It will not do to investigate the subject of religion too closely, as it is apt to lead to Infidelity. (Abraham Lincoln, Manford’s Magazine, quoted from Franklin Steiner, The Religious Beliefs of Our Presidents

Acharya S writes in “The Christ Conspiracy” about the origins of the Christian religion. It is not a scholarly work by any means. It’s merely derivative, a mishmash of the works of others, with no original research. But it helps this non-scholarly layman to read her summary of that research, as I will never read that stuff myself. Religion is not part of my life, and there are too many other fun things to be doing. Her sources may be cranks and quacks, but all of religion is quackery anyway. So who better to read – S, or learned theologians?

I do see Gore Vidal’s wisdom in placing polytheism above monotheism:

The great unmentionable evil at the center of our culture is monotheism. From a barbaric Bronze Age text known as the Old Testament, three anti-human religions have evolved — Judaism, Christianity, Islam. These are sky-god religions. They are, literally, patriarchal — God is the Omnipotent Father — hence the loathing of women for 2,000 years in those countries afflicted by the sky-god and his earthly male delegates. The sky-god is a jealous god, of course. He requires total obedience from everyone on earth, as he is in place not for just one tribe but for all creation. Those who would reject him must be converted or killed for their own good. Ultimately, totalitarianism is the only sort of politics that can truly serve the sky-god’s purpose. (Lowell Lecture, Harvard University, 1992)

Continue reading “Issa-ra-el” →

People are talking about poor little Norway, so innocent, now losing its virginity. As Glenn Greenwald reminds us, Norway got slutty when it participated in the NATO attack on Libya where where they bombed the house of Gaddafi’s son, thinking the old man was there. Instead they killed his son and three of his grandchildren.* In those circumstances, is it not logical to suggest that Norway’s own rulers and their families are also culpable, and targeting them is as legitimate as targeting Libyan innocents? Even if they don’t actually get the Prime Minister, isn’t all the other carnage just collateral damage?

Anyway, even as it was assumed and reported without evidence that the bombings and shootings of all those kids was the work of Muslim terrorists, it turns out to be right wing nationalists.

Yes, it’s awful, just awful, to see innocents killed like that. And the killings in Norway are just as barbaric.
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*Typically when that happens the US claims that the victims were being used as human shields.

George Orwell is often cited here in the land of the free, but only in reference to others, and not the self. His ideas on totalitarian society were only allowed to air in reference to the old Soviet Union. In his introduction to Animal Farm he talked about literary censorship not in Russia, but in England. Those words were removed prior to the publishing of the book, in other words, censored in England.

Indeed Orwell was disenchanted of Communists during the Spanish Civil War, as he saw they they were in league with Franco (perhaps it was a primitive form of what we now call “triangulation”). But Orwell was a lifelong socialist, and his other writings are as dismissive of elements of British society as the old USSR.

He invented “Newspeak” as a metaphor for they way people learn to think in totalitarian societies. By removing the ability to express revolutionary thoughts, people are gripped in emotions that they cannot put to words, and so descend into utter hopelessness. They learn to take joy in small and pointless affairs as the “Two Minutes’ Hate.” It is very important for us to get the hatred out, but also to be sure that it is not pointed at people truly deserving of hatred. Continue reading “lower case* thinking” →

From the Financial Times:

Warren ponders race for senate
Academic electrifies liberal Democrats

Elizabeth Warren may have been passed over by the Obama administration for the top job at the new financial sector consumer watchdog, but the Harvard academic is now electrifying liberal Democrats over a possible new position : senator for Massachusetts.

It’s hard to know what Obama will do here – she is already a tenured professor, so he cannot entice her with a Pat Williams-like cushy teaching job. Some other administration job is out of the question. She’s too smart to accept a pointless position with no power. So perhaps he’ll do what he did when appointed Senator Michael Bennet was in trouble here in Colorado, challenged by a popular progressive: intervene in the campaign. Would he go to Massachusetts and campaign openly for Scott Brown?

Hard to know. He’s clever. Something will derail her candidacy.

We had lunch with our former landlord last October. She is insecure and in search of gurus, and flattered me by asking me the future. She was worried about housing prices, but she also had a boyfriend suffering from Howard-Ruffianism, telling her to buy gold because the sky was falling. I was able to calm her with ease. I told her that, regarding the future, “I haven’t a clue.” I further said that no one knows the future, so not to listen to the boyfriend or buy Krugerrands or some oddball mutual fund that has had recent success. Just endure, as we all do, and hope you can be happy no matter the worst of circumstances. Continue reading “Pocket aces” →

Blind taste tests have shown that people cannot tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, or between Coors, Bud and Miller beers.

Let’s do a thought experiment: Suppose someone comes to this country after twenty years absence, not having followed our culture. Without knowing which party is in power, would that person be able to guess?

Don’t be so quick to answer – we’ve got six wars going (that we know of), massive deficits, attacks on social programs, extremely favorable taxes for the wealthy and double-taxation of the working classes, torture and secret prisons, death warrants issued by an unaccountable executive, and a progressive woman who was extremely popular and sensible, Elizabeth Warren, just bypassed for an appointment.

Would you know which party is in charge? Would it even matter?

The Four Gospels were unknown to the early Christian Fathers. Justin Martyr, the most eminent of the early fathers, wrote about the middle of the second century. His writings in proof of the divinity of Christ demanded the use of these gospels, had they existed in his time. He makes more than 300 quotations from the books of the Old Testament, and nearly one hundred from the Apocryphal books of the New Testament; but none from the four Gospels. … The very names of the Evangelists, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, are never mentioned by him (Justin) – do not occur once in all his writings. [Tim C. Leedom, The Book Your Church Doesn’t Want You to Read]

That’s OK, I have no problem with that. I’ve long known that the virgin-born Christ figure is a meme that appears often in ancient civilizations. It was adapted to European civilization early on because a religion that taught people of the virtue of being being poor and meek was very useful. If not the Christ, we might we told to worship some guy named Clark who was born of the Virgin Lara.

The only question for me is whether or not the good that comes out of Christianity exceeds the evil that emanates therefrom. It’s an open question. In one ear is the evangelist telling me to repent, who wants to enslave women, and imagines that life sucks so much that we have to pretend that something better awaits us after we die. Oh yeah – give him money too. He’s broke.

In the other ear speaks the kind and caring minister who affects the lives of thousands of people, nudges instead of judges – not towards blind faith in some image hanging in misery on a cross, but rather towards kindness and understanding and acceptance of life for all its beauty and pain.

Life is not simple. There are good people and bad people. Steven Weinberg said “with or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil — that takes religion.” I think it’s more than that. The power of religion comes from two directions: Leaders above use it to enhance and protect their power and wealth, while ministers below use it to make our lives better.

President Obama says that if a compromise is not reached on the debt ceiling by August, that he cannot guarantee Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Colombia that he can continue his wars against them.

Ha ha! Just kidding. Here’s the transcript of his remarks today:

Obama: Well this is not just a matter of Social Security checks, these are veterans checks, these are folks on disability, their checks. There are about 70 million checks that go out —

Scott Pelley: Can you guarantee as President those checks will go out on August the 3rd?

Obama: I can not guarantee those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.

Obama’s no fool. He knows to get this deal done he has to threaten people with no money to protect those who have it.

The Kabuki dance continues into the night. Obama and Boehner are tired, as acting is a grueling profession. They are leaning into each other, barely able to shuffle their feet in make-beleive dance, whispering to one another, uncertain as to who gets to be on top tonight.