Your humble blogger insults those who throw the political equivalent of temper tantrums

Image of a Purim gragger (noise-maker) via Wikipedia

Greetings.

Jewish date:  12 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Teṣawweh).

Today’s holidays:  Friday of the First Week of Lent (Roman Catholicism), Ayyam-i-ha (Bahá’í Faith), Mawlid an Nabi (Islam).

NOTE:  Yesterday your humble blogger did not post because it was Ta‘anith ’Esther (the Fast of ’Esther).  There is good chance there will be no post on Sunday, which will be Purim.  For more information on Purim, see the Orthodox Union’s articles on the holiday.

Worthy cause of the day:  “Save BioGems: Take Action: Whales in Danger”, “Take Action: Tell Royal Bank of Canada's CEO to Stop Financing the Tar Sands”, and “Take Action: Break Up Insurance Monopolies”.

Topic 1:  Purim was founded in commemoration of the incidents recounted in the Book of Esther, specifically the attempt by Haman to destroy the Jewish people and how Mordekhay and ’Esther foiled his plans.  So if you thought I was going to avoid the much-discussed topic of anti-Semitism, forget it.  “ License Fee Revolt” deals with the refusal of a Jew in England to pay his television license fee in protest of the BBC’s severe anti-Semitic bias in reporting on Israel.  I wholeheartedly approve of such nonviolent protest.  Meanwhile, while the political right in Israel is cheering the government’s recent naming of the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Raḥel’s Tomb national heritage sites, in Ḥevron the Arabs reacted by attacking Israeli soldiers.  This sort of “protest” I do not approve of.  It is the political equivalent of throwing a temper tantrum.  Such a quick resort to violence when one does not get one’s own way, in fact when no one is going to die or be hurt in any way if no action were taken, suggests one has no real argument why the other side is wrong.  The correct response to such infantile behavior is the same as for any temper tantrum:  uncompromising refusal to give in, lest one reinforce the big baby’s misbehavior.  The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, also put in his proverbial two cents, essentially pooh-poohing the naming of national heritage sites in territory that Arabs want (but do not have any legitimate claim to), completely ignoring what will happen to these sites if they ever fall under Muslim control.  (Anyone remember what the Arabs did to Yosef’s Tomb?  Hint:  It is not there anymore.)  “Where is Goldstone now?” why accidental casualties in Afghanistan are no big deal when they are in Gaza.  “Israel's Fleet Street enemies” complains about reporters fabricating negative stories about Israel.  And to top it all off:  “Palestinian Authority: Still Stealing "Hundreds of Millions," Hamas Taking Over - Hudson New York”.

Topic 2: “American foreign policy's God gap”.  To make a long article short:  The United States government has long ignored religion as something important in foreign policy.  Only recently have they begun to realize this is a mistake.  Considering how widespread religion is in human culture and how tangled it is with politics, this was obvious to a lot of people decades ago.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  One of the practices of Purim is humor.  (Religion in general is a serious business, so this is a deviation from the norm.)  Since I may well not post on Purim, I present “UK Warrant for Queen Esther's Arrest”, “Rebranding and Renaming iSrael”, “Top 5 Israel Groups On Facebook”, a sizable list of spoofs by The Jewish Week News, and this video summarizing the Book of Esther, which is read on Purim:


If I post on Purim, expect more.  And, no, I have not seen any Purim-themed LOLcats.  Peace, Shabbath shalom, and happy Purim.

Aaron

Is it too hard for Muslims to demand that their children learn Arabic?

Greetings.

Jewish date:  10 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Teṣawweh).

Today’s holidays:  Wednesday of the First Week of Lent (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of Charles Stansfeld Jones (Thelema), 1st and 2nd finding of the Head of the Forerunner (Greek Orthodox Christianity).

Topic 1:  Questions of language show up again.  “U.S. mosques debate using English for sermons” discusses problems Muslims in the US are having at mosques because many of the younger generation do not know Arabic and thus cannot understand Arabic sermons and prayers.  The solution discussed is introducing English into sermons.  Not discussed is the fact that people who do not know Arabic cannot understand their own prayers in Arabic or essential Islamic literature in Arabic.  Such people can only know what anything in Arabic says through translation, essentially putting them at the mercy of Arabic-speakers.  Keep in mind that translations, as I have repeatedly noted in this blog, can distort the meaning of the original, so using English is at best only a short-term solution.  Better would be for Musilms to promote the learning of Arabic.

“Translation to explain Episcopal tenets in Hmong” deals with the same basic problem but with a difference:  while the younger generation of American Hmong-speaking Epicopalians knows the critical language of Anglicanism/Epicopalianism, English, older Hmong Episcopalians often do not know English.  Since the older people are, the harder it usually is for them to learn a language—though the situation is definitely not hopeless—this has led to a need for Hmong-language Anglican materials.  Interestingly, apparently for some of the younger Hmong Episcopalians, learning Hmong in church is a way of connecting with Hmong culture.

Topic 2:  The daily dose of anti-Semitism (yeah, I know:  often it seems like the proverbial broken record):  “Israel adds West Bank shrines to heritage list”.  To make a long story short:  Israel has declared the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Raḥel’s Tomb to be national heritage sites.  The “Palestinian Authority”, ever supporting Islamic anti-Semitic propaganda which denies solid historical and archaeological evidence that Jews have a long history in Israel, declares that this move will derail the “peace process”.  Keep in mind that the Islamic notion of the “peace process” is that Israel has to make concessions while the Arabs can do whatever they want, whether or not it actually advances an actual peace.  Such a “peace process” is not in Israel’s—or humanity’s—best interests, so I encourage Israel to do whatever it can to keep the “peace process” derailed until the Arabs start making concessions to create a real peace.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor, another essentialist LOLcat picture:  “sum born gud”:

Anyone who knows of a genuinely evil baby, please let me know.

Peace.

Aaron

The comedian on Caprica should be banned from theology

Greetings.

Jewish date:  9 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Teṣawweh).

Today’s holiday:  Feast of Polycarp (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Demerit Walmart”.

Topic 1:  Caprica, in its latest episode, “Gravedancing”, continues throwing us scraps of theology, and the scraps are not all that appealing.  Once again we encounter the cliché of “polytheism good, monotheism bad”, specifically in the form of statements made by a comedian/talk show host who claims that God is a “moral dictator” and a “big destructo-god in the sky”.  These are cliché insults.  The former is a complaint about the notion of a deity holding us to a moral standard.  The alternative would be what?  That we can do whatever we want?  That we should be allowed to do whatever we want?  The comedian is clearly not a moral nihilist; he opposes the “anything goes” attitude of the virtual world and shows moral revulsion at the notion of creating virtual people.  The latter insult conjures the image of a overly violent god.  This is, in fact, the sort of cliché one invokes about the god of one’s opponents.  Your humble blogger is unaware of anyone who actually worships such a two-dimensional god; even Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction, has benevolent aspects.  (She is a tender mother as well as a war goddess.)  Such petty pundit theology is a mental shortcut to avoid thinking about religious issues, not to truly understanding them.

Meanwhile, the writers seem to have put a lot of work into Tauron culture, filling in details and motives.  I increasingly feel that I may have to rewatch everything in the series so far to pick of items I have missed.  A 13-year-old Tauron boy is considered a man.  Taurons are marked with tattoos indicating their ancestry and acheivements.  And revenge seems to be a virtue.  How much of this is religious and not merely cultural is unclear and remains to be seen.

Topic 2:  Today’s coverage of anti-Semitism:  “Mossad Passport Affair: A Stick to Beat Israel?”

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “wonders if i has evil twin??”:

Fortunately this sort of essentialism is only true in fiction.

Peace.

Aaron

Make those who wage lawfare pay dearly and bulldoze the Dome of the Rock

Greetings.

Jewish date:  7 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Teṣawweh).

Today’s holidays:  Anniversary of the death of Mosheh Rabbenu (Judaism), First Sunday of Lent (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:

Topic 1:  “The chilling effect of 'lawfare' litigation” by Alan Dershowitz and Elizabeth Samson.  This article deals with abuse of the law by Muslims to silence critics of Islam (“lawfare”).  The idea is not to win cases per se; rather, the point is to force critics to pay so much in court costs that effectively criticizing Islam is too costly for them to afford.  [Enter justified insult mode now.]  This is a technique of people who do not wish to play fair.  Rather than trying to prove to anyone else that their ideas are true, they try to silence the competition.  In effect, the would-be silencers admit that their ideas are without merit, because if they had any good defense to the criticisms, they would use that rather than the dishonorable technique of frivolous lawsuits.  I can only wish that the dishonorable children of camels who resort to lawfare be forced to pay the court costs of their opponents, plus pain, suffering, and damages.  [Exit justified insult mode now.]

