tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65819336104332295822024-03-07T21:44:29.877-05:00Two NaturesReflections in the Light of the IncarnationArimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-5564477133146709412018-10-21T01:01:00.000-04:002018-10-21T01:01:41.232-04:00Hymns for Saint Perpetua the Martyr and Her Companions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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With the assistance of my friend Monica, I recently translated four hymns for St. Perpetua and her companions from the <a abp="53" href="http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/index.aspx" target="_blank"><em abp="143">Great Synaxarion</em></a>, an interesting compilation of saints that seems to exist only on-line in Greek. The <a abp="145" href="http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/1978/sxsaintinfo.aspx" target="_blank">page on St. Perpetua</a> begins with a standard synaxarion reading, which recounts the life and significance of St. Perpetua and her five fellow martyrs, Revocatus, Felicity, Saturninus, Secundulus, and Saturus. As with many (but not nearly all) pages in this source, it concludes with several hymns. For the most part, the hymns in the <em abp="200">Great Synaxarion</em> do not match those found in the <a abp="202" href="https://orthodoxwiki.org/Menaion" target="_blank">Menaia</a>, which are employed liturgically. Therefore, there has been no occasion for translating most of them.<br />
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Over the past few years I have edited, formatted, and printed a series of akathist booklets for my parish, which we use in rotation for our weekly akathist on Thursday evenings. A few years ago a friend whose heavenly patron is St. Felicity received an early draft of an <a href="https://lessonsfromamonastery.wordpress.com/akathist-to-the-african-martyrs/" target="_blank">Akathist to Ss. Perpetua, Felicity, and Their Companions</a>, which was based closely on the early third century <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_of_Saint_Perpetua,_Saint_Felicitas,_and_their_Companions" target="_blank">passion narrative</a> of the saints. She asked me to draw on my akathist-editing experience to convert it to modern English and format it. With all of my akathist booklets I include a hymn or two to accompany the akathist. (Such hymns can be sung after “God Is the Lord” if the akathist is read in a Paraklesis-like context; otherwise they can be sung at the end of the service during veneration.) In the process of looking for suitable hymns, I found the <em>Great Synaxarion</em> page with its four hymns in Greek. Monica did an initial rough translation, and then I painstakingly polished them into liturgical language. Here are the translations, followed by my commentary.</div>
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Apolytikion. Third Tone. Your confession</span></em></div>
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Though you had known wealth, O Perpetua, • you were inspired by the one divine faith • to forsake the error of idolatry. • Having contended along with the five martyrs, • you were deemed worthy of a martyr’s splendor. • Together with them, entreat the Lord who glorified you, • that his great mercy may be granted unto us.<br />
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Another Apolytikion. Fifth Tone. Let us worship the Word</span></em></div>
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Let us all praise with one voice the six-crowned choral dance of the martyrs Perpetua, Revocatus, and divine Saturus, the renowned Saturninus, highly honored Secundulus, and the revered Felicity: as shining stars of the holy faith, and as our intercessors before the Trinity.<br />
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Kontakion. Fourth Tone. You who were lifted up</span></em></div>
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Abandoning the errant ways of your father, • you beheld the light of the knowledge of God, • and you completed the course of the mystery, • O honored Perpetua, • along with the five martyrs. • With them, ever intercede • to the Holy Trinity • on behalf of us who, with hymns and odes, • celebrate your all-venerable memory.<br />
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Megalynarion</span></em></div>
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Rejoice, O Perpetua, Martyr of Christ, • who by your holy struggles vanquished the enemy. • Rejoice, you who intercede unceasingly with the Lord • on behalf of all those under your protection.<br />
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I did not originally set out to produce versions metered for chanting, but I found that three of the four were falling naturally into phrases of the right length, and it required little tweaking to make them fit the designated melodies. A few phrases are off by one syllable. With the second apolytikion, however, when I took sufficient liberties with the translation to force-fit it to the melody, the result was less singable than the un-metered translation.<br />
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I found the second apolytikion to be the most complex of the four, and I’m not sure I did its beauty justice. The word translated as “choral dance” is <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choreia" target="_blank">choreia</a></em>, an ancient Greek circle dance accompanied by singing. The Balkan circle dance known as the <em>hora</em>, <em>horo</em>, or <em>oro</em> descends from the <em>choreia</em>, as does the Israeli <em>horah</em>. According to the <em>Liddell-Scott Greek Lexicon</em>, <em>choreia</em> can also refer to “any circling motion, as of the stars.” Thus, it might be understood to evoke the revolving of the heavens and the music of the spheres, and this is reinforced by the later reference to the martyrs as “shining stars of the holy faith.”<br />
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Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-10550955102221180802017-08-27T16:57:00.000-04:002017-08-27T17:45:53.919-04:00Fundamentalism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<em>For the past five years, this blog has been inactive. My writing and editing skills have been in demand at <a href="https://www.holycrossonline.org/" target="_blank">my church</a>, where I spent four years helping to write the high school Sunday school curriculum and editing, formatting, and printing a series of <a href="https://orthodoxwiki.org/Akathist" target="_blank">akathist</a> booklets that my parish uses at our Thursday evening services. Currently, I serve as president of the parish council and as a member of the new adult education committee.<br />
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That does not mean I have not been writing anything on-line, however. I participated in a number of on-line news and political forums. For various reasons, I am no longer welcome at those forums. As a charter member of the conservative NeverTrump movement, I have been falsely tagged with just about every label on the political spectrum. So, lately I have been posting comments mostly on </em><a href="http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/" target="_blank">Intellectual Takeout</a><em>, which is subtitled, more or less accurately, </em>a refuge for rational discourse<em>. What follows is an edited form of a post that originally appeared as a comment on the </em>IT<em> article, </em><a href="http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/why-atheists-read-bible-fundamentalists" target="_blank">Why Atheists Read the Bible Like Fundamentalists</a><em>.</em><br />
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Fundamentalism and atheism both share a common foundation in modernism. Therefore, they operate from a common set of premises and, for the most part, a common worldview. They both tend to embrace rationalism, individualism, and iconoclasm – i.e., the central tenets of modernism. They might line up at opposite ends of the field, but they are playing the same game, by the same rules, within the same agreed boundaries. Religious traditionalists, by contrast, are playing a completely different game.<br />
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Most followers, as well as critics, of fundamentalism imagine it to adhere uncritically to inherited tradition, but nothing could be further from the truth. Every fundamentalism begins by rejecting tradition (“the traditions of men”, in fundamentalist parlance) as corrupt. So they cut themselves off from the stream of inherited tradition, and attempt to graft themselves directly onto their religion’s founder(s). The problem is that they re-imagine the founders’ concerns in terms of their own, so they project their modernism back onto the founding generation. Thus, they end up creating a new religion, which they imagine to be old.<br />
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Fundamentalists tend to bring modern concerns (e.g., science and history) to the reading of their scriptures. Since their concerns align with those of their atheist interlocutors, they can agree on the subject of their argument, even if they take opposite sides. Fundamentalists agree completely with the modernist criteria for evaluating scripture; they just imagine, somehow, that their scripture is true because it meets the modernist criteria of scientific and historical accuracy. We traditionalists, who bring different criteria to our reading of scripture, have trouble communicating with both types of modernists. (Interestingly, we tend to have more interesting conversations with certain types of post-modernists, who approach scripture from a literary standpoint.)<br />
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While the term “fundamentalism” arose among English-speaking Protestants a little over a century ago, this pattern is not exclusive to Christianity. One sees the same pattern in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamism" target="_blank">Islamist</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_nationalism" target="_blank">Hindu nationalist</a> movements, for example.
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Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-17239587892995136202016-01-01T04:41:00.001-05:002018-10-21T01:04:59.748-04:00In Their Own Words: The Agenda of the Global Warmists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have long suspected that the advocates of global warming (or climate change or <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2015/03/12/forget-global-warming-and-climate-change-call-it-climate-disruption/" target="_blank">climate disruption</a> or whatever they’re calling it this year) were knowingly exaggerating the impact of greenhouse gases on the climate in order to drive policy in their preferred direction. My friend Ursula dug up the following quotes, which confirm the reasonableness of my suspicion.
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“No matter if the science is all phony, there are collateral environmental benefits. . . . Climate change provides the greatest chance to bring about justice and equality in the world.” — <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Stewart">Christine Stewart</a>, former Canadian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_Environment_and_Climate_Change_(Canada)">Minister of the Environment</a>
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“Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t our responsibility to bring that about?” — <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Strong">Maurice Strong</a>, senior advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
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“We’ve got to ride the global-warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing, in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.” — <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Wirth">Timothy Wirth</a>, Clinton Administration <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_Secretary_of_State_for_Democracy_and_Global_Affairs">Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs</a>
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“I think if we don’t overthrow capitalism, we don’t have a chance of saving the world ecologically.” — <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judi_Bari">Judi Bari</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_First!">Earth First!</a> organizer
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“So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. . . . Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest.” — <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Schneider">Stephen Schneider</a>, Stanford University Professor of Environmental Biology and Global Change
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“There is no reason to give them any data, in my opinion, and we do so at our own peril!” — <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._Mann">Michael Mann</a>, Director, <a href="http://www.essc.psu.edu/" target="_blank">Earth System Science Center</a>, Penn State University
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Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-19247379774898364822012-12-24T16:17:00.000-05:002018-10-21T01:03:07.007-04:00We Worship Thy Birth, O Christ!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last week, in order to assist us with our spiritual prepartion for Christmas, <a href="http://www.antiochian.org/BishopThomas" target="_blank">my bishop</a> recommended this recording of a Byzantine Nativity hymn in Arabic. The English translation, which is shown in the video, appears below.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='425' height='344' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/MvjiVam2HO4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;">Today is born of a virgin he who holds the whole creation in his hand. (<i>Thrice</i>)<br /><br />He whose essence none can touch is bound in swaddling clothes as a mortal man.<br /><br />God, who in the beginning fashioned the heavens, lies in a manger.<br /><br />He who rained manna on his people in the wilderness is fed on milk from his mother’s breast.<br /><br />The Bridegroom of the Church summons the wise men; the Son of the Virgin accepts their gifts.<br /><br />We worship thy birth, O Christ! (<i>Thrice</i>)<br /><br />Show us also thy holy Theophany.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;">
<i>—Royal Hours of the Nativity, sticheron at the Ninth Hour</i></div>
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Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-68865867579311733872012-11-09T23:54:00.001-05:002017-08-27T17:07:24.413-04:00Post-Election Lyrics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/87/Nottoolate.png/220px-Nottoolate.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/87/Nottoolate.png/220px-Nottoolate.png" height="180" rea="true" width="200" /></a></div>
<em>I have not yet unpacked most of my CDs post-seminary, so I have been borrowing CDs from the local library. Just today I picked up</em> Not Too Late<em>, by Norah Jones. In light of the events of this past week, the eighth track struck a chord with me. You can listen to a live performance of the song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yBg7i9iSms" target="_blank">here</a>.</em><br />
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<b>My Dear Country</b><br />
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'Twas Halloween and the ghosts were out<br />
And everywhere they'd go they shout<br />
And though I covered my eyes I knew<br />
They'd go away<br />
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But fear's the only thing I saw<br />
And three days later was clear to all<br />
That nothing is as scary as election day<br />
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But the day after is darker<br />
And darker and darker it goes<br />
Who knows maybe the plans will change<br />
Who knows maybe he's not deranged<br />
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The news men know what they know but they<br />
Know even less than what they say<br />
And I don't know who I can trust<br />
For the come what may<br />
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'Cuz we believed in our candidate<br />
But even more it's the one we hate<br />
I needed someone I could shake<br />
On election day<br />
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But the day after is darker<br />
And deeper and deeper we go<br />
Who knows maybe it's all a dream,<br />
Who knows if I'll wake up and scream<br />
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I love the things that you've given me<br />
I cherish you my dear country<br />
But sometimes I don't understand<br />
The way we play<br />
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I love the things that you've given me<br />
And most of all that I am free<br />
To have a song that I can sing<br />
On election day<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Norah Jones</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Muthajones Music-EMI Blackwood Music (BMI)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">from the album <em>Not Too Late</em></span></span></div>
Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-85711631336408477372012-10-21T16:08:00.001-04:002012-10-21T16:18:57.892-04:00Hagia Sophia: Byzantine Liturgical Architecture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I recently came across some images and videos that reconstruct the appearance of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia" target="_blank">Hagia Sophia</a> in the first millennium, when it served as the cathedral of the Archbishop of Constantinople – and therefore as the first church of the Byzantine Empire. From its dedication in 537, during the reign of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justinian_I" target="_blank">Justinian</a>, the <span style="color: #660000;">Temple of the Holy Wisdom of God</span> remained the world’s largest cathedral until 1520. To understand some elements of the Byzantine Rite, it is essential to be able to visualize the church whose size, shape, and features they were required to accommodate.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYitgl_j-shJug0cBJYvI8WORH9vNt9BSKtDT14PnpeeiqzZ1uBwO3TOkr3dAOIL820lPote8ieOT7LriYUbyZ2IbaNm8eK0qVFykU2EQnGmKMp_Kp-KHpDEkT1JDAe0k8TewJkdLH4Ge9/s1600/HagiaSophiaRecon1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYitgl_j-shJug0cBJYvI8WORH9vNt9BSKtDT14PnpeeiqzZ1uBwO3TOkr3dAOIL820lPote8ieOT7LriYUbyZ2IbaNm8eK0qVFykU2EQnGmKMp_Kp-KHpDEkT1JDAe0k8TewJkdLH4Ge9/s400/HagiaSophiaRecon1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In this external view you will first notice the courtyard, or <em>atrium</em>, in front of the church. At the east end of the atrium, the same height as the atrium, is the church’s outer <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Narthex" target="_blank">narthex</a>. Beyond that, with the many westward-facing windows, is the larger inner narthex. While the outer narthex served mainly as a vestibule, the inner narthex was where many services began. In Vespers of the Byzantine Cathedral Rite, for instance, the extensive opening psalmody was recited in the inner narthex, after which the congregation passed through the many doors into the nave for the next part of the service around the ambo. The large central doors, known as the <em>Royal Doors</em>, were used by the imperial family. This movement from narthex to nave is the origin of the <em>Entrance</em> in today’s service of <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Vespers" target="_blank">Great Vespers</a>. The narthex is still used for some rites, such as the prayers of exorcism at the beginning of the baptismal service and the <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Marriage#Office_of_Betrothal" target="_blank">betrothal</a> rite that precedes marriage.<br />
