
The Threat to the Socio-Political Order as Depicted in Luke's Gospel

Introduction

Contemporary evangelicals rarely view Jesus as a first-century political figure. Instead, they often deride those of Christ’s day who expected the Messiah to smash Roman power in Palestine. Darrell Bock, for example, writes regarding Jesus' words in Luke 20:20-26, "No one can charge him with political subversion. [. . .] he is not interested in the political agenda of changing Rome."¹ Such interpreters are correct in emphasizing the propitiatory mission of the Messiah over any imperial considerations. However, a closer analysis of the social structure in first-century Palestine suggests that Jesus did challenge the temporal order at its highest levels. His character as a servant was not a rejection of politics; it was an inversion of the political values and social structure of the age. This challenge climaxed with his final entry into Jerusalem, by which he made claim to the central place of Israel. A study of his time in the city reveals the nature of this challenge; the present analysis will examine the Jerusalem encounters as they are portrayed in Luke's gospel.

Continue reading "Jesus in Jerusalem, part 1" below the fold . . .

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Why I like the judicial power

The federal government is prosecuting a case that may have very interesting effects on Internet free speech.

Under the Justice Department's reading of the law, Georgetown University law professor David Cole told The New York Times, "Somebody who fixes a fax machine that is owned by a group that may advocate terrorism could be liable."

Al-Hussayen may face a formidable task in convincing a jury that he did not know and intend what the government says he did. But given the way the Bush administration treats terrorism suspects it designates as "enemy combatants," he is lucky to have the opportunity.

Article by Jacob Sullum at Reason.