Topic 2:  “Warning: Imminent Murder”.  Israel is supposed to be a country with freedom of religion, but on the Temple Mount Jews are blatantly discriminated against.  This article deals with recent attacks on Jews on the Temple Mount by Muslims with a warning that these are merely presage worse attacks yet to come.  The way things have worked is that Muslims do whatever they can to lord it over Jews and Israel to the extent that they are allowed.  According to Islam, Muslims are supposed to better than everyone else.  Jews have been forbidden to pray on the Temple Mount, and the Waqf has been systematically destroying everything Jewish on the Temple Mount—both in violation of Israeli law and only reinforcing the idea that Muslims are better than Jews.  If Muslims are allowed to get away with even minor attacks on Jews, this reinforces the idea that attacking Jews is OK, thus leading to worse attacks and even murder later on.  This is not acceptable behavior.  As such, I believe that under no circumstances should Muslims be allowed to treat any non-Muslims, be they Jews or non-Jews, as inferiors.  Furthermore, in order to make it sink in that Muslims have abused Israeli generosity to let them have a presence on the Temple Mount (which is Israeli territory), all Muslim structures up there should be unceremoniously demolished and sent straight to the filthiest garbage dump in the country; the Temple should then be rebuilt and sacrifices resumed as soon as possible.  Yes, I know, this is highly politically incorrect and contrary to the idea of not disturbing the status quo.  But trying to make peace with Islam by making concessions has been a dismal failure.  What the Islamic world needs to know is that there are serious consequences to their failure to live peacefully with others.  Thus rather than feeding their delusion than they are better than everyone else, we should be giving them the message that they are not.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Wear iz we goin…”.

Anyone who knows where the expression “going to Hell in a hand-basket” comes from, please let me know.

Peace.

Aaron

Mistranslations of materials used for the Tabernacle

Greetings.

Jewish date:  5 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Terumah).

Today’s holidays:  Friday after Ash Wednesday (Roman Catholicism), Chaoflux (Discordianism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Dick Cheney confessed to a war crime. Prosecute him.”

Topic 1:  Yet another round of pointing out what can go wrong with translation.  Thus says the King James Version (KJV) of Exodus 25:1-9:

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood, Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

I have already discussed mistranslation of Divine names.  Today I am going to talk about the materials donated and used for the Tabernacle.  “Blue”, “purple”, and “scarlet” are not colors; rather they are specific dyes:  tekheleth, ’argaman, and tola‘ath shani.  The former two are produced by snails, the latter (I think) from an insect larva.  While the colors of the dyes are correct, calling them by their colors gives the false impression that the colors alone are important.  Furthermore, the “badger” referred to is actually the taḥash, a creature which no one really knows what it is and may or may not really be the badger.  The tendency to pretend one knows what words mean also recurs in the description of the ḥoshen (breastplate) in Exodus 28:17:20 in the listings of gemstones embedded in it.  At least some other terms without English equivalents, such as shiṭṭim and ’efodh, are merely transliterated without anyone pretending they are something else.

Topic 2:  For today’s religious humor:  “Even kittehs must face”:

I am really not clear on when people began to talk about things wrong with their psyches as “demons”.  Possibly this is an offshoot of the notion of demonic possession which is dealt with frequently in the Gospels.

Peace and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

Reality stubbornly refuses to conform to our expectations, and some people really do not understand this

Greetings.

Jewish date:  4 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Terumah).

Today’s holiday:  Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “DemocracyForAmerica.com » Become a Citizen Co-Sponsor” (on health reform).

Topic 1:  More anti-Semitism:  “Double Standards? Nato's Afghan Errors:  Why are Afghan civilian casualties "accidents" but Palestinian civilian casualties are "war crimes"?”.  This is even worse than the title suggests.  Not only is an Orwellian abuse of language being perpetrated, but also noted is even outright denial of contradictory evidence.  Major rule to keep in mind:  our universe never changes itself to be as we want it to be.  Therefore denying photographic evidence showing that Ḥamas stores weaponry in mosques is just plain stupid.  (Yes, I know that is not the most polite terminology possible.  But it is the terminology which fits best.)  The theme of denial of reality also shows up in “How Christian Were the Founders?”, which deals with the efforts of conservative Christians to modify textbooks used in American public schools to fit their understanding of reality, regardless of whether or not the available evidence shows they are right.

Topic 2:  “Give up your iPod for Lent, bishops urge”:  I am impressed by this.  Self-denial is not seen as an end it self but as a means towards self-improvement.

Image via Wikipedia; the guy on the right is indirectly responsible

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Cthulhu in Love Perfume”.  This product makes absolutely no sense once you realize what sort of character the fictional pseudo-god Cthulhu is.

Peace.

Aaron

“Intelligent design” is worse than merely being wrong

Greetings.

Jewish date:  3 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Terumah).

Today’s holidays:  Ash Wednesday (day 1 of Lent; Roman Catholicism), Feast of Giordano Bruno the Martyr (Thelema).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Heart Disease and Stroke. You’re the Cure.”

Topic 1:  More anti-Semitism (yes, that issue is not going away anytime soon, unfortunately):  “UN's Double Standard for Arab Refugees” (according to the definition for refugees used anywhere besides Israel, extremely few of the stateless Arabs, whether in Israel or claiming connection with it, qualify as refugees), “'EU aid funds PA incitement'” (bad idea if they really want peace), and the Dry Bones cartoon “And Then? (2004)” (everyone who does not think that Israel will have to bomb Iran’s nuclear program back to square one because no other country will be willing to do the job, despite international criticism, stand on your heads).

Topic 2:  “The End of Intelligent Design?”:  This article deals with what is wrong with the so-called “intelligent design” (ID) movement, not merely as “intelligent design” being a euphemism for creationism.  Correctly noted is that as science ID is a total failure, having produced zero results, all the while in effect claiming that science is incompetent to explain our world.  This is a very dangerous thing to do, as science has been very successful at understanding how our universe works; naturally, real scientists are strongly opposed to ID.  Another consequence of ID is to pit religion and science against each other.  This makes it easier for anti-religious atheists to pretend that science actually supports their beliefs, causes a ton of needless enmity, and anyone who is both pro-science and pro-religion is likely to get caught in the crossfire.  In short, ID is worse than merely being wrong.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “after a long and tiring day of soulsnatching”:


Peace.

Aaron

Is Utah going to be destroyed by a comet on March 1?

Greetings.

Jewish date:  2 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Terumah).

Today’s holiday:  Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time/Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “MoveOn.org Political Action: Toyota: Stop lobbying against car safety”.

Topic 1:  “BIBLE CODE PREDICTIONS: 2010” (noted in “Utah to be destroyed by a comet! Or not!”).  According to this site, based on hidden codes in the Hebrew Bible, Utah is supposed to be destroyed on March 1 by a comet impact.  I have no trust in Bible codes.  YHWH is quite capable of giving direct messages, and the Hebrew Bible is full of them.  Some of these messages, such as “do not worship idols” and “treat the poor well”, proved difficult for people to keep and thus were repeated by the prophets over and over again so that even someone who is not particularly bright can see they are there.  Looking for hidden codes, as demonstrated in Michael Drosnin’s heretical The Bible Code, is an easy way for people to latch onto the Hebrew Bible (or whatever scripture they hold dear) as important and completely ignore the text’s actual message.  I also have grave doubts that the methodology of Bible codes is actually valid; The Skeptic's Dictionary reports that the unlikely message “The Bible Code is a silly, dumb, fake, false, evil, nasty, dismal fraud and snake-oil hoax.” was found hidden in Drosnin’s The Bible Code II:  The Countdown.  If one can find a message as long, unambiguous, and unlikely to be intentional as that hidden in such a book, one can forget about the short, ambiguous, messages of the Bible codes being real.  But to be open-minded, I have decided to put the predictive power of this dabbler in Bible codes to the test.  Therefore I have put “Comet destroys Utah” on my calendar for March 1, and we will see if it really comes to pass.  If it does (which would be surprising, since one would think a state-annhilating comet would have been noticed by astronomers already), then the Bible-coder will have something to gloat about.

Topic 2:  “Was Haiti Punished for Sin?”:  Rav Shmuley Boteach has clearly read Job and knows that bad things happen to those who do not deserve them.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Basement cat”:


Peace.

Aaron

Never, never, never convert for the wrong reason

Greetings.

Jewish date:  1 ’Adhar 5770 (Parashath Terumah).

Today’s holidays:  Ro’sh Ḥodhesh (Judaism), Monday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time/Carnival Monday (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Tell President Obama to Stop Big Oil's Race to Ruin in the Tar Sands”, “Save BioGems: Take Action: Save Yellowstone/Greater Rockies”, “MoveOn.org Political Action: Demand an explanation from Anthem Blue Cross”, “Stop Corporate-Sponsored Wolf Slaughters - The Petition Site”, and “Support Malaria Vaccination Research - The Petition Site”.

Topic 1:  More current anti-Semitism:  “Countering Canadian Campus Media Bias Against Israel (February 12, 2010)”, which highlights reporters getting facts wrong and holding by moral double standards.

Topic 2:  “Anne Hathaway Wished To Be A Nun” and “Anne Hathaway leaves Catholic Church over gays”.  Anne Hathaway and family left the Roman Catholic Church because her brother is a homosexual and the Church does not approve of homosexuality.  Ms. Hathaway and family joined the Episcopalian Church (AKA the Anglican Church), of which the more Protestant branch has favorable views of homosexuality, though she has currently left that church as well.  Now, what bugs your humble blogger about this case is that Ms. Hathaway and family seem to have left the Roman Catholic Church because the Church has a view they do not approve of.  If so, they have converted for the wrong reason.  The question one should be asking when judging if a religion is correct should never be whether the religion agrees with one’s moral opinions.  Morality is purely a matter of opinion, and one cannot expect that a god or karma—the ultimate enforcers of morality, if such exist—will necessarily be in agreement.  The question one should always ask is whether a religion is true.  Yes, one may still reach the wrong answer, but one at least is put in a better position if one does so.  If one reaches the wrong answer on what religion is true, one can at least beg for mercy to whatever god of reward and punishment that does exist that one has made a good faith effort to find the truth and act according to it; as we have imperfect information and limited abilities in processing it, that god in all fairness has to take into account in judging us the fact that many of us will inevitably not reach the right answer.  But if one follows one’s own tastes and makes no effort to find what is actually true, then if one reaches the wrong answer, one cannot plead to the god of judgement that one has at least made a decent effort to find the truth; as such, one cannot expect that god to be pleased or merciful.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “I miss the smell of sulfer”:

(Come to think of it, where does this whole business of sulfur in Hell come from anyway?)

Peace and happy new month.

Aaron

Caprica teaches kids how to skip school, universal hypocrisy, and no basement

Greetings.

Jewish date:  28 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Mishpaṭim).

Today’s holiday:  Friday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Save Martin Grossman - The Petition Site” and “Keep Children Safe: Train Child Care Workers - The Petition Site”.

Topic 1:  The latest episode of Caprica, “Reins of a Waterfall”.  We get scraps of religious ideas in this episode:

• A young Tauron skips school and is told to make false claim of a Tauron day of devotion to Mars to excuse his absence.  Capricans for the most part are presumed not to know enough to tell this is a lie.  (His uncle is a criminal who is trying to bring him up “right”.)
• Sister Clarice tries to get Lacy to accept her as her confessor.  (An apparent borrowing from Roman Catholicism.)
• A comic mentions “the God of the Underworld” (Hades?), who is inferred to be very unpopular.
• Zoe II, still in a Cylon body, is supposed to have some purpose on Geminon which God wants.  She elicits Lacy’s help to in an effort to get to Geminon.  Zoe II still does not let Zoe I’s parents know she is not a stupid Cylon.
• Sister Claire has secret superiors who communicate with her in a creepy electronic voice.
• There is some vague talk of service of the Lord through apotheosis(!) in accordance with a prophecy.  Zoe is supposed to be beloved of God.
• Taurons have idols of Mars and Jupiter.  They seem to prefer Mars.  Considering there are 12 Colonies and 12 Olympians, intuition suggests each Colony is associated with a different Olympian.

Also:  I have noted that among the imagery in the opening credits there is a statue of a Christian cliché of an angel (a beautiful human with wings).  I also find myself asking why Greek gods are being referenced at all; 150,000 years later and without an bridging written record, they would surely be forgotten.  Then again, the people who made this show and its predecessor made almost everything possible look like turn-of-the-millennium Earth (= Terra = Sol III, not the other Earth); the level of coincidence is so astronomical that I hope the writers devise an explanation.  (Influence of angels, perhaps?)

Topic 2:  “Going to the Pictures”:  This is an short reflection by a Christian noting that serious Christians often try to avoid sex in movies yet do not flinch at other things which are offensive, such as violence, gore, and revenge.  I get the impression that most humans, regardless of religion, are like this.  (I am most certainly self-inconsistent.)  Having high moral standards is easy.  Living up to high moral standards is an entirely different matter; since we are prone to error, it is extremely easy for any of us to be a hypocrite.  The only way out is to have low or no moral standards.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “diz howse”:


Peace and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

Beware of Sheldon’s wrath

Greetings.

Jewish date:  26 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Mishpaṭim).

Today’s holidays:  Feast of Scholastica (Roman Catholicism), Feast of Haralambos the Holy Martyr (Greek Orthodox Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Urgent Request”.

Topic 1:  I am kicking myself over not remembering Monday night’s episode of The Big Bang Theory yesterday, despite its interesting New Testament references.  In this episode, Leonard is chosen to get a free trip for himself and a guest to visit the CERN Supercollider, and he decides to to take his girlfriend Penny.  However, Sheldon notes that his friendship contract with Leonard clearly specifies that should Leonard ever get a free trip to the CERN Supercollider, he has to take Sheldon.  (The friendship contract was Sheldon’s idea.  His thinking is very strange and is an endless source of plots.  But I digress.)  Sheldon is angry that Leonard refuses to live up to the contract and claims that Leonard is worse than a number of infamous historical traitors, including Judas Iscariot.  This last comparison is emphasized later in the episode when they are in a cafeteria:  Sheldon places a tray on the table in front of Leonard containing [[dramatic pause]] 30 pieces of silverware.  (I am still laughing over this one.  Those of you who do not get the joke have some reading to do…)  This may set a new standard gag for underfunded Passion plays everywhere.

Topic 2:  “the Joke is on Us!”  This Dry Bones cartoon deals with anti-Zionism (= anti-Semitism) claiming to be pro-Israel.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor (other than Sheldon’s cafeteria stunt):  “Nooooo, Basement Cat... not cut da rope!”:


Peace.

Aaron

A dancing monk, words with multiple meanings, and Jon Stewart

Greetings.

Jewish date:  25 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Mishpaṭim).

Today’s holiday:  Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Heart Disease and Stroke. You’re the Cure.:  Alert Letter:  Let the Senate Rules Committee Know it's Time to Pass the Cigarette Tax”, “MoveOn.org Political Action: Tell Congress: Stand with Melanie”, and “Take Action: Help Protect New Mexico's Paleozoic Treasures”.

Topic 1:  “Japanese monk gets down with the beat for Buddhism”:  An interesting tactic for promoting Buddhism.

Image of the frontispiece of the KJV via Wikipedia

Topic 2:  Yet another problem with translation:  words may have multiple meanings.  Thus says the King James Version (KJV) of Exodus 22:28:  “Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.”  The original Hebrew actually allows for four possible interpretations of whom one is not supposed to revile:  1) gods in general, 2) ’Elohim (= YHWH, God of Israel), 3) angels, and 4) judges.  The KJV, strangely, takes the interpretation least compatible with Jewish and Christian theology, option 1.  Intuition suggests the KJV’s misinterpretation may be an inspiration for Mormonism’s polytheism

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor, submitted by Harold:  “Scewby Jew”, in which Jon Stewart deals mercilessly with Ḥamas’s anti-Semitic cartoons for children.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Story Hole - Children's Cartoons From Hamas
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Peace.

Aaron

The patheticness of jihad by law abuse and “Sixteen Tons”

Greetings.

Jewish date:  24 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Mishpaṭim).

Today’s holidays:  Feasts of Jerome Emiliani and Josephine Bakhita (Roman Catholicism).

Topic 1:  More contemporary anti-Semitism:  “BMJ's Selective Editing” and “UN likely to refer Goldstone findings to The Hague”.  The first article things going wrong in medical journals in the UK.  The second deals with a pathetic attempt at jihad by proxy.  Islam does not have a good track record of tolerance (and I mean tolerance in the sense of treating non-Muslims as equals rather than second-class citizens and scapegoats), and there have been regular Muslim attacks on Jews in Israel (even before the current state) since at least the 1920s.  Having utterly failed militarily, the current tactic has shifted to other means, including abuse of legal systems.  And now to heap the abuse on this and all other tactics they have used that they truly deserve, please note that there are over a billion Muslims on Earth, but only about 13 million Jews.  If they really wanted to, Muslims could easily summon the manpower, funding, and supplies necessary to accomplish their stated goal of killing or at least forcing all Jews into dhimmitude; when you outnumber your enemy 77 to 1, this is not hard.  That they have failed to do so multiple times is a display of complete, utter military incompetence and total unmanliness.  The very fact that Muslims have resorted to jihad by PR and abuse of the law only underscores how pathetic they truly are; unable to do the job themselves and putting their military incompetence on display for the whole planet, they try to convince others to do the dirty job for them.  Listen up, jihadists:  you suck.  Be real men, stop wasting your lives on fighting a war you have effectively admitted you cannot win, and do something more worthwhile.

Topic 2:  Recently I watched Joe Verus the Volcano while donating platelets.  The movie opens with a depiction of horrific working conditions, and the song played very appropriately during this is the famous “Sixteen Tons”.  It has occurred to me that there is a bit of the Faust legend in “Sixteen Tons”.  The singer says, er, sings in the refrain “Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go / I owe my soul to the company store”, putting the company metaphorically in the place of Satan.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “basement cat wanted to have ceelin cats power so he hid at the stairs and attacked ceelin cat ceelin cat ceelin cat got up and scratched him by libertymize”:


Peace.

Aaron

The writers of Caprica have the subtlety of hitting someone in the head with a sledgehammer

Greetings.

Jewish date:  23 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Mishpaṭim).

Today’s holiday:  Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Time to shame Sen. Shelby”.

Topic 1:  Episode 2 of Caprica: “Rebirth”.  The series finally moves beyond the pilot.  This episode deals largely with (1) Zoe Graystone II trying to hide from everyone except Lacy Rand that she is not an ordinary, insentient Cylon, and (2) many of the other major characters, unsurprisingly, still having severely disturbed behavior and emotions.  Most of what else happens is not especially religious in nature.  However, we do get a peak into the lives of the Soldiers of the One.  Lacy visits Sister Clarice Willow at home to discover that the latter is in a polygamous marriage—and I mean polygamous, not polygynous; there are multiple wives and husbands.  There is also the strong implication that Sister Clarice has had sex with students for (allegedly) therapeutic purposes.  I will take this as a sign that the writers are trying to make the Soldiers of the One unsympathetic.

Topic 2:  More religious intolerance (and, no, this recurring topic is not going away anytime soon):  “Constitutional Court Taking Up Indonesia's Thorny Religious Row”, “Pakistan double bombing kills Shia Muslims”, “Anti-Semitic attacks against Jews 'rise in the UK'”, “Attacks on Christians in India’s Karnataka Frequent, Furious”, and “Arrested Evangelists in Tanzania Say Muslims Colluded with Police”.  Meanwhile, Ṣippi Livni, Israel’s opposition leader, is planning to visit the UK in a direct challenge to laws there allowing for the arrest under universal jurisdiction of anyone who has allegedly committed war crimes.  There has been a threat of abuse of such laws by anti-Semites against Israelis.  I have to admire her attitude.  There is some effort at changing the law in the UK, but we yet have to see if anything substantial comes of it.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Well, this is going back”:


Peace.

Aaron

Miscellany

Greetings.

Jewish date:  21 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Yithro).

Today’s holiday:  Feast of Agatha (Roman Catholicism).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Coal Ash is Hazardous Waste and Must Be Regulated Now - The Petition Site”, “CARE : Defending Dignity - Fighting Poverty :  Ask Congress to Help Haiti”, “Tell China: Free Tibetan Filmmaker - The Petition Site”, and “Save BioGems: Take Action: Save Wolves Under Siege”.

Topic 1:  Reviews I have written relevant to this week’s Torah portion:  “There can be miracles when you disbelieve: a review of The Prince of Egypt” and “You cut up the Bible, you bloody baboon!:  A review of The Ten Commandments and The Ten Commandments: The Musical”.  Note that the later in particular deals with my recurring complaint about mistranslation.

Topic 2:  In some commentary I made a while back on Jesus Christ Superstar, I claimed the interview I discussed was with Andrew Lloyd Webber.  This was incorrect.  It was with his master lyricist Tim Rice.  (Yes, I make mistakes.)

Topic 3:  “TV Coverage (1995)”.  I am not the only one who has thought of the Arab-Israeli War as a “PR jihad”.

Topic 4:  For today’s religious humor:  “That’s”:

Reportedly cats do seem to think like this.  This may or may not be related to the ancient Egyptian cat-headed goddess Bast.

Peace and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

Yes, there is such a thing as a gay Orthodox rabbi

Greetings.

Jewish date:  20 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Yithro).

Today’s holidays:  Thursday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Imbolc (Wicca).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Take Action | Oceana North America:  Tell President Obama: No More Offshore Oil Drilling!”, “Save BioGems: Take Action: Protect Grizzly Bears”, “Include Children in HIV Vaccine Research - The Petition Site”, and “Take Action: TrueMajority.org:  Fix the Budget, Fix America”.

Topic 1:  More updates on anti-Semitism:  “NPR's Self-Examination” and “Israel Releases Goldstone Response”.

Topic 2:  This ought to shock some people:  “Gay orthodox rabbi nudging Judaism”.  This article is a bit misleading.  First of all, rabbinical ordination can and has been revoked.  When I was an Yeshiva University, they taught that rabbis who took positions at “Conservative” congregations and did not turn them around or leave in a specific period of time would have their ordinations revoked.  Ordination is certification that the bearer knows what he/she is talking about and is competent; those who prove otherwise can be decertified.  Secondly, no one, including the man under discussion, Rav Steven Greenberg, is endorsing homosexual activity; such is quite unjustifiable within the boundaries of Orthodox Judaism.  Last I heard, no one really knows how anyone ends up with their sexual orientation and there is no reliable way to change it.  As such, Rav Greenberg, struggling with and exploring his situation, promotes tolerance and understanding.  This is entirely appropriate and justified; all of us are subject to temptations and desires not of our conscious choice, and it is senseless to condemn anyone simply because of what they feel.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “the battle of good and evil gose on...... by winrar333”:


Peace.

Aaron

Robot evolution and the Goldstone Report

Greetings.

Jewish date:  19 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Yithro).

Today’s holidays:  Feasts of Blase and Ansgar (Roman Catholicism).

Topic 1:  “Robots Display Predator-Prey Co-Evolution, Evolve Better Homing Techniques”:  A common technique of creationist apologetics is to claim that something could not have possibly have evolved.  (One would have thought the rise of multi-drug resistance would have killed the illusion that evolution is merely hypothetical.)  This article discusses evolution of robot behavior, specifically co-evolution of robot behaviors when robot behaviors are selected for different goals.

Topic 2:  “Goldstone Poison”.  This Dry Bones cartoon deals with the Goldstone Report in terms of an anti-Semitic blood libel.  The text commentary backs this up with an article by Alan Dershowitz which exposes the Report’s twisted morality.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “der iz a speshul ring of hell”:

Clearly Dante was an influence on this cat and the Easter Bunny on his/her owner.

Peace.

Aaron

Never blindly trust a translation III, or, How to Serve Man

Greetings.

Jewish date:  17 Shevaṭ 5770 (Parashath Yithro).

Today’s holidays:  Monday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Candlemass/Festival of Light (Ritual of the Elements; not to be confused with Candlemas) (Thelema).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Oppose the Murkowski Attack on the Clean Air Act - The Petition Site”.  Also, I donated platelets yesterday.  Please consider donating blood or blood components yourself if you can and save some lives.

Topic 1:  Yet another example of things that can go wrong in translation.  Soon after the Exodus, the Children of Yisra’el asked for food.  And YHWH grants their request, and in the morning they find something resembling Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes on the ground.  And thus the King James Version translates Exodus 16:15:

And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

What is the problem here?  This translation makes no sense.  No one is going to simply call anything “manna” simply because they do not know what it is.  The original Hebrew for they the Children of Yisra’el were saying to each other is Man hu?  This is a question, not a statement, and a somewhat archaically phrased on at that.  It translates as “What is it?”  The strange substance did end up being called man, so essentially everyone was calling it “what” due to a lack of a better name.

(And the comparison of man to Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes is not my idea; it is what I was taught back in grade school at Addlestone Hebrew Academy.)

Topic 2:  For today’s religious humor:  “Now I lays me down to sleep by penskii”:


Peace, and please be nice to the dog.

Aaron