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These architectural images will provide a better idea of how the narthexes relate to the rest of the church. The first, a floor plan, shows the church as it exists today. The second, a cut-away drawing, shows it as it was in the first millennium.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXk07zEeYohcpnvcMZDx7rEUaN8VoydaKO72HAHG_wg_nIJtt8haQtaViNzqP432R3XLN5TU13tk2pANBV74iy9vMWe75jcweuH6in-MCIJKeEuJB2AhEJ0m_DOXdbOrozHZ28MjpULGpE/s1600/HagiaSophiaFloorplan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXk07zEeYohcpnvcMZDx7rEUaN8VoydaKO72HAHG_wg_nIJtt8haQtaViNzqP432R3XLN5TU13tk2pANBV74iy9vMWe75jcweuH6in-MCIJKeEuJB2AhEJ0m_DOXdbOrozHZ28MjpULGpE/s400/HagiaSophiaFloorplan.jpg" width="398" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkurH9B_ONHjMX8kXK9FWFY902FiR1dfXNlqjq_3FiyknmFQQgQPCKJJKh3a7pt_E45za8vwLYJD-d4ILIo-yTRqRo2Sx4LAqHW8CLl8Ket6d4E3dlTf5bK7pu0sjgqgY1ootQCcqix-XA/s1600/HagiaSophiaAxonometric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkurH9B_ONHjMX8kXK9FWFY902FiR1dfXNlqjq_3FiyknmFQQgQPCKJJKh3a7pt_E45za8vwLYJD-d4ILIo-yTRqRo2Sx4LAqHW8CLl8Ket6d4E3dlTf5bK7pu0sjgqgY1ootQCcqix-XA/s400/HagiaSophiaAxonometric.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In both the floorplan and the initial image, you will notice a separate building to the south of the narthexes. This is the <em>baptistery</em>, whose purpose is obvious from its name. In the floorplan you will also see another building at the northeast corner of the church. This is the <em>skevophylakion</em> – the treasury, where donations to the church were received and stored. At what we now call the <em><a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Great_Entrance" target="_blank">Great Entrance</a></em> of the Divine Liturgy, the deacons would go the the skevophylakion, select wine and loaves of bread from among the donations, and return with them to the sanctuary to present them to the bishop for use in the Eucharist.<br />
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In the cut-away drawing you will see a round structure in the center of the nave. This is the <em>ambo</em>, an elaborate structure similar to a pulpit. It was used not only by preachers, but also by the choir and chanters when leading antiphonal or responsorial hymnody and by readers when reading the Scriptures. Here are two images of a detailed reconstruction.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxxELuPyXCa-z8dbtZc9bQkYikpJV83tk6RA1fRGWMnQzcQTGDDBktZPQHQQn0RvVjqGz1rihp-lvZmkl1waHiblwebe0yOEfN2yS9ZM_dvLwTNXTSwuaE9TH1uKJN57JedjHkW3NQrrJ/s1600/HagiaSophiaRecon2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxxELuPyXCa-z8dbtZc9bQkYikpJV83tk6RA1fRGWMnQzcQTGDDBktZPQHQQn0RvVjqGz1rihp-lvZmkl1waHiblwebe0yOEfN2yS9ZM_dvLwTNXTSwuaE9TH1uKJN57JedjHkW3NQrrJ/s400/HagiaSophiaRecon2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTaJYts6f-d4wiO6q_0WsqNGs-g_OrNQk5L3z_fMwQ5ff30ZcUgWqQ2GjhzdcQ-O39nbJY1N0t2p2MWN7tdefUFK2OjGkg3WFt38_-wWTiflMICZZMwoSVIc9KfYRRURCmQN7kVHBVoggd/s1600/HagiaSophiaRecon3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTaJYts6f-d4wiO6q_0WsqNGs-g_OrNQk5L3z_fMwQ5ff30ZcUgWqQ2GjhzdcQ-O39nbJY1N0t2p2MWN7tdefUFK2OjGkg3WFt38_-wWTiflMICZZMwoSVIc9KfYRRURCmQN7kVHBVoggd/s400/HagiaSophiaRecon3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There is one small defect in these pictures: they both position the ambo backwards. The longer pathway should point towards the sanctuary, not towards the narthex.<br />
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In the background of the first ambo picture, you can see the <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templon" target="_blank">templon</a></em>, the predecessor of today’s iconostasis. (The <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Iconostasis" target="_blank">iconostasis</a> as we know it did not appear before the late 14th century.) The templon began as a low screen to set off the <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13431a.htm" target="_blank">sanctuary</a> from the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/406945/nave" target="_blank">nave</a>. It often came to be elaborated with columns surmounted by an <a href="http://www.pitt.edu/~medart/menuglossary/architrave.htm" target="_blank">architrave</a>. While the templon restricted physical access to the sanctuary and set it off visually, it did not obstruct worshipers’ view of the altar. Here are three pictures of a reconstruction of the templon.<br />
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Unlike some templons, the one at Hagia Sophia projected out into the nave, with the <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Deacon’s_Doors" target="_blank">deacon’s doors</a> on the sides (much like my parish’s iconostasis). The curtains could be opened for the Liturgy and closed at other times when the sanctuary was not being used. In the middle of the sanctuary is the altar. The large structure over the altar is the <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciborium_(architecture)" target="_blank">ciborium</a></em> (Greek <em>kiborion</em>). At the rear of the sanctuary, the semi-circular steps are seating for the clergy. The bishop’s seat, sometimes called the <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_place#Eastern_Orthodoxy" target="_blank">high place</a></em>, was in the center of the top row. In the following video, the camera travels around the sanctuary, giving close-ups of some of the features.<br />
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This video shows the even more ancient Constantinopolitan church of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Irene" target="_blank">Hagia Eirene</a> (Holy Peace). It begins with the exterior but soon moves to the interior. You will see a lot of similarities to Hagia Sophia, but also a significant difference in the shape of the templon.<br />
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Finally, for comparison here is an ancient church of Rome – <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_St._Peter%27s_Basilica" target="_blank">St. Peter’s Basilica</a>. Note the icons of Christ and the Theotokos on the front wall on either side of the sanctuary.<br />
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Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-34836411874985686092012-09-18T14:39:00.004-04:002023-11-15T14:34:35.220-05:00Punks vs. Putin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I spent most of my free time last month <a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/pussy-riot-orthodox-moscow/" target="_blank">reading</a> <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/getreligion/2012/08/failing-to-cover-the-christ-our-savior-video-riot/" target="_blank">and</a> <a href="http://zenpundit.com/?p=12906" target="_blank">writing</a> about the <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2012-08-17/world/world_europe_russia-pussy-riot-trial_1_band-members-nadezhda-tolokonnikova-russian-court" target="_blank">Pussy Riot trial</a>. With my background as a Soviet intelligence analyst and an Orthodox seminarian, I am probably as qualified as anyone to undertake an analysis of the incident.<br />
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Most media treatments have molded the story into a standard good-guys-vs.-bad-guys formula, which can take two possible forms:<br />
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1) Brave, hip, smart, artsy young women find a provocative way to make their protest heard against a corrupt, authoritarian regime – and the church leaders in cahoots with it – who respond by subjecting the young activists to a show trial in a kangaroo court on trumped-up charges.<br />
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2) Russian officials employ the only legal means at their disposal to respond to the offended Orthodox piety and national pride of ordinary Russians, who were shocked and outraged at the abuse of Moscow’s main cathedral by provocatively clad, obscenity-spewing, self-promoting “performance artists” dedicated to undermining traditional values and institutions in the name of individualism, secularism, feminism, sexual freedom, and “the revolution”.<br />
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These two narratives, between them, convey most of the facts of the story, along with large helpings of the sort of wishful thinking that insists on seeing the enemies of one’s enemies as good guys in white hats. But, for an American conservative who believes in things like rule of law, freedom of expression (including religious expression), and traditional values, the current situation in Russia is not producing anyone we might consider a good guy in a comprehensive sense. But I think it is clear that, in this instance, one side is more wrong than the other.<br />
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<strong>Punk Prayer: A Tale of Two Cathedrals</strong><br />
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On February 21, members and friends of the feminist punk band <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pussy_Riot" target="_blank">Pussy Riot</a> entered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Christ_the_Saviour" target="_blank">Christ the Savior Cathedral</a> in Moscow at a time when the cathedral was open to visitors but no services were taking place and few people were present. The band members crossed a rail restricting access to the area in front of the <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Iconostasis" target="_blank">iconostasis</a>, ascended the steps to the <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Solea" target="_blank">solea</a>, donned their trademark <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaclava_(clothing)" target="_blank">balaclavas</a>, and began an <em>a capalla</em> performance of their punk prayer, “<a href="https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/08/pussy-riot-lyrics.html" target="_blank">Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away</a>”, with choreographed punches, kicks, and prostrations. Almost immediately, church staffers sprang into action, harassing the cameraman and converging on the four performers on the solea to disrupt the performance and escort them away. The performance lasted just 41 seconds.<br />
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The subsequent video also incorporated footage from a louder, more elaborate performance shot two days earlier at Moscow’s <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Cathedral_of_the_Theophany_in_Elokhovo_(Moscow)" target="_blank">Elokhovsky Theophany Cathedral</a>. The scenes in the video that show the girls playing guitars in a candlelit church come from this earlier performance.<br />
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The two cathedrals have contrasting histories. Elokhovsky Cathedral was the largest church in Moscow to survive the Soviet era, and it served as the patriarch’s cathedral during those years. Christ the Savior Cathedral, the tallest Orthodox Church in the world, was destroyed by the Soviets in 1931 and rebuilt in the 1990s. It has the peculiar status of being owned by the city of Moscow, not by the Orthodox Church.<br />
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How many members of PR participated in the two performances? Press accounts say five PR members were involved at Christ the Savior Cathedral, though only four appeared in the video and only three were arrested. <em>The Moscow Times</em> reported on August 26 that the band had announced via Twitter that the other two participants had successfully <a href="http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/2-pussy-riot-rockers-flee-country/467110.html" target="_blank">fled Russia</a> after <em>Interfax</em> reported the previous week that the police were still looking for them. Five band members appeared in the scenes from Elokhovsky Cathedral, all of whom were dressed differently than the ones at Christ the Savior. While these appear to be five different members, they could be the same five girls in different costumes. Wikipedia reports that the band consists of approximately 12 members.<br />
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One might wonder how the cathedral staff could have reacted so quickly to the band’s intrusion. A year earlier, in response to an <a href="http://www.synod.com/synod/engdocuments/enart_xxcholidays.html" target="_blank">interviewer’s question</a> about the cathedral’s staff, the senior priest of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior said, “<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #660000;">A great many people have come and gone through the Cathedral. Only those who remain dedicated to the Cathedral and their work, because our work is not easy, especially for those who stand by the candle holders or work in the icon shop. People come to the Cathedral not only to pray, but to provoke others, there are disgruntled people, too. One needs to possess tact, patience, Christian love, knowledge.</span><span style="font-size: small;">”</span></span><br />
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<strong>Shocked!</strong><br />
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Some early press descriptions stated that the performance at Christ the Savior took place “on the altar”. It appears that some reporters simply parroted what they were told without understanding what this phrase means – otherwise, one might expect that they would have translated the phrase into standard English and/or critiqued the truthfulness of the statement. While most English-speaking Christians hearing that phrase would imagine the girls dancing on top of the altar table, some Orthodox say “on the altar” where Catholics (and other Orthodox) would say “in the sanctuary”. (The latter phrase has its own problems, however, since many American Protestants have expanded the term “sanctuary” to encompass the entire church, including the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/406945/nave" target="_blank">nave</a>. Therefore, Orthodox who are more familiar with Protestant than with Catholic usage of “sanctuary” tend to avoid the term.) In any case, the PR members were clearly performing on the solea, not in the altar/sanctuary. In the video one can clearly see the <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Holy_Doors" target="_blank">holy doors</a> of the iconostasis behind them, securely closed. There was no intrusion into the sanctuary. Talk of “desecration” was <a href="http://hro.rightsinrussia.info/archive/unfair-trial-1/pussy-riot/kuraev" target="_blank">even less apt</a> than of dancing “on the altar”. I would surmise that both of these descriptions were perpetrated by opponents of PR seeking to magnify the shock of what the girls had done.<br />
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I have no doubt that the shock was sincere, at least on the part of that minority of Russians who are devout Orthodox Christians. (<span style="font-size: x-small;">Many Orthodox Russians are not so devout: only 10% of those who identify themselves as Orthodox actually attend church services, and 30% do not even believe in God.</span>) The image of Christ the Savior Cathedral is familiar to all the Orthodox of Russia – even ones who have never personally set foot in the cathedral – because it has been the venue for major events in the life of the church and the nation, such as the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX2SDRJpXQI" target="_blank">funeral</a> of <a href="http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/religion/patriarch-alexy-ii/" target="_blank">Patriarch Alexy II</a> and the <a href="https://incendiarious.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/video-of-enthronement-of-patriarch-kirill/" target="_blank">enthronement</a> of <a href="http://www.mospat.ru/en/the_patriarch/" target="_blank">Patriarch Kirill</a>, which were broadcast nationally. To see the same site used in a profane way might have caused cognitive dissonance. But, of course, that was just what the band intended. It could not have achieved its purpose without that kind of shock.<br />
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While PR’s protest would have been shocking to any devout Russian Orthodox worshiper, one should understand that most devout Russian Orthodox worshipers are alert for opportunities to take offense against any behavior deemed “disrespectful” – a term that encompasses just about anything contrary to Russian custom as interpreted by its local, usually self-appointed, enforcers. In liturgics class I was warned that, when visiting a Russian church, if I so much as put my hands in my pockets or clasped my hands behind my back (both considered by Russians to be disrespectful stances) I could expect to be smacked without warning by a <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/06/27/137368820/russian-women-prove-its-hip-to-be-a-babushka" target="_blank">babushka</a>.<br />
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I have also seen assertions that the girls’ mere attire was shocking and offensive. This claim should be taken with a shaker of salt. Their bright, colorful costumes might have been politically provocative, but they were not indecent. In fact, they were among the more modestly dressed 20-something women I have seen in a Russian church. Legalistic Russians are very insistent that women wear headcoverings and dresses or skirts in church (pants are considered disrespectful). It is not unusual to see young women at Russian churches in the U.S. wearing headscarves the size of a small table cloth along with tight mini-skirts, completely oblivious to the irony of their ensembles. The young ladies in the video, wearing dresses, tights, and balaclavas, were in compliance with the letter of the rule, and not much skin was showing, apart from their arms.<br />
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<strong>State and Church in Putin’s Russia</strong><br />
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Like a black hole, President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin warps the space of the Russian galaxy, bringing everything into orbit around himself. As the only decider of consequence in today’s Russia, Putin himself has become the main issue in every arena. Everyone who has previously presented a serious threat to Putin’s <em><a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/siloviki.htm" target="_blank">siloviki</a></em> regime is either dead, behind bars, or in exile. So it should come as no surprise that the Orthodox Church has opted against speaking truth to power and instead cozied up to the regime. This accommodation comes easily to a church long accustomed to the privileged yet compromised status of being the <em>de facto</em> Established Church of the officially atheistic Soviet Union. Among the benefits of the Orthodox Church’s ties to the Kremlin are funds for the repair of churches and privileged access to the means of communication and education. The Church has successfully used its political clout to lobby for restrictions on abortion and prohibition of pro-homosexual propaganda.<br />
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Putin, for his part, has at times been rumored to be a practicing Orthodox Christian who makes his confession and receives communion regularly. (His spiritual advisor is reportedly Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov, the abbot of Moscow’s <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Sretensky_Monastery" target="_blank">Sretensky Monastery</a>.) While the rumors are credible, they are also intermittent and inconsistent, leaving an impression that Putin’s Christian practice is likewise.<br />
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Furthermore, Putin has a reputation as a supporter of traditional values and traditional religions. Such stances are popular with the same segments of Russian society who are likely to support Putin anyway. With Putin’s support waning elsewhere, he is now relying even more on his <a href="http://world.time.com/2012/08/23/pussy-riot-trial-unleashes-putins-secret-weapon-the-orthodox-faithful/" target="_blank">Orthodox nationalist allies</a>. This allows him to strike a popular pose of virtue while depicting his political opponents as advocates of decadent Western liberalism, which can be assumed to include consumer culture, gay rights, and American hegemony.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9a/a9/27/9aa927fe599cacb4b1049a3026fb072c.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="611" src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9a/a9/27/9aa927fe599cacb4b1049a3026fb072c.jpg"/></a></div>Yet Putin and his cronies</a> govern Russia like a crime syndicate, controlling markets, collecting protection payments, and murdering or jailing anyone who gets in the way. Putin is Orthodox like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Corleone" target="_blank">Don Corleone</a> was Catholic: He is a devout Christian when it is convenient and when it helps to promote his image of “respectability”, but he doesn’t let it interfere with “business”.<br />
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On February 8, 2012, less than a month before the presidential election, Putin met with a number of religious leaders at <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/St._Daniel_Monastery_(Moscow)" target="_blank">Danilov Monastery</a>, the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church. Besides Patriarch Kirill and other Orthodox bishops, the meeting was attended by Jewish leaders, including Russia’s chief rabbi, four Islamic muftis, a Buddhist lama, an Armenian bishop, and representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian churches, who all <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/02/08/uk-russia-putin-religion-idUKTRE81722Y20120208" target="_blank">sang Putin’s praises</a>. Describing Putin’s previous two terms as president, Kirill said, “Through a miracle of God, with the active participation of the country’s leadership, we managed to exit this horrible, systemic crisis. I should say it openly as a patriarch who must only tell the truth, not paying attention to the political situation or propaganda, you personally played a massive role in correcting this crooked twist of our history.” Kirill went on to criticize those who had protested against Putin the previous weekend. He was joined in his praise of Putin by the chief rabbi and the muftis. The resulting picture was one of a neo-<em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphonia_(theology)" target="_blank">symphonia</a></em> between the religious establishment and the political establishment – doubtless just as Putin intended.<br />
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<strong>Agent Mikhailov</strong><br />
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Much has been made of Patriarch Kirill’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KGB" target="_blank">KGB</a> connections, sometimes even describing him as a colleague of Putin’s from the old days. This shows a serious misunderstanding of the Orthodox Church’s relationship with the KGB. An important brief in the KGB’s portfolio was the control of religion, which it accomplished by various means, including infiltration, intimidation, manipulation of weak religious officials, and controlling the selection and promotion of religious leaders. Back in the Soviet days, 90% of the Orthodox bishops reported to KGB handlers. The other 10% did not get promoted. So it is safe to say that any archbishop, metropolitan, or patriarch – or anyone on track to ascend to those offices – was cooperating with the KGB. There can be little doubt that Kirill, who was promoted to archbishop at age 30, was reporting to someone from the KGB.<br />
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That is not, however, the same as being an officer of the KGB. The Soviet state had various ways of eliciting cooperation from those who were weak or ambitious – that is, just about everyone – and the clergy were not immune. Therefore, to depict Kirill (or his immediate predecessor, Patriarch Alexy II) as if he were an undercover officer of the KGB working full-time as a church spy is incorrect. He was an ambitious young man doing what it took to have a successful career in the Russian Church at that time.<br />
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The Church’s very <a href="http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=5635" target="_blank">election</a> of Kirill as patriarch in 2009 has been plausibly depicted as a show of backbone. It was well known that Putin would have preferred the more malleable Metropolitan Kliment to the strong-willed Kirill, despite Kirill’s agreement with Putin on most issues of consequence. Putin prefers obedient puppets to competent colleagues. (<span style="font-size: x-small;">Aside: This points to a major weakness of Putinist political economy. With Russia functioning essentially as a unified conglomerate, its ability to function is constrained by the scope of control of the chief executive, who is not one for delegation. If you’ve read Ronald Coase’s seminal article, “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_of_the_Firm" target="_blank">The Nature of the Firm,”</a> this will be clear.</span>)<br />
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<strong>Prank Rock</strong><br />
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The band Pussy Riot is an offshoot of the larger protest-art collective known as <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voina" target="_blank">Voina</a></em> (“War”), whose actions have ranged from symbolic pranks and unannounced public performances to vandalism, particularly targeting the police and the courts. With anarchist tendencies, the group’s members have eschewed traditional paying jobs, preferring to live by begging and stealing. Some of Voina’s more notorious performances have involved public sex. In 2009 the group underwent a schism. The remnants of the original Voina continue to operate underground in St. Petersburg, while a new faction operates in Moscow. Pussy Riot began as a project of the Moscow faction of Voina.<br />
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<em>Pussy Riot</em> is the band’s actual name – two English words written in Latin characters. Even in a Russian-language context, the band’s name is always written this way. I think we can tentatively draw some inferences from this. The name is an explicit reference to the American punk-feminist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_grrrl" target="_blank">Riot Grrrl</a> movement of the 1990s, which PR claims as an inspiration. It also incorporates the band’s recurring theme of liberation from conventional sexual morality. But most Russians would not be aware of this – nor could they even understand the name without help. One Russian woman who thought she had figured out the scandalous nature of the name reported, assuming the air of an enlightened person sharing secret knowledge, “I know what it means. I looked it up. It means <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pus" target="_blank">pus</a>.” One can only imagine the cluelessness of the masses who did not look it up. (The name has been translated into Russian as a phrase that means “uprising of the vagina”, which is too literal and formal to capture the connotations of the name.) I think the choice of English slang for their name suggests that PR was not looking for its audience among the Russian masses, but among the English-speaking urban intelligentsia, and perhaps among foreigners, especially Americans. They might also have surmised that their band’s name would be frequently abbreviated in the English-language media and considered PR an apt alternative name for the band, given their hunger for media attention.<br />
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The band’s leaders are leftist/anarchist intellectuals drawing on a number of threads of Russian intellectual tradition. Besides various such traditions cited in the band members’ <a href="http://nplusonemag.com/pussy-riot-closing-statements" target="_blank">closing statements</a>, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova compared her group to more popular Russian traditions: “We are jesters, <em>skomorokhi</em>, maybe even <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foolishness_for_Christ" target="_blank">holy fools</a>. We didn’t mean any harm.” The <em><a href="http://seansrussiablog.org/2012/08/23/pussy-riot-as-modern-day-skomorokhi/" target="_blank">skomorokhi</a></em> were traveling minstrels of medieval Russia with a reputation for unruliness.<br />
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The recurring themes of the band’s lyrics are opposition to Putinist authoritarianism and promotion of feminism. But the band’s larger agenda is more scary: “freedom from patriarchy, capitalism, religion, conventional morality, inequality and the entire corporate state system”, as described by Russia analyst <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/opinion/the-wrong-reasons-to-back-pussy-riot.html" target="_blank">Vadim Nikitin</a>. This is, more or less, the agenda we conservatives fear is being imposed by stealth in the U.S. by the Obama administration. Is there any reason, then, for a conservative American Christian, to support Pussy Riot against Putin?<br />
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<strong>Conclusions</strong><br />
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Nikitin asserts, “Pussy Riot and its comrades at Voina come as a full package: You can’t have the fun, pro-democracy, anti-Putin feminism without the incendiary anarchism, extreme sexual provocations, deliberate obscenity and hard-left politics. Unless you are comfortable with all that (and I strongly suspect 99 percent of Pussy Riot’s fans in the mainstream media are not), then standing behind Pussy Riot only now, when it is obviously blameless and the government clearly guilty, is pure opportunism.”<br />
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I could not disagree more. It is precisely because PR is “blameless” (more or less) and the government “clearly guilty” that any honest person who believes in the rule of law must side with PR in their current circumstances, even while opposing them in most of their other provocations and in their broader agenda. (John O’Sullivan arrived at a similar conclusion in his <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/314522/christians-feminist-punk-rock-john-o-sullivan" target="_blank">NRO reflection</a>.)<br />
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While the band should perhaps have been prosecuted and fined for trespassing in the cathedrals – and in numerous previous events – neither the church nor the government showed much concern for the band’s impious acts until the resulting video went viral, embarrassing both Patriarch Kirill and President Putin. The motivation for the girls’ imprisonment and prosecution was clearly that they had finally drawn blood in their ongoing propaganda war against the regime. The formal charge of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” was transparently trumped up, not corresponding in any way to the evidence in the case. The resulting show trial was a procedural travesty. These flagrant violations of truth and justice were intended to convey the message that the regime stands above the law. The regime cannot accept a single loss of face because it fears the consequences of any cracks in its façade of absolute power.<br />
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The Russian Orthodox Church has often permitted itself to be used for political and nationalistic purposes. (The same could be said of most other national churches.) When a church lowers itself in such a way, it loses its claim to stand above criticism. It can no longer play the role of neutral arbiter, having become a tool of one faction or ideology. Kirill’s <em>de facto</em> endorsement of Putin opened the Church to legitimate attack.<br />
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Even without that endorsement, Christ the Savior Cathedral was in a questionable position. It is the property of the Moscow government, which operates business ventures on the premises. Moreover, the cathedral has frequently been abused by Putin as a backdrop for his political theater – the setting where he demonstrates his support for the Orthodox Church and vice versa, reinforcing the image of a monolithic holy Russian power structure – an implicit assertion of a neo-<em>symphonia</em>, with Putin in the role of emperor.<br />
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Pussy Riot’s performance art parodied Putin’s abuse of the cathedral and attempted to reclaim that venue from the regime. If Putin can no longer put on his political show at the cathedral without evoking images of PR’s “concert”, he will have lost his ownership of that setting, and PR will have succeeded in cleansing the temple.<br />
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I think our Lord’s harassment of the moneychangers might reasonably be characterized as an episode of performance art. And I suspect that the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_1580456019"></span>Sadducees<span id="goog_1580456020"></span></a> might have categorized his performance as “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”. The Moscow Patriarchate is now playing the Sadducee role to Putin’s Pontius Pilate, and I as a Christian cannot stand with it in this compromised position.</div>
Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-88993185492942949272012-09-03T14:50:00.000-04:002012-09-03T15:09:12.523-04:00Wisdom from Metropolitan John, part 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<u>Loneliness</u><br />
All over the world, people are alone. Although they live in big cities, among millions of people, still they are alone, because being alone is not necessarily being alone physically. Divorced from God, we are becoming isolated from each either – and even in our own families. There are people who live in deserts, but they are together with other people, because they are in communion with God. And there are people who live in cities, yet they are alone. Loneliness is a great suffering and a real unhappiness.<br />
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Remember the paralyzed man in the Gospel? He was living in the city, where there were maybe a million people during the festival, and still he was alone. He told the Lord: “I have no one to put me into the pool.” And millions and millions of people are alone like him. Who will reach out to these people? Who will put them into the pool of salvation? And how can these people relate to each other if the light of Christ is not given to them? Without the light of Christ we cannot built a community. Living together is not the same as being together. People in prison live together but they are not a community. It is the duty of every Orthodox Christian to be close to every lonely human being.<br />
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. . . I remember an 80-year-old lady who told me she had not spoken to anyone for three months. She had nobody to talk to, and you can imagine her spiritual state, being alone and abandoned by all, in our city where Orthodox Christians are the majority. Imagine – we can be in the midst of people and still be alone. It is the duty of every Orthodox Christian to be close to every lonely human being. Only by being together and building a real community can we be true Christians – <i>unus christianus nullus christianus</i>.<br />
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<u>Preparing for eternity</u><br />
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It is necessary to give a witness to the world because, in today’s world, we have lost the meaning of eternity. People today think only of life’s problems, which often dominate everything they do. Usually we live no more than 100 years in this world, and do almost nothing for what is most important thing. Look at what people do for their retirement. They pay for years and years, so that they can receive something for a few years. But what do we do for our eternal retirement?!? And this eternal retirement will come! And soon! We have to focus on this <i>other</i>, because if we lose this perspective, we lose our souls. It sounds like a paradox but as much as we see our life in the dimension of eternity, only then can we can understand and enjoy our present time. When we lose the perspective of the eternity, we do not understand and cannot enjoy the present time, because we drown in it.<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><u>Meaning in life and death</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I remember reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/0671023373" target="_blank">Man’s Search for Meaning</a></i> by the famous psychiatrist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl" target="_blank">Viktor Frankl</a>. During his time in a Nazi concentration camp, observing both himself and those around him, he wrote, “I saw in myself and in others that the basic need for a human being is not pleasure, as Freud thought, or power, as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Adler" target="_blank">Adler</a> thought, but it is the need to have a reason to live and a reason to die.” And only faith can give these two reasons. Only a life in Christ can give us a reason to live, and can give us a reason to die. If we have both these reasons, our life will be full. And if our life is full, regardless of any difficulties we face, we will have joy.</span><br />
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<em>All of these quotes and those in the two preceding posts of this series come from Metropolitan John's article, “<a href="http://files.schwebster.ma.goarch.org/monthlybulletin/July2012.pdf" target="_blank">Giving a Witness of Faith to the World</a>”, which was based on the Missions Lecture he delivered last year at <a href="http://www.hchc.edu/holycross.html" target="_blank">Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology</a>.</em></div>
Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-44632566777561640992012-07-07T20:57:00.002-04:002012-07-07T20:59:09.167-04:00Wisdom from Metropolitan John, part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<u>Speaking the Truth</u><br />
We know how costly the phrase “Thus says the Lord” was in the Old Testament. People didn’t want to hear it. Kings and people liked false prophets because they said what they wanted to hear, and we are often the same. We often do not speak the truth because we are aware that people will not accept it. So we tell them what they want to hear. By doing so, we are lying to them, and so becoming false prophets. We must be aware that our duty is to be the prophets of the Most High, and this is surely a costly office. Speaking the truth is always is costly, and people do not do it for that reason. But this cost is nothing compared with the joy we receive from the Lord. Why? Because we have spoken the truth, and speaking the truth is very important. In these days of lies and half truths, people desperately need the truth, and if we do not speak it, who will? My beloved sisters and brothers, try always to speak the truth. The truth always heals, and it will heal us and others.<br />
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<u>Freedom and Boundaries</u><br />
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We have to teach people about the crucial things of life: life, death, freedom and so on. Now we have freedom to worship in Albania and people are free, at least outwardly. But freedom, like anything else, can be abused. People were not used to freedom and we had to teach them that the freedom should have some boundaries – not to limit their freedom, but to help them to be free. I tried to give them some examples. In Albania, the roads are mostly in the mountains and some of those that run alongside precipices have railings or walls for protection. These are not to limit the freedom of the drivers, but to protect them. So too, the boundaries set by God’s commandments are not to limit our freedom, but to help us, to save us and to make us free. All the commandments – “Don’t do that, don’t do this” – are to help us.<br />
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<u>The Light of the World</u><br />
The world today is in a deep confusion and in spiritual darkness. “You are the light of the world”, says the Lord. Without the light of God it is very hard to build other people – and this not only for Albania but for the entire world! Sometimes in Albania, it was more obvious because the destruction was physically apparent, but many times the destruction is spiritual and we do not see it, because we do not have spiritual eyes. And it is our duty, if we really believe that we have the light of Christ, to share this light with others. The world needs this divine light. Without this light the world becomes a scary place. “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world”, says the Lord. Commenting on these words the holy Bishop of Ochrid <a href="http://www.comeandseeicons.com/n/phn74.htm" target="_blank">Nikolai Velimirovic</a> writes: “<span style="color: #660000;">As long as he is in a man’s soul, he is the light of that man. As long as he is in the midst of a people, he is the light of that people. As long as he is in a school, he is the light of that school. As long as he is in a workshop, he is the light of the work and the workers. Anywhere, from which he withdraws his presence, a total darkness prevails: the human soul without him becomes a hell; a people without him becomes a pack of famished and ravening wolves; a school without him becomes a poison-factory of folly; a workshop without him becomes a place of grumbling and hatred. And think of hospitals and prisons without him – they become dark caverns of despair! Indeed, whoever thinks on the days of his life, of days without Christ and days without him, this man has in himself a witness to the truth of those words of the Lord’s: ‘As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’</span>” Now, more than ever the world needs the light of Christ. The greater the darkness, the greater is our need for light.</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-10925691290529640902012-07-02T01:10:00.000-04:002012-07-02T01:10:21.592-04:00Wisdom from Metropolitan John, part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<em>After <a href="http://www.ocmc.org/resources/view_article.aspx?ArticleId=334" target="_blank">Fr. Luke</a> returned from his most recent visit to Albania, his next several daily meditations opened with short quotations from Metropolitan John of Korça. The first three of these quotations are reprinted below. More will follow.</em><br />
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<u>Preaching with Words and Life</u><br />
People are not impressed by words, because we can say anything but mean nothing. We transmit the Good News through our personal life. People are touched by this. I remember reading about a holy bishop from this region from 200 years ago. There was a Muslim agha, a Turkish lord, who was friends with this bishop, and one day the Muslim decided to become a Christian. The bishop asked him, “Why? I never preached to you about Christ.” To which the agha responded, “Yes, you didn’t preach to me with words, but you preached each day with your life, and from your life I have understood you have the Truth.”<br />
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<u>Sanctification through Sacrifice</u><br />
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We have to serve to people with courage regardless of sacrifices. Sacrifices for the sake of Christ will not harm us, but they are the only way to reach him. Sacrifice is not an end, it’s a means. Like the cross, it’s not an end in itself, it’s a means. The end is the resurrection. As <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Anastasios_(Yannoulatos)_of_Albania" target="_blank">Archbishop Anastasios</a> says, “The Resurrection is not an event that happened after the cross, it’s in the cross.” And the sacrifice is the means of sanctification. The meaning of the two words is the same. Sacrifice: <i>sacra</i> (holy) and <i>fic</i>, a form of <i>facere</i> (make). The same meaning is in the word sanctify, <i>sanctificare</i>: <i>sancta</i> (holy) and <i>ficare</i>, another form of <i>facere</i> (make). So in order to sanctify something, we should sacrifice. Sanctification does not happen <i>after</i> but <i>in</i> the sacrifice.<br />
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<u>Sharing the Light of Christ</u><br />
We have to share our faith and the light of Christ with those in darkness. If we really believe in it, we will share it. Unfortunately, the reason why we don’t try is maybe because we don’t believe, because our words are only on our lips and not rooted in our hearts. Someone who has tasted the divine light of God, and has experienced the joy that comes from this light, will find it difficult not to share it with others. I can say that if we share the light of God with the others, it is a sign that the light is in us; if we don’t share it, it is not. </div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-2662408502444865842012-06-22T19:15:00.000-04:002012-06-22T19:22:45.878-04:00Sailabrating the War of 1812 in Baltimore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This past weekend Maryland kicked off its observance of the bicentennial of the War of 1812 with the <a href="http://www.starspangled200.com/" target="_blank">Star-Spangled Sailabration</a>, which featured a gathering of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_ship" target="_blank">tall ships</a> and naval vessels from several countries. I was busy on Saturday and Sunday, so I didn't get to see the <a href="http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/" target="_blank">Blue Angels</a> performances. By Monday, when I made it to Baltimore's Inner Harbor where the event was taking place, some of the ships, including the USCG Cutter <em>Eagle</em>, had already left. But four of the international visitors were still present, and I went aboard three of them.<br />
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When I arrived at 11<span style="font-size: x-small;"> AM</span>, the lines for the two largest ships looked long, so I started with the somewhat smaller Indonesian vessel, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KRI_Dewaruci" target="_blank">KRI <em>Dewaruci</em></a>.<br />
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The <em>Dewaruci</em> is named after a mythological figure, who appears as the ship's figurehead, and whose story is presented in terribly broken English (as with all the photos, you can click on it to see it in a larger size).<br />
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The masts were decorated with what looked like traditional art, including a trio of scary-looking masks. (And, yes, they were flying the skull and crossbones among their flags!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim22dxwDvYqwuE8B4aWAiEplGIkc8uWODwF49NVolST0kU8V_a2CPfRQBjU_kd0uug9oKQ4YINusj6sZ4Al_m09NPsV3H-xYCLZMU3YXsb40VS4k1J3VkJZidBekFp-Zr24af8hB-E_EAJ/s1600/09_Dewaruci8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim22dxwDvYqwuE8B4aWAiEplGIkc8uWODwF49NVolST0kU8V_a2CPfRQBjU_kd0uug9oKQ4YINusj6sZ4Al_m09NPsV3H-xYCLZMU3YXsb40VS4k1J3VkJZidBekFp-Zr24af8hB-E_EAJ/s320/09_Dewaruci8.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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The ship's compass up close.<br />
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The ship's mainmast and foremast against the cloudy sky. The sky was gray all day, with light rain about half the time.<br />
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While I was aboard the <em>Dewaruci</em>, the 19th-century sloop of war, <a href="http://www.historicships.org/constellation.html" target="_blank">USS <em>Constellation</em></a>, which is permanently docked in Baltimore, fired one of its guns at noon. Then, a few minutes later, another local tallship, the <em><a href="http://www.pride2.org/history/index.php" target="_blank">Pride of Baltimore II</a></em>, answered with its own gun. Here you can still see a bit of the smoke from the latter, the black and gold ship in the foreground.<br />
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My next stop was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guayas_(ship)" target="_blank">BAE <em>Guayas</em></a>, from Ecuador, my favorite of the three vessels.<br />
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The ship's figurehead was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andean_Condor" target="_blank">condor</a>, which also appears atop Ecuador's <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Coat_of_arms_of_Ecuador.svg/500px-Coat_of_arms_of_Ecuador.svg.png" target="_blank">coat of arms</a>.<br />
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As with many such ships, each mast of the <em>Guayas</em> has a name. From front to rear, they are named Popeyes, Duke, and Corsarios.<br />
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A local pirate stands guard at the gangplank. His empty left hand cries out for a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutlass" target="_blank">cutlass</a> or a mug of <a href="http://www.contemplator.com/history/grog.html" target="_blank">grog</a>!<br />
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One of the vessels permanently on display at the Inner Harbor is the retired <a href="http://www.hnsa.org/ships/taney.htm" target="_blank">USCG Cutter <em>Taney</em></a>.<br />
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In its previous life as a naval vessel, the <em>Taney</em> survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. Its battle honors include shooting down a few enemy aircraft and several successful drug interdictions.<br />
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This <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw-pile_lighthouse" target="_blank">screw-pile lighthouse</a>, which formerly marked the entrance to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patapsco_River" target="_blank">Patapsco River</a> at Seven Foot Knoll, was moved to Baltimore 25 years ago and is now open to tourists.<br />
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Among the displays in the lighthouse is this model of the Baltimore clipper <em>Harvey</em>, which served as a privateer during the War of 1812 before settling into the more mundane life of a cargo carrier.<br />
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The <em>Harvey</em> was very similar to the <em>Pride of Baltimore II</em>, shown here docking by the <em>USS Constellation</em>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8hBHiSx1YbvvsiF66o_Lyb-UVakj_HBrZNQl7geu5Jt90-S_GRBnjnpjKmHmece3PINbiK9YXF3gtLMLMNpDvHzJCRmkG4cpn5AhX3bduiW_Gb2oWlsfsj88_Ug3BIzCxnBqizGVBfcu/s1600/46_Constellation&PrideII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX8hBHiSx1YbvvsiF66o_Lyb-UVakj_HBrZNQl7geu5Jt90-S_GRBnjnpjKmHmece3PINbiK9YXF3gtLMLMNpDvHzJCRmkG4cpn5AhX3bduiW_Gb2oWlsfsj88_Ug3BIzCxnBqizGVBfcu/s400/46_Constellation&PrideII.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A better view of the <em>Constellation</em>.<br />
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<br />
The Sailabration festivities also included several modern naval vessels.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN9BSyKgEEEBngMMBHN4_Z9zYNBdxVmkUbp1SeMyXA_tV553i7A94ktdkILcce3SbUhPKatbyipliQC_A69HItexFqdpmpSH9Jf4otPYz6_AIhuWkv3ytVXuqjL0yhCRbQFhAzw-kvMY6j/s1600/36_GrayHulls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN9BSyKgEEEBngMMBHN4_Z9zYNBdxVmkUbp1SeMyXA_tV553i7A94ktdkILcce3SbUhPKatbyipliQC_A69HItexFqdpmpSH9Jf4otPYz6_AIhuWkv3ytVXuqjL0yhCRbQFhAzw-kvMY6j/s400/36_GrayHulls.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The <a href="http://urbanpirates.com/web/" target="_blank">Urban Pirates</a>' vessel <em>Fearless</em> stalks the harbor.<br />
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My final stop was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_Cuauht%C3%A9moc_(BE01)" target="_blank">ARM <i>Cuauhtémoc</i></a>, from Mexico.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RnXizVM4jx9IKe2byMYr7MKJmIB3NnOivyUXMEdAHSlU879JmyUupHDntqTPe5VjSvDhpOa9KYlD99TCjrENK3Ni1sMioaQeqXEWImLOAh8gTUzqXOynxKGAZAel9Fcja6XrrNBu9ORv/s1600/40_Cuauhtemoc1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RnXizVM4jx9IKe2byMYr7MKJmIB3NnOivyUXMEdAHSlU879JmyUupHDntqTPe5VjSvDhpOa9KYlD99TCjrENK3Ni1sMioaQeqXEWImLOAh8gTUzqXOynxKGAZAel9Fcja6XrrNBu9ORv/s320/40_Cuauhtemoc1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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A Mexican officer in summer whites stands in front of the ship's boat answering visitors' questions.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86VH_htYzNI8P3OQlVbYjnKDlYNZ2IY9R1byOc_AvstERN8hanpRXPEOwFqlxQKcg_08A1hMJsBaSljlBUlo9d_cIYXUVaKBrDRE6gmjC5o7_eJLfGe-xzq635baCe2DXl45sXAD344PZ/s1600/45_Cuauhtemoc5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" rca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86VH_htYzNI8P3OQlVbYjnKDlYNZ2IY9R1byOc_AvstERN8hanpRXPEOwFqlxQKcg_08A1hMJsBaSljlBUlo9d_cIYXUVaKBrDRE6gmjC5o7_eJLfGe-xzq635baCe2DXl45sXAD344PZ/s320/45_Cuauhtemoc5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The War of 1812 actually continued into 1815, so the local commemoration of the war will continue until 2015.</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-58975201822119076092012-05-31T22:22:00.001-04:002012-05-31T22:22:14.369-04:00Two Heads<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On iGoogle, I have an "Art of the Day" widget that shows me a different work of art whenever I sign in to view my St. Vlad's e-mail. Today it showed me <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch">Hieronymus Bosch</a>'s small painting, <i>Two Male Heads</i>. Googling the title of the painting brought up numerous sites that wanted to show me or sell me the painting. I learned that it is an oil painting on a wood panel and that it is currently located at the <a href="http://www.boijmans.nl/en/">Museum Boymans van Beuningen</a> in Rotterdam. But not one word about the painting's content.<br />
<br />
To me, the head on the left looks like it is topped by something resembling a miter. And the one on the right reminds me of a Mongol khan. Could this be Bosch's attempt to depict the <a href="http://www.awesomestories.com/assets/attila-meets-leo-i-medieval-picture-chronicon-pictum-1">meeting</a> of Pope Leo I with Attila the Hun?<br />
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My guess probably tells you more about where my head is these days (the fifth century) than about where Bosch's was when he painted this little work.</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-83328396958501362052012-04-17T00:19:00.000-04:002012-04-28T14:58:49.843-04:00Great and Holy Friday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<em>Then shall I not be put to shame,<br />as I give heed unto all thy commandments.</em><br />
<strong>The Master of all creation is here seen lying dead,<br />and in a new tomb he is laid,<br />who hath emptied the tombs of their dead.</strong><br />
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<em>The way of thine ordinances make me to understand,<br />and I shall meditate on thy wondrous works.</em><br />
<strong>As a mortal man thou diest willingly, O Saviour,<br />but as God thou didst raise up the dead<br />from their tombs and from the abyss of their sins.</strong><br />
