Religion and Gender

Obama's speech on race and religion has me thinking back to the church I grew up with. But for me, it was gender instead of race that disgusted me.

I grew up in the rather conservative Missouri Synod Lutheran Church since there was not a practically available parish from our family's (more conservative) Evangelical, or Norwegian Lutheran Synod. Here are churches that don't see women fit to vote on church matters, and who, in my experience, frequently called on wives to submit to their husbands in weddings.

I feel that I couldn't get out quick enough and spent several years with no interest to belong to a church. When I did, I went to Quaker meeting. And yet my parents still attend those synods, knowing that women and men are equal in the eyes of God... but also because church is important for spirituality and community, despite the shortcomings of those that preach there.

Namaste

After a few weeks of rooftop yoga, I finally got on the ball to look up some of terms that whiz by me. In particular, "namaste" (na-mas-tay). I was thrilled to learn means, "I bow to that of God in you." How amazingly Quaker... appreciating the light within. Though we speak of it in meeting, we do not greet each other as such, but if we acknowledge it more in each other, perhaps individually we'll exhibit it more.

As I think more about it, some talk as if it is easier to kill or otherwise devalue other human we feel are godless, infidels and the like... but what would/does it mean to a being that has part of God in them? Frequently Genesis is cited how God made humans in God's image. Being the dawn of humanity it means all humans, regardless of Jew, Christian, Muslim et al, has God in them. So for every human we kill and maim, we do unto God, whether directly or indirectly.

Fiction from Fact

It sounds political, but it's not... well not explicitly.

I started reading Jose Saramago's The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. I first read Saramago's Blindness in the FoFBC, the quarterly book swap I participate in and loved it so I wanted to read more of his work, but hadn't really had time between school, love, and The Moor's Last Sigh.

What I particularly like about Saramago's style is how he uses... or expresses some statement of fact or logic which then drives the way the narrative unfolds. In Blindness, it was often some idea of human nature, which led to a simultaneously horrifying and inspiring story.

The Gospel is what it sounds like, a retelling of the Gospels set more as a historical novel. What comes out is an intriguing portrayal of what Joseph and Mary’s lives were like, with gender roles, with Roman occupation, with geographical background. A far cry from the nativity scenes and iconography we’ve grown accustom.

There are departures from the scriptures yes, but scripture departs from its context.The novel is powerful reminder that as much as people believe the Bible is God’s word, it was written by men, and translated by lesser men. It also reminds the reader that though there is familiarity with the Gospel story, there isn’t familiarity with the story’s setting, which can be powerful for anyone who begins to the study the bible not as scripture, but as literature. Therein lies the political.

Lastly, it occurred to me that as I and my friends succeed and flounder in this mortal coil, we are the age at which Jesus began his preaching. Let’s not forget the power a young thirtysomething can have on this world. Again, the political.

Digital Sainthood for Norman Teigen

The Seattle Post Intelligencer cartoonist David Horsey reports the results of their burning question of what the new Pope should do. Honorable mention at the end is my dad's suggestion:

There were plenty of other suggestions for what a new pope should do ranging from less fancy clothes for the curia to a new gym for St. George School on Beacon Hill (all politics is local, even church politics). E-mailing all the way from Hopkins, Minn., Norman Teigen offered this very novel idea: sainthood for Martin Luther.

Read it.

[Update: 23.04.05: I didn't see this complation of responses]

A Papal Epiphany

I know today has been busy... but one last thought:

I've been thinking about all the interest in Pope speculation, especially among non practioners and unbelievers, and why it may be important for non-catholics to care about who the new Pope may be. With today's naming of Pope Benedict XVI, that importance came in sharp relief.

Besides International NGO's, Corporations, and elected officials in their native lands, Catholics in South America, Africa and Asia are also deeply impacted by the Pope, as that's where the church is growing. So if we're concerned about AIDs in Africa, we should be concerned about Pontiffs that refuse to encourage contraception, even as their new found congregations are dying of it....By "it" I mean AIDs, though the church isn't discouraging the myth that people are dying of contraception



PS. On a happier note we are totally digging Andrew Bird's "The Mysterious Production of Eggs" something we have recent experience pondering.

Brick Testament and Tiny Ninjas

I first saw Brick Testaments at a comic shop many months ago, but recently spotted them in some mainstream bookshop. They are a wee bit subversive, but not enough to upset grandma. I'm happy to learn that many lesser stories get a piece of the spotlight too.

With Mr. Lindstrom making his debut this summer (from brickbuster to blockbuster), I was reminded of my favorite version of the Scottish play, Tiny Ninja Theatre's Macbeth. "They" also do other Bard plays: Romeo & Juliet, and Hamlet, as well as some original work. I say "they" because it's really my friend Dov doing all the voices while manipulating vending machine toys as characters. It's amazing though, more puppetry and dell'arte than child's play.

An incapacitated pope versus a dead pope

Italy is revisiting the attempted murder of the Pope in 1981. While other news sources indicate that Pope is now being fed by a nasal tube. Given the Vatican's stance on the Schiavo ordeal, we can safely bet that the pope will not be issuing a DNR order.

Which begs the question? Which is best for the Catholic church? A dead Pope is replaced, but an indefinately incapacited pope lingers, and does nothing to respond to worldwide abuse by clergy or the popularity of the Da Vinci Code.

Jihad in Florida

Among the sordid elements of covering the protests at Woodside Hospice House, are the signs that many of the protesters brandish. Some of the glumier protestors seem to curse this callous goverment of godless people, and threaten that God may show His fury at said country. It's as if our country wasn't already attacked by people who thought ours is a callous government of godless people. Please don't encourage any more attacks.