My Cynical View of Politicians

I’ve arrived at the conclusion that politicians are no better than, and in many ways more perverse than, common street whores- sleeping with whomsoever will give them money and a pat on the back. They are, on the whole, more than happy to lie on their backs staring into the sky whilst fleecing the payer and passing along whatever unpleasant ideological disease they presently enjoy. They simply care for no one other than themselves, their habit (an addiction to power- and frequently other substances), and their next trick. That, in short, is my cynical view of politicians at the height of this political season. May God grant us a swift end to it. And them.

Why Are So Many African-Americans In Prison?

It’s a staggeringly unpleasant report published in the Washington Post today which offers the following facts:

The ballooning prison population is largely the result of tougher state and federal sentencing imposed since the mid-1980s. Minorities have been hit particularly hard: One in nine black men age 20 to 34 is behind bars. For black women age 35 to 39, the figure is one in 100, compared with one in 355 white women in the same age group.

What does this suggest? Are blacks more inclined to crime as some will suggest? I personally doubt it. Rather, the implication seems to be that the poor (whether black or white) are prosecuted and convicted of crimes at a higher ratio than their wealthier counterparts whether they be black or white. After all, black men with money get away with murder too.

In other words, it isn’t race which makes the difference, but poverty. Poor people can’t afford high powered lawyers. And so they suffer the consequences of their actions at a higher rate than do those who can.

The justice system (what a misnomer that is) in America is broken. And those in a position to fix it aren’t interested in doing so because they have steroids in baseball to worry about. Besides, being lawyers themselves (for the most part), their wealth is based on pandering to the privileged. So don’t expect things to change.

The moral of the story? If you’re poor you can count on jail time if you break the law. If you’re rich- don’t worry too much. Because even if you do wind up in prison, Martha Stewart will decorate your room for you and Paris Hilton will see to it that you are out in no time at all.

Now Here’s A Job That Will Get You Noticed!

You can apply to be one of Senator Larry Craig’s interns! Yes, THAT Senator Craig! Now there’s a job to sink your teeth into!!!! And I have the perfect candidate in mind- a certain Episcopal Bishop from New Hampshire is the perfect fit.

With thanks to Katie for pointing it out.

Biblical Studies Carnival: Call for Submissions

Kevin’s issued the call and the deadline looms.  Let me say, just as a personal observation, that as biblioblogdom (and Edgecomb be darned with his desire to change things)  ;-)   grows, it will be more and more important for folk to submit suggestions.  When I last hosted the Carnival I got 2 useful suggestions and maybe 5 idiotic ones for stupid non-biblical (UFO type) sites.  And that was a long time ago.  So, make recommendations!

The Passion- Of Christ, That Is — UK Style

Mark Goodacre, who has jetted across the Atlantic to his homeland, announces that the BBC’s “Passion” website has gone live. Mark has contributed to the project so you can rest assured of two things: 1- it will be way better than Gibson’s gruesome and historically inept rendering and 2- it will be way better than anything ever produced by the Discovery Channel about anything related to the Bible.

An Interlude

I got this funny bit a while ago and post it here for your enjoyment:

These are actual comments made on students’ report cards by teachers in the New York City public school system. All the teachers were reprimanded but, boy, are these funny!!!

1 Since my last report, your child has reached rock bottom and has started to dig.
2. I would not allow this student to breed.
3. Your child has delusions of adequacy.
4. Your son is depriving a village some where of an ‘idiot’.
5. Your son sets low personal standards, and then consistently fails to achieve them.
6. The student has a “full six-pack” but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together.
7. This child has been working with glue too much.
8. When your daughter’s IQ reaches 50, she should sell.
9. The gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn’t coming.
10. If this student were any more stupid, he’d have to be watered twice a week.
11. It’s impossible to believe the sperm that created this child, beat out 1,000,000 others.
12. The wheel is turning, but the hamster is definitely dead.

I’ve known many fitting each of the categories above during my nearly 48 years.

Sign Your Work: 8th C. Bullae and Seals

Joseph Lauer directs our attention to an IAA press release which opines, in part,

Finds recovered from the excavations in the City of David reveal an interesting development in the ancient world: whereas during the 9th century BCE letters and goods were dispatched on behalf of their senders without names, by the 8th century BCE the clerks and merchants had already begun to add their names to the seals.

And concludes

According to the researchers, Eli Shukron and Professor Ronny Reich, “In contrast with the large cluster of bullae that was found two years ago, in which all of its items contain graphic symbols (such as a boat or different animals – fish, lizards and birds) but are of an earlier date (end of the 9th-beginning of the 8th century BCE), the new items indicate that during the 8th century BCE the practice had changed and the clerks who used the seals began to add their names to them.”

I wonder why the shift to the addition of names? Maybe there were already forgeries at hand and names were added for verification. Ancient forgeries, now that’s an interesting possibility. It makes one wonder if modern artifacts might themselves be ancient forgeries… And perhaps our modern forgeries will themselves one day be ancient forgeries.

By the by, Ha’aretz also has a bit on this.

UPDATE: There’s been quite a bit of discussion on this seal on the ANE-2 list, some of the more interesting remarks are available here, and here.

Do NOT Miss This Post

Not this one- this one. And Ben is 100,000% on target in his final sentence. Perfectly put (and so it’s no wonder that this gifted Ben Myers is the featured blogger for March on Biblioblogs.com) (interview forthcoming).

If You’re Surprised, Raise Your Hand

Reuters reports today

Republican presidential candidate John McCain won the endorsement of Texas evangelical leader John Hagee on Wednesday, which could boost his standing among religious conservatives who have been reluctant to embrace the likely nominee.

Actually I hope it has the opposite effect. Anyone Hagee the Heretic endorses should surely be viewed with a great deal of skepticism (or scepticism, for our British readers).  Evangelicals, Mainliners, and other intelligent persons who take the advice of Hagee have abandoned rationality and probably shouldn’t be allowed to vote, drive a car, become a parent, or live outside of an asylum.

Come on Martin, Pay Attention

On the 28th of February, 1527, Huldrych Zwingli wrote one of his longest books. The Amica Exegesis, id est: expositio eucharistiae negocii ad Martinum Lutherum was aimed, as the title suggests, at being an encouragement to Luther- wishfully imagining that Luther would be swayed by the truth and abandon his stubbornness regarding the Lord’s Supper.

The argument of the book is quite tight and - being written in Latin - quite academic. But smack in the middle Zwingli reminds Luther - Adparet vos omnes, qui ex adverso statis, gladiatorio animo perrumpere. Luther, of course, couldn’t have cared less and responded in his own well known vociferous way.

Someone once suggested that the Reformers paid too much attention to the question of the Eucharist. What that suggestion fails to apprehend is that the Eucharist stood at the very center of 16th century European theology. It wasn’t ‘a’ question or ‘a’ significant issue- it was ‘the’ central question as it has to do with how redemption works.

The fact that it is no longer the central focus of Christian theology demonstrates how far the Church has strayed from its core. Our anthropocentric ‘man-ology’ has replaced Zwingli’s (and Paul’s for that matter) utterly theocentric ‘the-ology’.

 

(Zwingli’s study at his home in Zurich)(Photo by Jim West)(Stop stealing my photos, people…)