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(Psalm 118/119, verses 6 and 27, with the accompanying troparia from the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeP70fSe3Io" target="_blank">first stasis of the Lamentations</a>, from Orthros of Holy Saturday.)</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-46779395748375471002012-03-16T04:12:00.000-04:002012-03-16T04:12:02.863-04:00Lyrics for a World in Turmoil<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><em>In recent weeks, with Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan dominating the news, this song by <a href="http://www.warrenzevon.com/" target="_blank">Warren Zevon</a> has been running through my head a lot. The title song of his 1982 album, </em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Envoy" target="_blank">The Envoy</a><em>, it is his tribute to U.S. diplomat <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Habib" target="_blank">Philip Habib</a>, who served as President Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_Civil_War" target="_blank">Lebanese Civil War</a>. Reagan later sent Habib to the Philippines and Central America on missions of peace. You can here Zevon perform the song live <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXycGp3fAMs" target="_blank">here</a>.</em><br />
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<strong>The Envoy</strong><br />
<br />
Nuclear arms in the Middle East<br />
Israel's attacking the Iraqis<br />
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese<br />
And Baghdad does whatever she please<br />
Looks like another threat to world peace<br />
For the envoy<br />
<br />
Things got hot in El Salvador<br />
CIA got caught and couldn't do no more<br />
He's got diplomatic immunity<br />
He's got a lethal weapon that nobody sees<br />
Looks like another threat to world peace<br />
For the envoy<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QtSotTju5j7xm3VLIk_cfeppULwDVmn5nwkGfC3rIoV5MyMvjWkTTNqtubyY8r6q5L6CDLfyuckaIl72nypXfOXRX-F80sLRP-aX0r2Mr2Nu3BvMLwbDQ1b-zWfTrRHPV0-JzJutnF9r/s1600/WZ_TheEnvoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QtSotTju5j7xm3VLIk_cfeppULwDVmn5nwkGfC3rIoV5MyMvjWkTTNqtubyY8r6q5L6CDLfyuckaIl72nypXfOXRX-F80sLRP-aX0r2Mr2Nu3BvMLwbDQ1b-zWfTrRHPV0-JzJutnF9r/s200/WZ_TheEnvoy.jpg" width="170" /></a></div>Send the envoy<br />
Send the envoy<br />
<br />
Whenever there's a crisis<br />
The President sends his envoy in<br />
Guns in Damascus<br />
Oh, Jerusalem<br />
<br />
Nuclear arms in the Middle East<br />
Israel's attacking the Iraqis<br />
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese<br />
And Baghdad do whatever she please<br />
Looks like another threat to world peace<br />
For the envoy<br />
Send the envoy<br />
Send the envoy<br />
Send for me<br />
Send for me<br />
Send for me</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-9718706865536417922012-02-13T02:04:00.002-05:002012-02-13T02:15:20.568-05:00Christian Missions: Cultural Imperialism?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><em>Back in December, one of my frequent e-mail correspondents sent me a link to a post on the </em>Via Meadia<em> blog, “<a href="http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2011/12/20/the-missionaries-win-christianity-becomes-global-religious-superpower/" target="_blank"><em>The Missionaries Win: Christianity Becomes Global Religious Superpower</em></a>”, in which Walter Russell Mead comments on a </em><a href="http://www.pewforum.org/Christian/Global-Christianity-exec.aspx" target="_blank"><em>report</em></a><em> from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which looks at the growth of the world’s Christian population over the past century. I forwarded the link to a few friends with a special interest in Christian missions, including Brad, a missionary with </em><a href="http://www.wycliffe.org/" target="_blank"><em>Wycliffe Bible Translators</em></a><em>. A lively discussion was sparked by one reader, Micha, who posted a comment equating proselytism with cultural imperialism. I liked Brad’s response so much that I asked if I could re-post it here.</em><br />
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Micha: I’d like to make a couple of points in reply to your post:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFs9JTfG-wJaMq9QP1LWFu6p9WmRrzey66EXeWmy1BNOBjeeaRa9PERTnmWJ8eOepwFm-g5QW0R39-jD2BBq0Nq4pbnISq3wAJhwBrSWyKvd1iKz0hYAQCcMvyhJ4QOF7fdAF2LiglcOH/s1600/BiloloHouseB.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFs9JTfG-wJaMq9QP1LWFu6p9WmRrzey66EXeWmy1BNOBjeeaRa9PERTnmWJ8eOepwFm-g5QW0R39-jD2BBq0Nq4pbnISq3wAJhwBrSWyKvd1iKz0hYAQCcMvyhJ4QOF7fdAF2LiglcOH/s200/BiloloHouseB.bmp" width="200" /></a></div>1. You seem to hold the view, like a lot of people, that no one “religion” is better than another, but they are just a personal choice, influenced largely by culture. Under that view it is “rude” to try to get someone to change their religion. It’s like fans of one sports team trying to get fans of other teams to switch to their team. That can be okay if done politely, but it can also get bothersome, sometimes even rude or violent. But most people, even avid sports fans, would agree that it ultimately just doesn’t matter. <a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=stl" target="_blank">Cardinals</a> fans are not going to convert Cubs fans, Yankees fans are not going to convert Red Sox fans, and it doesn’t really matter. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is how you view religion.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The reason you are not understanding posters coming from a Christian perspective is that we see religion differently. We see it as a statement or set of beliefs about <em>reality</em>, not just an opinion. So to us, there really is one right answer. The statement <span style="color: #cc0000;">“Christians don’t believe that non-Christian religion has as much value to people as Christianity does.”</span> is offensive to you in the same way that the statement <span style="color: #cc0000;">“Being a Cubs fan does not have as much value as being a Cardinals fan”</span> would be to a Cubs fan. The bottom line is that there is no underlying reality, it is just a matter of opinion.<br />
<br />
But what if someone were to say “Cancer treatment X has more value than cancer treatment Y”? That would be a question of immense importance to cancer sufferers. This is the way Christians, Muslims, and other religious people see the question of religion. It is <em>crucial</em> to get it right. It’s okay to say “I’m right and you’re wrong.” We do it all the time about medicine (and lots of other subjects, of course). But if we do it about religion we are labeled “intolerant.”<br />
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2. At worst, your low opinion of missionary efforts has some basis in reality. You see it as “cultural imperialism.” Sadly, it has been that in some cases. But the vast majority of Christian mission organizations today (I can’t speak for Islam or others) are much more aware of cross-cultural issues than they were in the past. Specifically, they strive to separate the religious reality from its cultural baggage. This is known as the “contextualization of theology” and will make no sense to you if I have correctly described the way you view religion in pt 1 above (sports fan analogy). You will see religion as inseparable from culture. But for the Christian the two are separable. Of course, there is no simple formula for separating the theological “non-negotiables” from the cultural trappings. That’s why mission organizations today send not only evangelists (as well as doctors, teachers, etc), but also anthropologists, linguists, sociolinguists, ethnomusicologists, ethnographers, etc. We don’t always get it right, but we are trying to bring our message in a way that values the local culture. Our view is that all cultures, including our own, have aspects that are good and aspects that are bad. <em>All</em> cultures need to be examined in light of our religious beliefs. Again, this will make no sense if religion is just an opinion that doesn’t really matter. I think the global success of Christianity in the past 100 years, as noted by Mead’s article, is at least in part a result of this new wave of missionaries trying to get it right.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVCO8hCS8ylmotebxvdrpBWxfGgujPxkbVmgIsTJZFg0R503KDHEIsqbu5MbkEVkLEAHDanK6DA5DyxrnqAPpLz5hTG0ReRWjAX4Wny7tCWv5hQc5YkKFqaNSQudMrOXnmpav265nVXiR/s1600/Ritchie_SpiritRainForest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVCO8hCS8ylmotebxvdrpBWxfGgujPxkbVmgIsTJZFg0R503KDHEIsqbu5MbkEVkLEAHDanK6DA5DyxrnqAPpLz5hTG0ReRWjAX4Wny7tCWv5hQc5YkKFqaNSQudMrOXnmpav265nVXiR/s200/Ritchie_SpiritRainForest.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>3. On cultural imperialism, you need to read <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Rainforest-Yanomamo-Shamans-Story/dp/0964695235" target="_blank">Spirit of the Rainforest</a></em> by Ritchie. It is a mind-blowing account told by the Yanomamo people of Brazil/Venezuala. This is the group that anthropologist <a href="http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/faculty/Chagnon/Chagnon.php" target="_blank">Napoleon Chagnon</a> wrote about. The traditional Yanomamo culture is heavily steeped in revenge killing, rape, and slavery, encouraged by the spirit world of their religious system. The book documents the coming of secular anthropologists as well as missionaries. The missionaries came to teach love and forgiveness, and also brought modern medical techniques, literacy, etc. The anthropologists just came to study the people. One village wanted a “white person” to come because they had heard of the good things that missionaries brought. But to their eventual disappointment, they got a (non-religious) athropologist. They took a sick child to this anthropologist, and he told them to treat the child their traditional way. He took notes. The child got worse. He took notes. The child died. He took notes.<br />
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Eventually, when a number of Yanomamo had become Christians, they founded a village. This village refused to participate in revenge killings. Other villages fought against them in one of their traditional ways – two by two with clubs. The Christian village was able to defend itself in this, well not “non-violent,” but at least “non-deadly” way. Eventually, due to good medical care and the absence of revenge killing, this villge grew strong enough that no other villages dared attack it. It became a place of refuge, healing and forgiveness for those seeking safety. Yet, the secular anthropologists were enraged by the “cultural imperialism” of Christians. They wanted people to hang on to their killings, rape, wife-beating and inadequate medical care so they could be studied. This is the point at which anthropology becomes imperialistic, wanting to keep people in a sort of “cultural zoo” so they can be studied.<br />
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Note that the cancer treatment analogy I made above is actually not totally metaphorical. It is a metaphor for how we see religion, but it also has literal examples in how some people have been denied life-saving treatment in the name of “cultural sensitivity.” What if a culture had a cure for cancer, but didn’t give it to us because the way we treat cancer was so fascinating that they wanted to study it? Would we thank them for their cultural sensitivity?<br />
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The other fascinating thing about this book is how the Yanomamo spiritual beliefs dovetailed with the teachings of Christianity. They discovered that the spirits they were following were evil and leading them into more and more suffering. Nothing conflicted with their traditional belief system, but they switched their allegiance to a different set of spirits, and ultimately the “greatest spirit” whom they formerly called the “enemy spirit.” I obviously can’t do the book justice here. You’ll just have to read it.<br />
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4. You may be wanting to say “Lots of conflicts would be avoided if only nobody held religion as a statement about reality.” That is undoubtedly true, but does not bear on the question. Religion is either a statement about reality or it isn’t. Either/Or. If something is true, we should not disbelieve it just because we don’t like the consequences of believing it. All religious people need to interact in love and respect with adherents of other religions.<br />
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I hope some of this resonates with you. I probably haven’t changed your mind, but I hope you can understand a bit better why we feel religion is worth spreading. Sorry for such a long post. Thanks for reading, and have a happy new year.</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-43338891504891025212012-01-16T02:21:00.000-05:002012-01-16T02:21:51.750-05:00Welcome to Linthicum<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Welcome to a new year: 2012. Here in Maryland this year we are commemorating the War of 1812, which took place 200 years ago. I will return to this topic shortly.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdKtfdtE62FRSt_USqY9_tX6N9AQ81p_xhar2eahBUtJDM32Vu37VnDPAO7pGJT0G3Rj22MU1DZiZYoQOX90x6UYhRKX-ag0jrxOseBJpshvVbpbpwQ4QbhPviiYx_jAf__mUSYkdYvBm/s1600/100_0607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdKtfdtE62FRSt_USqY9_tX6N9AQ81p_xhar2eahBUtJDM32Vu37VnDPAO7pGJT0G3Rj22MU1DZiZYoQOX90x6UYhRKX-ag0jrxOseBJpshvVbpbpwQ4QbhPviiYx_jAf__mUSYkdYvBm/s320/100_0607.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
After I returned to Maryland at the end of July, it took six trips to the <a href="http://www.mva.maryland.gov/">MVA</a> to get my car registration and driver's license transferred to Maryland. And, for various reasons, it took me until well into October to get settled in my new apartment in the town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linthicum,_Maryland">Linthicum</a> (which some, including the U.S. Postal Service, insist on calling <em>Linthicum Heights</em>), just outside the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_695_(Maryland)">Baltimore Beltway</a> near Baltimore-Washington International Airport.<br />
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Apart from being just two blocks from church, the thing I like most about my new neighborhood is its walkability. I often walk to the library and the post office, and I sometimes go for walks on weekends when the weather is nice. I took my camera on a couple of my early walks, back when there were still fall leaves on the trees. My tour begins at the park featuring the new <a href="http://www.lsia.net/VMD.html">Veterans Memorial</a> (above). The sign below gives a brief history of the town and the importance of the railroad to its development.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5XX0_JChpoDdrs_vnO2nDjic7vbfX1CBNJWoyBT6ujNeNnMroXqdMTB1xaNvWdPKKc3RpnOJbEJ2ODzQ7kEshXu6tH64SjIyfZemz30QujsND3XM51zBgXcXdUjfbUPqvjvWI4nmX7TK/s1600/100_0638b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5XX0_JChpoDdrs_vnO2nDjic7vbfX1CBNJWoyBT6ujNeNnMroXqdMTB1xaNvWdPKKc3RpnOJbEJ2ODzQ7kEshXu6tH64SjIyfZemz30QujsND3XM51zBgXcXdUjfbUPqvjvWI4nmX7TK/s400/100_0638b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Just across the tracks from the sign is the old Linthicum railroad station.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQOwSVhz-nShbvnyUsxfCtTmiwD_N29P22rHNFkAzRiKtz9yJJtUeDK7ocJZLo79eNgEsFCQUQSW8qa3U0ei4UzbPpSRfpW2rTmK5BVNICF3Bz24itRb5D2o-0eQbwuZ5W2XGGwKhUcI_F/s1600/100_0608b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQOwSVhz-nShbvnyUsxfCtTmiwD_N29P22rHNFkAzRiKtz9yJJtUeDK7ocJZLo79eNgEsFCQUQSW8qa3U0ei4UzbPpSRfpW2rTmK5BVNICF3Bz24itRb5D2o-0eQbwuZ5W2XGGwKhUcI_F/s400/100_0608b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
Across the street from the station is the entrance to <a href="http://www.mdgazette.com/content/linthicum-park-dedicated-j-charles-linthicum-longtime-local-congressman">J. Charles Linthicum Memorial Park</a>. The park is a trail that runs along the west side of railroad, which is now used for light rail. Not far into the park is a memorial to Mr. Linthicum.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjibmTQ_SZL2W1NbawAfLpzCr-OZs36tiH3O7X6T6mvFu5pTXxAK6orA-o89kAPaq9NU5hJ8YQSAPgbfma4mdHeLNrMbfqKJjszyzrMvORx-IQ9hZi_dVmGsZJKwvktFiHKxWMVilFbelfN/s1600/100_0611b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjibmTQ_SZL2W1NbawAfLpzCr-OZs36tiH3O7X6T6mvFu5pTXxAK6orA-o89kAPaq9NU5hJ8YQSAPgbfma4mdHeLNrMbfqKJjszyzrMvORx-IQ9hZi_dVmGsZJKwvktFiHKxWMVilFbelfN/s400/100_0611b.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunN0iF9jCbNyN7AHDLd8P2AzYj16WaZz8lQkaf6PnVqgu8U6R2eNsKxZUbbY4E4W64-qAIK5dMo05noe5Y72YnJ8ywma9-_aBHZwX_ZbMjha_ni91LVzcFvYe7mqKSZsoJPkwa0QJm7lx/s1600/JCharlesLinthicum2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunN0iF9jCbNyN7AHDLd8P2AzYj16WaZz8lQkaf6PnVqgu8U6R2eNsKxZUbbY4E4W64-qAIK5dMo05noe5Y72YnJ8ywma9-_aBHZwX_ZbMjha_ni91LVzcFvYe7mqKSZsoJPkwa0QJm7lx/s200/JCharlesLinthicum2.jpg" width="199" /></a></div>It is interesting that the accomplishment chosen for emphasis was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Charles_Linthicum">Rep. Linthicum</a>'s authorship of the bill to recognize "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem (which he first submitted in 1918), rather than his leadership of the effort to repeal prohibition or his reform of the foreign service. Because it was written just off the shore of Maryland during the British bombardment of nearby <a href="http://www.scienceviews.com/parks/fortmchenry.html">Fort McHenry</a> during the War of 1812, Marylanders take a proprietary interest in our national anthem. (That explains the state's current license plate design, which you saw at the beginning of this post.) The top of the memorial is a relief plaque of the sheet music of the first verse of "The Star-Spangled Banner".<br />
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Continuing along the trail, I watch a two-car train zip past.<br />
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In the middle of the park is the Linthicum Light Rail Station.<br />
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I walk through the station, cross the tracks, and proceed towards downtown Linthicum. Here is the fire station, with the water tower looming behind it.<br />
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Across the street is the main shopping center. Not listed on the sign: the U.S. Post Office.<br />
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The hardware store and the water tower.<br />
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Returning to the light rail station.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbY2gvz9ynn3uSM_N9Sp9F4key5tamoAWViWyYjpGWWRYingDlxGIp4F-y2VV6IbGt8nnaB_jEanXL-L5uOeXNLOxtnWiRT-N_lsyfThQhnfGR7NvWDhOwV8qkpYodLKDomT6TE-kPOcPq/s1600/100_0621b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbY2gvz9ynn3uSM_N9Sp9F4key5tamoAWViWyYjpGWWRYingDlxGIp4F-y2VV6IbGt8nnaB_jEanXL-L5uOeXNLOxtnWiRT-N_lsyfThQhnfGR7NvWDhOwV8qkpYodLKDomT6TE-kPOcPq/s400/100_0621b.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZG_xzmadys4JI0vUTcIfv0cqzdFNTO3BMcvLsl6t1ClbpasaEk-h-zo5j7dEXDDh4bmCTueehd4j44Bp3JAulrdNvukiXhYu2rtS5Ga25io02gMvZqbS68ITAixSoChIvURcp-cVqdBa/s1600/100_0623b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZG_xzmadys4JI0vUTcIfv0cqzdFNTO3BMcvLsl6t1ClbpasaEk-h-zo5j7dEXDDh4bmCTueehd4j44Bp3JAulrdNvukiXhYu2rtS5Ga25io02gMvZqbS68ITAixSoChIvURcp-cVqdBa/s400/100_0623b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Proceeding to the other side of the station and continuing for three blocks, I reach the Linthicum Branch of the <a href="http://www.aacpl.net/">Anne Arundel County Public Library</a>. I have been borrowing a lot of recorded books to listen to while cooking and driving.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddjBXHgFOI9QCJkIupd3c3pBQdv9Z0viF_2gJVaXBspSO50XulkBbOUECJYWmNJUuRnI-3_zCQIU2oTiG5PrUSiH6BCyS7W6Bx4_f4W0b48Tx43vgK2k4dJHE1Hze5T6xjnKwdw4uVAAh/s1600/100_0625b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddjBXHgFOI9QCJkIupd3c3pBQdv9Z0viF_2gJVaXBspSO50XulkBbOUECJYWmNJUuRnI-3_zCQIU2oTiG5PrUSiH6BCyS7W6Bx4_f4W0b48Tx43vgK2k4dJHE1Hze5T6xjnKwdw4uVAAh/s400/100_0625b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
By the time I get back to the Veteran's Memorial, across the street from church, it is starting to get dark.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx_pSjyvos9l1AhnaAR_PkxQPiCX6dFbZrjPyndn-fm6jojA44N5T6X0tmUvIdb-ABXsMADB8VwCej6d86fydqxr9ClIYsFpThJ4He3cw4vi69PaIUaAQ9fVCYAg7mLFsTaoYwYHsTzgr-/s1600/100_0634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx_pSjyvos9l1AhnaAR_PkxQPiCX6dFbZrjPyndn-fm6jojA44N5T6X0tmUvIdb-ABXsMADB8VwCej6d86fydqxr9ClIYsFpThJ4He3cw4vi69PaIUaAQ9fVCYAg7mLFsTaoYwYHsTzgr-/s400/100_0634.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-63872450908161755942011-12-30T19:57:00.000-05:002011-12-30T19:57:23.037-05:00On the Futility of Councils<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFPj6Laq-gIhG-4ITx1MFiJA60VRqTV_Ko8G5JIQddr2eCPmV60p6CCnoBo3jpXxWRX1YZuBpD61-xhjN4KT_rbTHePAdqGp89DLCJR0ZnBaxtzan7_ZbXuaL-wVJiwVZMse1_TaZyQug/s1600/GregoryNazianzus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFPj6Laq-gIhG-4ITx1MFiJA60VRqTV_Ko8G5JIQddr2eCPmV60p6CCnoBo3jpXxWRX1YZuBpD61-xhjN4KT_rbTHePAdqGp89DLCJR0ZnBaxtzan7_ZbXuaL-wVJiwVZMse1_TaZyQug/s200/GregoryNazianzus.jpg" width="142" /></a></div>For my part, if I am to write the truth, my inclination is to avoid all assemblies of bishops, because I have never seen any council come to a good end, nor turn out to be a solution of evils. On the contrary, it usually increases them. You always find there love of contention and love of power (I hope you will not think me a bore, for writing like this), which beggar description; and, while sitting in judgement on others, a man might well be convicted of ill-doing himself long before he should put down the ill-doings of his opponents. So I retired into myself; and came to the conclusion that the only security for one's soul lies in keeping quiet. . . .<br />
<br />
<a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Gregory_the_Theologian">Gregory the Theologian</a> (<em>Epistle</em> 130) to Procopius, excusing his absence from a council called by Theodosius I to meet in Constantinople in 382<br />
Translated by B. J. Kidd, edited by J. Stevenson</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-70709296400727578752011-12-09T23:31:00.069-05:002011-12-10T02:14:23.065-05:00Lyrics for Advent<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We are now in the midst of a cluster of feasts honoring Christ's mother. Today we commemorated Mary's <a href="http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=103506">conception</a> in the Byzantine churches. Most Catholics observed the same feast yesterday, and they will celebrate the Feast of <a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/our-lady-of-guadalupe/">Our Lady of Guadalupe</a> on Monday. This Sunday in the Byzantine Rite we commemorate the ancestors of Christ.<br />
<br />
Earlier this week I heard the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lovemongers-Christmas-Heart/dp/B0002VEQXE">Lovemongers</a>' cover of this song by <a href="http://www.pattygriffin.com/">Patty Griffin</a>. You can hear a live recording of it by Patty with Natalie Maines <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOxpvKuEruk">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Mary</span></strong><br />
<br />
Mary you're covered in roses, you're covered in ashes<br />
You're covered in rain<br />
You're covered in babies, you're covered in slashes<br />
You're covered in wilderness, you're covered in stains<br />
You cast aside the sheet, you cast aside the shroud<br />
Of another man, who served the world proud<br />
You greet another son, you lose another one<br />
On some sunny day and always stay, Mary<br />
<br />
Jesus says Mother I couldn't stay another day longer<br />
Flys right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face<br />
While the angels are singin' his praises in a blaze of glory<br />
Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place<br />
<br />
Mary she moves behind me <br />
She leaves her fingerprints everywhere<br />
Everytime the snow drifts, everytime the sand shifts<br />
Even when the night lifts, she's always there<br />
<br />
Jesus said Mother I couldn't stay another day longer<br />
Flys right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face<br />
While the angels are singin' his praises in a blaze of glory<br />
Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place<br />
<br />
Mary you're covered in roses, you're covered in ruin<br />
You're covered in secrets<br />
You're covered in treetops, you're covered in birds<br />
Who can sing a million songs without any words<br />
You cast aside the sheets, you cast aside the shroud<br />
Of another man, who served the world proud<br />
You greet another son, you lose another one<br />
On some sunny day and always stay<br />
Mary, Mary, Mary<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.pattygriffin.com/">Patty Griffin</a><br />
One Big Love Music/Chrome Dog Music (ASCAP)<br />
From the 1998 album <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaming_Red">Flaming Red</a></em></div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-19272731289632730442011-09-15T13:35:00.001-04:002011-09-15T13:37:26.073-04:00Obama's Jobs Bill: More of the Same<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">As an economist, I found President Obama's job-creation proposals predictably disappointing. Both the proposed tax cuts and the proposed new programs can be classified as fiscal <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulus_(economic)"><em>stimulus</em></a>. According to Keynesian orthodoxy, such stimulus can hasten the end of a recession by increasing demand, which induces increased production, which in turn necessitates increased employment. But fiscal stimulus, like all Keynesian policy, is oriented only to the short run. (In defense of his short-run orientation, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes">Keynes</a> famously said, "In the long run we're all dead.") Both the Bush stimulus of 2008 and the Obama stimulus of 2009 were arguably reasonable Keynesian attempts to hasten the end of what looked like a severe but otherwise normal recession.<br />
<br />
But if this were a normal recession susceptible to cure by stimulus spending, by now those efforts would already have gotten us back to normal (say 5% unemployment and 3% real annual growth). The fact that the economy has not returned to a normal growth path shows that this is not just a normal, cyclical recession. Rather, it is a symptom of more serious structural problems in our economy. President Obama's policies have not just failed to address these long-term problems, but they are actually making them worse. Until we address those problems, stimulus spending will not get the economy moving again. The impact of stimulus spending under current circumstances will be like that of the <a href="http://www.cars.gov/">Cash for Clunkers</a> program – a quick boost whose impact will evaporate without a trace as soon as the program ends.<br />
<br />
In appealing for support from Republicans, President Obama reminded them that they had supported President Bush's stimulus in 2008, implying that because they had done so once they were obligated for the sake of consistency to do so again. But he passed over in silence their near-unanimous opposition to his own politically larded 2009 stimulus plan. Given the failure of both stimulus programs, it would be perfectly reasonable for Congress to choose not to throw good money after bad with another stimulus program. At the very least, Congress should demand that the President explain why his previous stimulus did not end the recession and why he thinks it will be different this time.<br />
<br />
On Monday the President dropped the other shoe: he gave us the details on how he wants to pay for his jobs program. Again, it sounded disappointingly familiar – the same tax increases that he has proposed repeatedly before, and that Congress has rejected. This combination of taxes and class warfare might appeal to the Democratic base that Obama has been in danger of losing, but it will be a non-starter in the House. The negative impact on jobs of the proposed tax increases might actually outweigh any beneficial impact from the payroll tax cuts, making the President's jobs proposal a net destroyer of jobs.<br />
<br />
There are many things our government could do to create jobs without spending a single additional dollar of federal money. Here are a few: 1) rein in the out-of-control <a href="https://www.nlrb.gov/">NLRB</a>, which is actively obstructing the creation of non-union jobs; 2) enact the free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama that President Obama is holding up in an effort to extort concessions from Congress; and 3) repeal Obamacare. The fact that the Democrats will not countenance these sure-fire job creators shows that they care more about their special-interest constituencies than about jobs for unemployed workers. This rule is proven by the one recent exception: President Obama delayed implementation of some onerous EPA regulations, which might very well help businesses create jobs – and other Democrats threw a fit.<br />
<br />
The House could move ahead with another reform without waiting for the President – a reform that would help businesses to create jobs and might even draw support from some Democrats: reform the corporate income tax. The universal recipe for tax reform is to broaden the tax base and reduce tax rates. Broadening the tax base means making more dollars subject to taxation – most often by closing loopholes. This would make the tax fall more evenly on all corporations instead of exempting those with good lobbyists who can persuade Congress to enact custom-made loopholes for them. This, in combination with lower tax rates, would reduce the distortionary effect of the tax and help to channel money to more productive uses, which would inevitably result in more jobs. If Congress could succeed in reforming the corporate income tax, perhaps it would be emboldened to take on the personal income tax next.</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-32482000982266491942011-07-25T12:57:00.000-04:002011-07-25T12:57:03.551-04:00The Afterlife of Theological Formulae<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Proposition: Once a theological formula is published, its interpretation cannot be limited to its original purpose and context.</b><br />
<br />
<div closure_uid_4s3jws="197"><b>Exhibit 1.</b> The Nicene Creed was formulated to rule out <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianism">Arianism</a>. This is made explicit in the final section, which anathematizes those who employ Arian formulae and terminology:</div><blockquote>Those who say, ‘There was when he was not’, and ‘Before being begotten he was not’, and that he came into being from things that are not, or assert that the Son of God is from another hypostasis or substance or is changeable or alterable, these the catholic and apostolic church anathematizes.</blockquote><div closure_uid_4s3jws="155">But once that heresy had been extinguished (<span style="font-size: x-small;">at least in the eastern Mediterranean – it hung on among some German tribes for another three centuries</span>), the anti-Arian creed was not set aside. Rather, it became a touchstone of Orthodoxy. Its most prominent exponent, Athanasius, was elevated to sainthood as his generation’s paragon of orthodoxy, while Arius became forever the archetypal heretic. Adherence to “the faith of Nicaea” came to distinguish orthodox Christians not only from Arius, but also from later heretics, like Eunomius, Apollinarius, and Nestorius.</div><br />
<div closure_uid_4s3jws="232">Since the Arian controversy had begun as an intra-Alexandrian affair before it spread abroad, certain assumptions shared by Arius and his local Alexandrian opponents were embedded in the arguments of both sides, as well as in the Nicene resolution. Athanasius’s successors Cyril and (especially) <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Dioscorus_of_Alexandria">Dioscorus</a> tried to interpret Nicaea not just as a negative statement ruling out Arianism, but as a positive statement enshrining the local peculiarities of Alexandrian Christology for the entire Church. (<span style="font-size: x-small;">This might explain why Cyril was a stickler for the exact creedal formula approved by Nicaea, in opposition to the many other “Nicene” creeds in use in the early fifth century, which assimilated key Nicene phrases to existing local baptismal creeds.</span>)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DFBAzGgb1jvyPekNkaZo9svNldCY7stBQ-UF5ZfkStQOdHShxiqU2bfsNkE4Ma9FEIyVMy9vBnO5qXhGdwg8xRzOuaUtGr4Nnb7vBtQGFPJGDNs8eTvQchVGQzvh6SgLwJjHGd8nB-QE/s1600/CyrilAlexandria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DFBAzGgb1jvyPekNkaZo9svNldCY7stBQ-UF5ZfkStQOdHShxiqU2bfsNkE4Ma9FEIyVMy9vBnO5qXhGdwg8xRzOuaUtGr4Nnb7vBtQGFPJGDNs8eTvQchVGQzvh6SgLwJjHGd8nB-QE/s200/CyrilAlexandria.jpg" width="124" /></a></div><div closure_uid_4s3jws="264"><b>Exhibit 2.</b> In his Letter to Acacius of Beroea (<i>Ep.</i> 33), Cyril of Alexandria defended his <a href="http://www.earlychurchtexts.com/public/cyrilofalex_twelve_anathemas.htm">Twelve Anathemas</a> by insisting that they were to be read only in opposition to <a href="http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/people/nestorius.htm">Nestorius</a>:</div><blockquote><div closure_uid_4s3jws="165"><div closure_uid_4s3jws="196"><div closure_uid_4s3jws="518">But the force of the statements was written only against the teachings of Nestorius. For they throw out what he said and wrote in error. Those who anathematize and deny his evil teaching will cease to object to the documents which have been written by us. For they see that the meaning of the statements only goes against his blasphemies. (<span closure_uid_4s3jws="295" style="font-size: x-small;">John I. McEnerney, trans., <i>St. Cyril of Alexandria: Letters 1-50</i>, The Fathers of the Church 76 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1985), 133.</span>)</div></div></div></blockquote><div closure_uid_4s3jws="163"><div closure_uid_4s3jws="296">But neither his theological allies nor his opponents read Cyril’s Anathemas in such a circumscribed, negative way. They read the Anathemas as a more general Christological statement with positive implications, seeing them either as an essential supplement to the Creed of 325 or as a revival of the heresy of <a href="http://www.basictheology.com/articles/PersonofChrist_Early/5/">Apollinarius</a> (on whose writings Cyril had unwittingly drawn in formulating them). After the Reunion of 433, though Cyril never explicitly renounced the Anathemas, neither did he continue to emphasize them, and they faded into the background for the last decade of his life. But after his death, those who proclaimed themselves loyal to the memory of Cyril (<span style="font-size: x-small;">a very selective memory that ignored the historical Cyril’s commitment to the Reunion of 433</span>) denounced the terms of the Reunion and revived the Anathemas as a litmus test of orthodoxy. Eventually, long after the Nestorian heresy had been driven out of the Church, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Council_of_Constantinople">Second Council of Constantinople</a> (553) elevated Cyril’s Third Letter to Nestorius with the Twelve Anathemas to dogmatic status in an unsuccessful attempt to placate the enemies of Chalcedon.</div></div><br />
<div closure_uid_4s3jws="360"><b>Exhibit 3.</b> In an appendix to his <i>Tome to the Armenians</i>, <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Proclus_of_Constantinople">Proclus of Constantinople</a> condemned selected passages from the writings of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_of_Mopsuestia">Theodore of Mopsuestia</a>. When he demanded that the Syrian bishops formally endorse both the <i>Tome</i> and the appended condemnations, they objected that the passages from Theodore had been removed from their proper literary, historical, and theological context. In his polemics against the Arians, the Syrian bishops said, Theodore had been driven to a</div><blockquote><div closure_uid_4s3jws="195">certain great distinction (i.e., between the natures in Christ), not coming to it from a depraved understanding, but deciding to use that mode of expression more efficaciously against the heretics, and he was not ignoring nor denying the total unity, far from it, for all his books are full of this mode of expression, but he was dividing the properties of the natures more fully as the fight which he had against the heretics dictates that he should do. (<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nicholas Constas, <i>Proclus of Constantinople and the Cult of the Virgin in Late Antiquity: Homilies 1-5, Texts and Translations</i>, Supplements to <i>Vigiliae Christianae</i> 66 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 117.</span>)</div></blockquote><div closure_uid_4s3jws="417">But some Antiochene bishops, like <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Ibas_of_Edessa">Ibas of Edessa</a>, did not restrict their reading of Theodore’s polemical extracts to an anti-Arian context any more than his enemies did.</div><br />
<br />
<i closure_uid_4s3jws="473">This idea was a by-product of my thesis on the Formula of Reunion (433). It might find its way into my thesis in some form.</i></div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-88845940402970922832011-07-24T23:38:00.000-04:002011-07-24T23:38:16.745-04:00County 4-H Fair<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Last Sunday, while I was visiting my parents in Indiana, I attended the local <a href="http://whitleycounty4-h.com/">4-H fair</a>. There was an open house at the agricultural museum with demonstrations including soap making, rope making, and a 19th-century one-room school. I went back again the next day for the annual gathering of my mom's family at the fair. We had lunch in the ag museum and then talked until well into the afternoon. I took some photos, mostly of old tractors.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORGtzMvyzb9O5Oll8iBgc1mlv2I4mi8o-_dF0w2rJnP0_tdkrGQo5mh3zBTxKnwX-8NuVep-75ktOG7vSLj0KwQQO06BrS_S-tB8_EG7UL37VJdGOwIJ3X7nw-1VgqwtumHJFx0apF5Fs/s1600/100_0581b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORGtzMvyzb9O5Oll8iBgc1mlv2I4mi8o-_dF0w2rJnP0_tdkrGQo5mh3zBTxKnwX-8NuVep-75ktOG7vSLj0KwQQO06BrS_S-tB8_EG7UL37VJdGOwIJ3X7nw-1VgqwtumHJFx0apF5Fs/s400/100_0581b.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My uncle's 1920s John Deere tractors</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTtAMHUWlCWEMnV5uGD9KpmIdwNRBcy_GnY2TpGqfITBg0oBcF_wIXoFaVBXypxucAW53-4nkT6BoNmVlgFW5GTNjlBNjAVFyDjcGw-4bYvLHz6A0UP590ZM8xPAkkckxB_NjTpgRMLY2/s1600/100_0584.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTtAMHUWlCWEMnV5uGD9KpmIdwNRBcy_GnY2TpGqfITBg0oBcF_wIXoFaVBXypxucAW53-4nkT6BoNmVlgFW5GTNjlBNjAVFyDjcGw-4bYvLHz6A0UP590ZM8xPAkkckxB_NjTpgRMLY2/s400/100_0584.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" closure_uid_qfdec6="289" style="text-align: center;">My uncle's 1950s Ford tractors, modified with V-8 engines</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfQx3i4nWll9rmX8Enxhq3KwaXyooJY2n0CQRavS-6UFr44fbbii7eRY9bdNTuNocpiEZrERJS7Uu3dmj_DcYLv0xherelTrfhRfz4BOPWFBR6yDWHwWyHmFfJJ2J5_kHib3gl5HFwSDY/s1600/100_0582.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfQx3i4nWll9rmX8Enxhq3KwaXyooJY2n0CQRavS-6UFr44fbbii7eRY9bdNTuNocpiEZrERJS7Uu3dmj_DcYLv0xherelTrfhRfz4BOPWFBR6yDWHwWyHmFfJJ2J5_kHib3gl5HFwSDY/s400/100_0582.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" closure_uid_qfdec6="335" style="text-align: center;">Art deco tractor #1: 1952 Oliver</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh036D5uc70i_mJQVcxtMx1SO2_PazZQnrop70YyPXf9l8lNO3GVFJhzvhvVTt_aZJDIje0W4_dMLgcLg89UhbbCN-Ue_qftjNXXOHaqWrKFGiICYyTXZ0XZokELFhwPRWp80BEodqtFlEZ/s1600/100_0585b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh036D5uc70i_mJQVcxtMx1SO2_PazZQnrop70YyPXf9l8lNO3GVFJhzvhvVTt_aZJDIje0W4_dMLgcLg89UhbbCN-Ue_qftjNXXOHaqWrKFGiICYyTXZ0XZokELFhwPRWp80BEodqtFlEZ/s400/100_0585b.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" closure_uid_qfdec6="383" style="text-align: center;">Art deco tractor #2: 1956 Cockshutt</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCT_slwI3vOy_y1CG3f1-4a-H-A2JHFOZ8uds_0lgY2pmC7p26jCQ0bsauHI2stOD6FNbpYBfW3T7QP8gB3u2_ypx0TXZJrvTI2v0Fe9ZkcQjwasMcdgOH0FmVevvbLYDrSg0PaakG7DIx/s1600/100_0586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCT_slwI3vOy_y1CG3f1-4a-H-A2JHFOZ8uds_0lgY2pmC7p26jCQ0bsauHI2stOD6FNbpYBfW3T7QP8gB3u2_ypx0TXZJrvTI2v0Fe9ZkcQjwasMcdgOH0FmVevvbLYDrSg0PaakG7DIx/s400/100_0586.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1940s Allis-Chalmers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0KEdXAeH16U5J_ue-6IIyO3Ltvup2dikBV2LdyQRIIS6G0rtNLrzGLEZFXzrmogDdWe8EySvGd7cEGjbMaiR0hH42WqThvyQLtHNSKefDIwiEOaa-F3ZxbMR51xQZYvDtE5Gkt1zOmoru/s1600/100_0588.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0KEdXAeH16U5J_ue-6IIyO3Ltvup2dikBV2LdyQRIIS6G0rtNLrzGLEZFXzrmogDdWe8EySvGd7cEGjbMaiR0hH42WqThvyQLtHNSKefDIwiEOaa-F3ZxbMR51xQZYvDtE5Gkt1zOmoru/s400/100_0588.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1939 McCormick-Deering Farmall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDYldqyd-W3gyhac1nUYwMS4Ybv8zzh873yhra93cDaySs4E2Nq8uejJnHqiekIvyyh2ymgbLiWE23ZVdmoCxIuTMuHZskKoWpD41PREePeIHL1cWxiSHkoUsNERqjXMnjQueiR6vcZFz/s1600/100_0580b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDYldqyd-W3gyhac1nUYwMS4Ybv8zzh873yhra93cDaySs4E2Nq8uejJnHqiekIvyyh2ymgbLiWE23ZVdmoCxIuTMuHZskKoWpD41PREePeIHL1cWxiSHkoUsNERqjXMnjQueiR6vcZFz/s400/100_0580b.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tractor ride for the kids</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQlgHLCkctogl6DaZFYLK7TH01GhiMtEOUIpz4aBIo-OW9pPpFslIRYdBshKjcCPkQDm4S1VNzAiNwFp5vNkFEdnJz_F3yMReEbv17-s4vHOkGazH9hWJdJ2FHGAlmO6UN9Zf-IdvTzp3j/s1600/100_0592.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQlgHLCkctogl6DaZFYLK7TH01GhiMtEOUIpz4aBIo-OW9pPpFslIRYdBshKjcCPkQDm4S1VNzAiNwFp5vNkFEdnJz_F3yMReEbv17-s4vHOkGazH9hWJdJ2FHGAlmO6UN9Zf-IdvTzp3j/s400/100_0592.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" closure_uid_qfdec6="812" style="text-align: center;">1935 Silver King</td></tr>
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Other modes of transportation on display in the ag museum.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwScO-DzKKakL8OWdJd7URD8MMIzg1BggWoQB2Wy9L8zVnH_siJAb8WeeysjrFFsQBZ5X9M3Z5LiTR_PeXP_KBRJAXJ4ftkVEnUv5eSgwo6LUSXrgz72nDb0FQ1GZixqWg21CdfVEjBTqH/s1600/100_0590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwScO-DzKKakL8OWdJd7URD8MMIzg1BggWoQB2Wy9L8zVnH_siJAb8WeeysjrFFsQBZ5X9M3Z5LiTR_PeXP_KBRJAXJ4ftkVEnUv5eSgwo6LUSXrgz72nDb0FQ1GZixqWg21CdfVEjBTqH/s400/100_0590.jpg" t$="true" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small covered wagon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQplGu2WK6JuS-cYIfdWqz70pGkdkBZSS9Rn6FcHUJaVRzd9KRbXPNi2r68O4aXiBezkb_jOZZ1VC-bEitEfLsmLflb2NcmYXiYeUFMVoLurfGtzh9q3TGaZViWdqLny1KevhyzYJMIgG1/s1600/100_0594b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQplGu2WK6JuS-cYIfdWqz70pGkdkBZSS9Rn6FcHUJaVRzd9KRbXPNi2r68O4aXiBezkb_jOZZ1VC-bEitEfLsmLflb2NcmYXiYeUFMVoLurfGtzh9q3TGaZViWdqLny1KevhyzYJMIgG1/s400/100_0594b.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1901 Oldsmobile</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Forty years ago my cousins dominated the dairy barn at the fair. Today their kids dominate . . . the small animal barn.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtRJ17ZhNc1yxsz4lbhr3HILhPbRmX6GBojV4pOpbRAzHRZiKdR3Gzw5fxHwHB55empHi1xpZBRlqsQ22TP_IH9cAs2ZF0K3sOt451Y0ZzlqFeVs4JKgHsciYd_mP02xmVdI94EJO8lnf/s1600/100_0597b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtRJ17ZhNc1yxsz4lbhr3HILhPbRmX6GBojV4pOpbRAzHRZiKdR3Gzw5fxHwHB55empHi1xpZBRlqsQ22TP_IH9cAs2ZF0K3sOt451Y0ZzlqFeVs4JKgHsciYd_mP02xmVdI94EJO8lnf/s400/100_0597b.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cousins' chickens</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDFYZGdSqkn0fOvQGSa1zttyB-M2HoBWVFkLA9zLdwQ9xMPQFRa0J-1JZDlD0gB4YxvoSaB1E2hZBE6KrAfvygPnqOYoh2oixRgNkbXPIA1Mqba4Q4NIouJd8K229xhMxXf4eW2cyv0j8/s1600/100_0603b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDFYZGdSqkn0fOvQGSa1zttyB-M2HoBWVFkLA9zLdwQ9xMPQFRa0J-1JZDlD0gB4YxvoSaB1E2hZBE6KrAfvygPnqOYoh2oixRgNkbXPIA1Mqba4Q4NIouJd8K229xhMxXf4eW2cyv0j8/s400/100_0603b.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cousin's rabbits</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCVe-A-NRHapVW-Fa_P5Fz8HQyqcuOfwU0B4G6fo7TqldVUXHoEWQE-58fqE7fSIxoO70FC6iWk2r3Xcyu7JKmVSTURYFn35TcQV6S9oaycC4Ez88IcZrPdYbzBg0Lm0eP6iuLjd1CC56/s1600/100_0604b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCVe-A-NRHapVW-Fa_P5Fz8HQyqcuOfwU0B4G6fo7TqldVUXHoEWQE-58fqE7fSIxoO70FC6iWk2r3Xcyu7JKmVSTURYFn35TcQV6S9oaycC4Ez88IcZrPdYbzBg0Lm0eP6iuLjd1CC56/s400/100_0604b.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newly hatched chicks in the incubator</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div closure_uid_qfdec6="144"></div></div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-37258689087754696632011-07-23T23:42:00.010-04:002011-07-24T00:38:06.721-04:00Changes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhep5pUsTq3C60fOBWGMbH2L0Bk-rmSbSxXk6vKv2hSxZnNZ5dYX04M9nHtkyp3MWyaSGxYRobNglRtsZecJ4GMGbgXdosRepV_M05unvJLlsXVlFLRzRy_KiJadahAMSSfH1-Gz0CqP06r/s1600/Olifant3.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhep5pUsTq3C60fOBWGMbH2L0Bk-rmSbSxXk6vKv2hSxZnNZ5dYX04M9nHtkyp3MWyaSGxYRobNglRtsZecJ4GMGbgXdosRepV_M05unvJLlsXVlFLRzRy_KiJadahAMSSfH1-Gz0CqP06r/s1600/Olifant3.bmp" t$="true" /></a></div>From the beginning, I have blogged under my long-time on-line alias <em>Roland</em>. In fact, I originally planned to name my blog <em>Oliphant: The Horn of Roland</em>. I was pretty upset when I found the name <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olifant_(instrument)">Oliphant</a></em> was already taken. The resulting frustration launched me into a small crisis in which I questioned the purpose and content of my intended blog. I realized it would have a primarily religious/theological focus, and I came up with a more fitting title. But it did not then occur to me to switch to a different alias.<br />
<br />
I first used the name Roland my first summer in grad school. It was a hot summer, with frequent record-breaking, triple-digit temperatures, and I was living in a cheap room without air conditioning. So I spent my afternoons studying in the comfort of a lounge in the student union. Every once in a while, for a break, I would go the basement and play the video game <a href="http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10227">Tutankham</a>. When I got a high score and had to come up with a name, I spontaneously chose Roland, inspired by the <a href="http://www.warrenzevon.com/">Warren Zevon</a> song, “<a href="http://www.davemcnally.com/lyrics/warrenzevon/rolandtheheadlessthompsongunner.asp">Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner</a>”. Years later, I revived the name for my high scores in <a href="http://www.tetris.com/">Tetris</a> on a friend’s computer and subsequently began using it in various on-line contexts.<br />
<br />
About a decade ago, not long after 9/11, I read <em><a href="http://www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/roland.html">The Song of Roland</a></em>, the medieval French epic poem based loosely on the 778 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Roncevaux_Pass">Battle of Roncesvalles</a>, and I began to assimilate my on-line persona more to this older Roland by choosing appropriately medieval-looking avatars, or by using the name <em>Roland778</em> when Roland was already taken.<br />
<br />
At the same time, in other on-line contexts I was using the alias <em>Arimathean</em>. Long before my chrismation, when Joseph of Arimathea formally became my <a href="http://2natures.blogspot.com/2007/01/patron-saint.html">patron saint</a>, I had considered him my patron. Within a year of starting my blog, I realized this would have been a more appropriate alias (thus my avatar, which is a mosaic image of Joseph of Arimathea), but I had already begun to establish myself in the blogosphere as Roland. So I decided to wait for a more opportune time to make the switch.<br />
<br />
For the past two years while I have been studying theology, I haven’t had much time for blogging (or recreational reading or TV or movies . . .). In the few forums where I have been active, I have mostly been using <em>Arimathean</em>, so <em>Roland</em> is now less likely to be missed. So, as of today, my handle in the blogosphere is changing to <em>Arimathean</em> (though I will continue to go by <em>Roland</em> in some non-blogging contexts).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfjZE1kczmuDgvgbV1AlZ4U_4CEnoBjaOMxdWux8CzVVSkqcJ2ciHjQmSEqGcE7iHZqyX3Q-yZRcvyE2Aot-S1JRALs514XHR_lWQ0B8QCT5D0aZsCqzx4KY9aucJAIEwPVpVVKRK8xT4/s1600/Tarr_KingdomGrail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLfjZE1kczmuDgvgbV1AlZ4U_4CEnoBjaOMxdWux8CzVVSkqcJ2ciHjQmSEqGcE7iHZqyX3Q-yZRcvyE2Aot-S1JRALs514XHR_lWQ0B8QCT5D0aZsCqzx4KY9aucJAIEwPVpVVKRK8xT4/s200/Tarr_KingdomGrail.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Speaking of recreational reading . . . My first post-seminary novel brought together both of my on-line personae. The hero of Judith Tarr’s <em><a href="http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/tarrgrail.html">Kingdom of the Grail</a></em> is Roland, who is a descendant of Merlin and <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/me2/camelot/Merlin.html">Nimue</a>. Nimue, in turn, is the sister of Parsifal, the Grail King, whom one can infer to be descended from . . . Joseph of Arimathea (though he is not mentioned by name in the book). The novel’s execution was not as good as the concept – it too often followed the conventions of the romance genre rather than historical fantasy.<br />
<br />
I am also adopting another change. I recently read a <em>Slate</em> <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2293056/">article</a> about “logical punctuation”. Until now, for my whole literate life I have slavishly followed the convention of placing commas and periods inside quotation marks. Unlike nearly all other grammar and punctuation rules, this one never made sense to me, and I was always ready to disparage it whenever the opportunity arose, even while following it scrupulously and enforcing it as an editor. In the <em>Slate</em> article, I learned that this is not the universal English language rule my teachers would have me believe. Rather, it is a peculiarly American rule. The rest of the English-speaking world follows the more logical convention of placing commas and periods after the closing quotation mark (unless the punctuation is logically a part of the quote). On-line, it appears that most Americans are now punctuating like Brits. Wikipedia and other sites have adopted logical punctuation as their standard. And even the old guard has conceded that when quotes enclose a URL any following punctuation should be placed outside the closing quote so that no one tries to paste it into the address bar of his browser as if it were part of the address. For now the conflict continues, but it is already clear that the prescriptivist-traditionalist American copy editors are doomed. I’m happy to join the winning side.</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-39402892105629663282011-07-08T20:32:00.000-04:002017-08-27T18:26:21.367-04:00Albanian Iconography<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last year when I posted my photos from Albania, I promised a follow-up post focusing on iconography. Reading about the Albanian adventures of this year’s missiology class inspired me to resume work on that post.<br />
<br />
As with <a href="http://2natures.blogspot.com/2010/07/albanian-missionclass.html">my previous Albania post</a>, I drew heavily on the photos taken by other members of the expedition. The pictures will be organized roughly in the order of our itinerary in Albania. My narration will be minimal.<br />
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In addition to iconography in the narrow sense, I will feature other aspects of church art, particularly wood carving. And besides traditional ecclesiastical iconography, I will include some less traditional religious art. You can click on any picture to see it full-size.<br />
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Our first stop was Annunciation Cathedral, Tirana.<br />
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<br />
St. Anastasios<br />
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<br />
The archbishop’s throne<br />
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The baptistery chapel<br />
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St. Constantine<br />
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<br />
The Theotokos<br />
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St. Panteleimon<br />
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Two days later, we stopped at two schools on our way to Shen Vlash Monastery.<br />
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The Resurrection of Christ is a popular subject in new Albanian iconography.<br />
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At Shen Vlash<br />
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The refectory<br />
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The monastery chapel<br />
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Shen Vlash (aka St. Blaise)<br />
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The chapel at the diagnostic clinic.<br />
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Framed art at the student center<br />
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Nazareth Center houses various ecclesiastical arts, including the creation and restoration of icons and wordworking.<br />
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On our way to Korça we stopped for a fish supper at this restaurant in Shen Naumi.<br />
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The next day we visited the Metropoly.<br />
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Then we spent the rest of the morning sightseeing in Korça, starting with this church.<br />
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St. Haralambos<br />
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Inside a small shrine<br />
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The old cathedral<br />
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Monastery of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Voskopoja<br />
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St. Ignatius<br />
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St. Nicholas<br />
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St. Katherine<br />
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Monastery of Ss. Peter & Paul, Vithkuq<br />
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The new cathedral in Korça<br />
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Church of St. Anna<br />
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Shen Naumi (St. Nahum)<br />
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Prophet Elijah<br />
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Chapel of St. Elijah, high above Korça<br />
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Church of the Resurrection, Pogradec<br />
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St. Marena<br />
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The Last Judgment<br />
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Exaltation of the Holy Cross<br />
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Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-5828973988809974142011-06-15T01:19:00.130-04:002011-06-23T01:12:14.893-04:00Yannaras vs. the Zealots<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">In my systematic theology classes this year we read a few articles by Greek Orthodox theologian <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Christos_Yannaras">Christos Yannaras</a>. We also got to hear him speak in person when the seminary presented him with an <a href="http://www.svots.edu/events/svs-bestow-honorary-doctorate-greek-theologian">honorary degeree</a>. While I respect Yannaras’s ability to tackle interesting, relevant topics (e.g., human freedom) from a point of view that is modern, original, and Orthodox, I disagree so strongly with his central philosophical commitment that I usually cannot follow him to his conclusions (though I can sometimes reach similar conclusions by a different route). In my reading of Yannaras, I quickly sensed a foundation of Sartrean-style existentialism underlying his thinking. My reaction to <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/John_Zizioulas">John Zizioulas</a> was similar. I guess it should not be surprising that Greek theologians of the mid 20th century would engage with the dominant European philosophy of their day, just as <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Sergius_Bulgakov">Bulgakov</a> and his generation had earlier engaged with Hegel and German idealism.<br />
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I am not entirely opposed to existentialism. I went through an existentialist phase in my early 20s, and I still retain a soft spot for Kierkegaard. But the more I thought about Sartre’s blunt assertion, "There is no human nature," the more I realized that 1) it is nonsense, and 2) it is irreconcilable with traditional Christology. If there is no human nature, then the whole concept of <em>species</em> does not apply to humans, and each of us is a <em>sui generis</em> being (rather like the Christ of Arius). If there is no human nature, then we cannot say that Christ assumed human nature, and the traditional explanation of the Incarnation falls apart. I think Yannaras and Zizioulas come dangerously close to Sartre with the notion of <em>person transcending nature</em>. As I understand it, this means that our path to <em><a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/Theosis">theosis</a></em> must lead to a transcending of our human nature. That strikes me as gnostic.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MYjHoEbUUck91Mu-p_0ffciZg04WLg7h-oO3Bhs96U__FdUgERctpQMLawf4q2UAb0zZ_PPFipgBzQl1_BxOTl1Flmd_dp6j19LeVPb-DOO47t0bkYUqbKcoAQwEAe4SNCjcwLc_PUix/s1600/Yannaras.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: left; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MYjHoEbUUck91Mu-p_0ffciZg04WLg7h-oO3Bhs96U__FdUgERctpQMLawf4q2UAb0zZ_PPFipgBzQl1_BxOTl1Flmd_dp6j19LeVPb-DOO47t0bkYUqbKcoAQwEAe4SNCjcwLc_PUix/s200/Yannaras.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>While Zizioulas has not, to my knowledge, accepted the existentialist label, Yannaras has been open about his influences. Toward the end of his recent <a href="http://holycross.hchc.edu/holycross/about/news/1549.html">commencement address</a> at Hellenic College and <a href="http://holycross.hchc.edu/holycross.html">Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology</a>, for instance, he lauded Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre, who "boldly attempted to make a painful break with moral error." To be fair, Yannaras went on to say that his <em>ontology of the person</em> was a response to "the need to confront Heidegger’s nihilism," so we should not imagine that he is an uncritical Heideggerian. But, still, he typically operates within a modernist framework of mid-20th-century European existentialism.<br />
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The main body of this commencement address, however, constituted a postmodern critique of <span style="color: #351c75;">"the problem of neoconservatism and fundamentalism which currently afflicts the way life is led in most Orthodox churches."</span> (I’m really not sure what <em>neoconservatism</em> means outside the context of U.S. politics − in fact, I’m a bit hazy on what it means even in that context. Since the term did not recur, I will assume it is just a synonym for <em>fundamentalism</em>, and not a significant term in itself.) Yannaras clearly and correctly identifies the fundamentalist "zealots" of modern Orthodoxy − those who oppose all ecumenical dialogue and who pose as defenders Orthodox Tradition against the West − as unwitting examples of the very modernist Western ideology they claim to oppose. They set their own judgment above that of the Church and its bishops. They embrace a commitment to formal propositions and authoritative texts akin to Marxists, thereby reducing Orthodoxy to an ideology.<br />
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Yannaras then pointed out that it is not only the zealots who have fallen into a Western way of thinking and living, but "the whole of Christendom." Overcoming the pitfalls of Westernization, then, is not a matter of resisting the "other," but of self-criticism and repentance.<br />
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Read the whole address <a href="http://holycross.hchc.edu/holycross/about/news/1549.html">here</a>.</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581933610433229582.post-61455472348516028692011-05-05T09:09:00.010-04:002011-05-07T11:57:27.429-04:00Questions on Islam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Nearly a decade ago, public interest in Islam spiked in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. It gradually subsided thereafter but still remained much higher than before. In 2011, various stories related to Islam are once again dominating the headlines:<br />
<ul><li>Unrest and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/mar/22/middle-east-protest-interactive-timeline">protest</a> in Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Bahrain, Libya, Iran, and Syria (and probably a few I missed).</li>
<li>Florida pastor Terry Jones announced he would burn a copy of the Qur'an, backed down in response to pleas and advice from other American religious leaders, and then <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/florida-pastor-terry-joness-koran-burning-has-far-reaching-effect/2011/04/02/AFpiFoQC_story.html">went ahead</a> with his original plan, sparking worldwide outrage among Muslims.</li>
<li>The House Committee on Homeland Security held a <a href="http://homeland.house.gov/hearing/hearing-%E2%80%9C-extent-radicalization-american-muslim-community-and-communitys-response%E2%80%9D">hearing</a> on “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response.”</li>
<li>Several states are <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/03/11/134458058/States-Move-To-Ban-Islamic-Sharia-Law">considering bills</a> to ban Shari'ah law (and foreign law in general) from being applied in state courts.</li>
<li>This week the long manhunt for Osama bin Laden concluded with his death in a U.S. raid on his compound in Pakistan.</li>
</ul>In this post I want to address two recurring questions about Islam:<br />
<ol><li>Do Muslims worship the same God as Christians?</li>
<li>Are violence and terrorism endemic to Islam?</li>
</ol><br />
<b>No God but Allah</b><br />
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Some imagine <i>Allah</i> to be the proper name of the Muslim deity. But, in fact, it is the generic divine name in Arabic. <i>Allah</i> is a contraction of the Arabic <i>al-'ilah</i>, which means literally, "the deity." The definite article serves to emphasize singularity, so it is understood as "the sole deity," i.e., God. This name for God is not specific to Muslims but is used by all Arabic-speaking monotheists, including Christians. In my Antiochian Orthodox parish, when we sing the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisagion">Trisagion</a> in <a href="http://www.antiochian.org/sites/antiochian.org/files/sacred_music/10A%20Trisagion%20Hymn-Hilko-T3.pdf">Arabic</a> we address God as <i>Qudduson ullah</i>.<br />
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Others argue that Muslims worship "a different god" than Christians. I have found that the straightforward counter-argument <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">–</span> that a monotheist cannot logically posit the existence of "a different god" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">–</span> does not phase them. When probing beneath the "different god" argument, I occasionally find a belief that Muslims are either pagans who worship a non-existent mythological deity or deluded devil worshipers (I have encountered both versions of the argument). In either case, I suppose one could argue with some logic that Muslims are worshiping a different god. But this is not what is usually meant by "a different god."<br />
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Typically those who make the "different god" argument will point out that Christians worship Jesus or the Holy Trinity and Muslims do not. But the same could be said of Jews, and most Christians would not say that Jews worship "a different god." What they really mean is that Muslims have a different <i>conception</i> of God than Christians do, and this is certainly true. But we do not (or at least ought not) worship our conception of God. To worship a conception produced by our minds would be every bit as idolatrous as to worship an image produced by our hands. We do not worship any conception of God, but the ineffable reality behind all conceptions.<br />
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It was the intention of Muhammad to introduce the God of the Bible to his people, the Arabs. There can be no doubt of the strong influence of Christianity on early Islam. Muhammad's wife's cousin, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waraqah_ibn_Nawfal">Waraqah ibn Nawfal</a>, an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebionites">Ebionite</a> Christian priest, was the first to acknowledge Muhammad as a prophet. St. <a href="http://orthodoxwiki.org/John_of_Damascus">John of Damascus</a>, who had grown up in the Damascus court of the Umayyad caliphate, classified Islam as <a href="http://southern-orthodoxy.blogspot.com/2005/06/islam-christian-heresy.html">a Christian heresy</a>. In the early 20th century, <a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRbelloc.htm">Hilaire Belloc</a> came to the <a href="http://www.ewtn.com/library/homelibr/heresy4.txt">same conclusion</a>. Without necessarily endorsing that hypothesis, I think we can safely say that Muslims worship the same God as Christians, though they might hold incorrect beliefs about him and serve him badly (as, indeed, do many Christians).<br />
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<b>The Religion of Peace?</b><br />
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The word <i>islam</i> is the infinitive of the Arabic verb <i>'aslama</i>, which means "to surrender" or "to submit." A <i>Muslim</i>, then, is one who surrenders to Allah. The same triliteral root, <i>s-l-m</i>, is shared by <i>salaam</i>, which means "peace." But Islam does not have a reputation as a peaceful religion, either historically or today.<br />
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In the time of Muhammad, Arabic society was filled with injustice and violence and the tribes were constantly feuding with each other. Muhammad brought all of the Arabic tribes into a confederation, which resulted in inter-tribal peace. Since the united Arabs could no longer raid one another, they redirected their raids against their non-Arabic neighbors. In her book <i>Islam: A Short History</i>, Karen Armstrong describes the resulting conquests:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBGQFgbAml3hNLXWYpAKPgOdr0VSfSRUwqxHNxHdUVciTtRwzzuuQ7XCtT4hrh8E4vgnEHfxvs4aR05RzxA3t31irduONq2uKeEfbjrfOP4J8eDB_k3JYLY1-gv08cU_uSpqhUBiIIySNS/s1600/KArmstrong_Islam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBGQFgbAml3hNLXWYpAKPgOdr0VSfSRUwqxHNxHdUVciTtRwzzuuQ7XCtT4hrh8E4vgnEHfxvs4aR05RzxA3t31irduONq2uKeEfbjrfOP4J8eDB_k3JYLY1-gv08cU_uSpqhUBiIIySNS/s1600/KArmstrong_Islam.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #38761d;">[W]hen the Arabs burst out of Arabia they were not impelled by the ferocious power of "Islam." Western people often assume that Islam is a violent, militaristic faith which imposed itself on its subject peoples at sword-point. This is an inaccurate interpretation of the Muslim wars of expansion. There was nothing religious about these campaigns, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar">Umar</a> did not believe that he had a divine mandate to conquer the world. The objective of Umar and his warriors was entirely pragmatic: they wanted plunder and a common activity that would preserve the unity of the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ummah">ummah</a></i>. . . . Later, when the Muslims had established their great empire, Islamic law would give a religious interpretation of this conquest, dividing the world into the Dar al-Islam (the House of Islam), which was in perpetual conflict with the Dar al-Harb (the House of War).</div><br />
It should be emphasized that being conquered by Muslims does not necessarily entail an expectation of conversion to Islam. In fact, for the first century of Islam, conversion was not an option. Islam was conceived by Muhammad and his immediate successors as a religion for Arabs only. Anyone who wanted to convert to Islam would have had to join an Arab tribe. Conquered peoples were expected to live as they did before the conquest, but to pay the <i>jizyah</i>, a per-capita tax on non-Muslim subjects. Later regimes permitted or even encouraged conversion to Islam, but this often caused fiscal problems, as mass conversions resulted in an equally massive decline in state revenue. Therefore some regimes actually discouraged conversion, which was seen as a form of tax evasion!<br />
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Centuries later, Islam was adopted by many of the Mongol and Turkish tribes that were raiding and conquering Asia (and trying to do the same to Eastern Europe). But these tribes were not motivated in their efforts by Islam; they had been trying to conquer the world (with some success) long before they converted to Islam. Rather, Islam was a religion of convenience that was more accommodating of their culture of raiding and conquest than the Buddhism and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_among_the_Mongols">East Syrian Christianity</a> previously popular among the Mongols.<br />
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Still, a religion that is attractive to violent cultures and which accommodates their violence by directing it outwards might have something to answer for. It has been noted that Islam has "bloody borders." Many of the world's recurring-conflict zones involve an Islamic presence <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">–</span> the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East, South Asia, East Africa. Islamic history and ideology can facilitate a presumption of a God-given right of Muslims to rule over non-Muslims, which inevitably leads to conflict. Today, however, this archaic ideology more often serves as a cover for nationalism or personal and factional agendas. And much of Islamic violence today is between different factions of Muslims.<br />
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<b>Schools of Thought on Islamic Terrorism</b><br />
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Muslims did not invent religiously motivated terrorism. That distinction might go to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicarii">Sicarii</a>, first-century Jewish anti-Roman fanatics. But their tactics were replicated by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassins">Assassins</a>, a 12th-century Persian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismailis">Isma'ili</a> Shi'ite sect known for murdering opposing leaders by stealth.<br />
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But the Sicarii and the Assassins were both well organized factions with clear political goals who targeted specific known enemies. Today's Islamic terrorism, by contrast, is a loosely organized mass movement that shares common enemies, rather than common goals. It is distinctly modern in its ideology and its methods. And it engages in mass murder rather than targeted killings.<br />
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Is mass violence inherent to Islam in the modern context? Are all Muslims potential terrorists? I define three schools of thought on these questions: the 1% school, the 10% school, and the 100% school. These percentages are different answers to the question, "What percentage of Muslims supports militant Islam?"<br />
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The 1% school encompasses most U.S. politicians of both major parties. They profess that the terrorists and their sympathizers are a small fringe of Muslims, which certainly does not include <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saudi/analyses/wahhabism.html">Wahhabis</a>. This is a convenient view to espouse since it does not require a strong policy response and does not risk upsetting our supposed allies in Saudi Arabia.<br />
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According to the 10% school, the terrorists and their sympathizers are a large minority of Muslims that includes Wahhabis. This school is represented most clearly by <a href="http://www.danielpipes.org/">Daniel Pipes</a> and <a href="http://www.islamicpluralism.org/">Stephen Schwartz</a>. (Pipes inspired my development of this classification system when he estimated that 10-15% of Muslims worldwide support militant Islam.) This is the school that I identify with.<br />
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Finally, the 100% school says that <i>all</i> Muslims (or, at least, all <i>real</i> Muslims) sympathize with Islamic terrorism <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">–</span> i.e., that Islam is inherently a terrorist religion. The most outspoken proponent of this school is <a href="http://trifkovic.mysite.com/">Serge Trifkovic</a>.<br />
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One might think the 100% school would be the most strongly opposed to militant Islam, but the 100%ers, ironically, largely agree with the militants. These nominal enemies agree that Islam is inherently committed to imposing its rule on the entire world and that self-described Muslims who disagree are either liars or apostates. They both embrace the same all-encompassing us-vs.-them worldview. They even respect each other as adversaries who are playing the same game. Trifkovic and militant Muslims have actually engaged in tactical alliances against Pipes and Schwartz, whom they despise in common.<br />
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What game is Trifkovic playing? He is a professional apologist for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slobodan_Milo%C5%A1evi%C4%87">Slobodan Milosevic</a> and his cronies. The subtext of everything he writes is to justify Serbian actions, including atrocities against Muslims, in the Balkan wars of the 1990s. His portrayal of Islam implicitly castigates the Western powers that intervened to save Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo and warns us that we will one day be sorry we did not let them finish the job.<br />
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Pipes and Schwartz, by contrast, by distinguishing between good Muslims and bad Muslims <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">–</span> and naming the militants as the bad Muslims <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">–</span> challenge the whole worldview shared by Trifkovic and the militants. While they do not downplay the challenge posed by militant Islam (which separates them from the 1% school), neither do they portray all of Islam as an enemy that must be annihilated to save the world (which separates them from the 100% school). This school of thought presents us not with Armageddon, but with a problem like the Cold War <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">–</span> a self-declared enemy that we must take seriously and resist consistently, which we can defeat in time if we persist. If we succeed, we may be able to help save Islam rather than annihilating it.</div>Arimatheanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06783088995172601340noreply@blogger.com1