Is Paul the Octopus out to corrupt the West?

Greetings.

Jewish date:  17 ’Av 5770 (Parashath ‘Eqev).

Today’s holidays:  Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Marty Feldman (Church of the SubGenius), Mid-Sha'ban (Islam).

Worthy cause of the day:  “CARE : Defending Dignity - Fighting Poverty :  Let Congress know you want the Haiti assistance bill passed”, “Working Families » Take Action!:  Sign our letter to NY's State Senators”, and “We want the DISCLOSE Act”.

This is a slow religion-news day, and nothing I am working on behind the scenes has come to fruition yet.  (Emphasis on “yet”.  One book I am reading now, The Hebrew Goddess by Raphael Patai, displays such an amazing determination to commit a type I error (seeing something that is not there) above and beyond the call of duty, despite all the contrary evidence noted therein, that I feel duty bound to write a full-fledged review of it.  But that will not be for a while.)

The alleged spawn of Satan via Wikipedia

In the meantime, at the risk of severely overthinking something, I would like to note the article “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacks Octopus Paul”.  Everyone with any sgense knows there is something severely wrong with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Ahmadinejad is not merely a rabid anti-Semite who has advocated genocide.  He is not merely someone who believes that the Mahdi is coming soon and is preparing for it.  He is not even merely someone willing to risk his life and the lives of all Iranians playing a game of nuclear brinkmanship.  This article should give some idea that Ahmadinejad is really crazy:

He claims that the octopus is a symbol of decadence and decay among "his enemies".

Paul, who lives at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre, in Germany, won the hearts of the Spanish by predicting their World Cup victory.

He became an international star after predicting the outcome of all seven German World Cup matches accurately.

However, the Iranian president accused the octopus of spreading "western propaganda and superstition." Paul was mentioned by Mr Ahmadinejad on various occasions during a speech in Tehran at the weekend.

"Those who believe in this type of thing cannot be the leaders of the global nations that aspire, like Iran, to human perfection, basing themselves in the love of all sacred values," he said.

Paul the Octopus’s alleged powers are probably grossly overstated, but clearly not his fault.  Paul, while rather intelligent for an invertebrate, is not a sentient being and almost certainly has no idea what he is allegedly predicting.  Blaming the octopus for something way over his head (or something passing for a head, at any rate) does not make any sense.  Secondly, last your humble blogger heard, there is no world leader expressing serious belief in the powers of Paul the Octopus.  No leader is calling upon Paul for advice or further predictions.  And if Iran is so great when it comes to perfection, why do they have for a leader someone who is probably going to get his country bombed by their archenemy?

Peace to all humans and octopuses.

Aaron

Jesus went down to Georgia?

Greetings.

Jewish date:  27 Tammuz 5770 (Parashath Maṭṭoth-Mas‘e).

Today’s holidays:  The Three Weeks (Judaism), Feast Day of Augustine Zhao Rong and companions (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. MojoDick Nixon (Church of the SubGenius), Martyrdom of the Bab (Bahá’í Faith).

Worthy causes of the day:  “Tell Mott's Management: Don't Take Money out of Workers' Pockets!” and “Stop Risky Offshore Drilling Without Environmental Review - Take Action Today @ The Rainforest Site”.

Topic 1:  Continuing my series on Gospel-based films, The Judas Project (1989).  When I first saw this film, I hated it.  Recasting the story of Jesus in circa-1990 Georgia seemed like a stupid idea, and the movie repeats a lot of the bad ideas found in the original Gospels.  However, watching The Judas Project again, I find that the people who made it did a better job that I previously thought.  Unlike Godspell, The Judas Project makes an attempt to connect the story to modern times.  Instead of being ruled by the overt Roman Empire, the Earth is controlled by a secret conspiracy led by Arthur Cunningham.  The world of formal religion, the Church, is ruled by the hypocritical Ponerous, who pays homage to Cunningham.  (I do not believe in the existence of huge hidden conspiracies in the real world, but at least it is an interesting attempt.  There is also a deep streak of distaste for organized religion.)

Facing off against the conspiracy is Jesse (equivalent of Jesus), a charismatic independent preacher with a large following.  Unlike most Gospel-based films, which leave unbelievers wondering why anyone would bother following Jesus, The Judas Project focuses largely on the Jesus-Apostle relationship.  Yes, Jesse does a lot of preaching (focusing heavily on love) and proselytizing.  And he is the Son of God.  And, unlike some other film Jesuses, he performs miracles openly.  But he is also his followers’ friend, participating with them in recreational activities (fishing, camping, the beach, the amusement park) and actively building a close relationship with them with strong bromantic overtones.  The Judas Project also explores the relationship between Jesse and Jude (equivalent of Judas Iscariot).  Jude is skeptical about Jesse, and he spends much of the movie wavering on whether to believe or not.  Jesse is extremely patient with him.  The motivation for Pete (equivalent to Peter) denying Jesse three times is given explicitly:  Jesse orders him to do so, for Jesse’s message cannot survive unless Pete survives to transmit it.

The ultimate fate of the characters differs significantly from their equivalents in the Gospels.  Unlike Jesus, Jesse has a meeting with the conspiracy and rejects their offer to join them.  The assassin Jackson is sent to kill Jesse, but he cannot bring himself to do it.  And while Jesse is sold out by Jude and captured in public (with helicopters!), there is no trial.  After having Jesse beaten, Cunningham gives up on him and lets Ponerous do to him whatever he wants.  Unlike Jesus, who was crucified in public, Jesse is crucified in an abandoned barn, and instead of two thieves, Jackson is crucified along side him.  Jesse’s crucifixion and death is accompanied by a lightning storm.  Ponerous’s goons flee in the process, and Ponerous himself finds himself in a graveyard.  God Himself announces to Ponerous “You never knew Me”, and the dead rise from their graves as ghosts.  It is strongly implied that Ponerous is consumed by fire sent from Heaven.  Jude, unlike Judas, does not commit suicide.  While Jesse’s body never goes missing—we never even see it buried—Jesse does appear to Pete at the end of the film.

Despite the effort to rewrite the story for modern times, some items remain out of place.  The prophecies allegedly predicting Jesse’s coming are left highly vague.  The notion of sacrifice, already twisted in the New Testament, is completely uprooted from its Jewish context.  Jude betrays Jesse for 30 silver bars, which is a rather odd reward to ask for, as the 30 silver coins Judas Iscariot received were ordinary currency.  Jude kisses Jesse at the betrayal, which today would be considered pretty weird even in a strong bromantic relationship.  And there being no Temple, Jude throws the silver at Cunningham’s mansion rather than, say, a church.  Come to think of it, we never see any house of worship for Ponerous’s Church.

Is this a perfect Gospel film?  Definitely not.  But it least it makes an effort where other films often make none.

Topic 2:  For today’s religious humor:  “Is Paul, The Psychic Octopus, An Avatar of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?”.  The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a famous parody religion meant to poke fun at creationism, and this article is a tongue-in-cheek argument that Paul the Psychic Octopus may be its god incarnate due to his supposed ability to pick the winner of soccer games.  For an implicit counterargument, see “German fans want revenge grilling of oracle octopus”, which indicates that Paul is not all he is cracked up to be.

Peace and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron