We had a combined lesson for Priesthood/Relief Society today. The teacher made some very specific claims about the meaning of selected verses in the second chapter of Joel (but not the troublesome verses in between). I agree with some of his assertions, and the rest are not totally beyond the realm of possibility. However, the most obvious interpretations of those verses, in my mind, do not involve the “closet” that the Bride comes out of as a symbol of the Whitmer farm, nor the “pillars of smoke” referring to the Twin Trade Towers. Continue reading →

I grew up in a conservative American climate. We were Republicans. We opposed tax increases. We were deeply suspicious of Democrats. We favored the U.S. Minding its Own Business. We favored the federal government doing the same, and having as little business as possible. We were against government programs that reduced personal accountability or autonomy. We opposed strong governmental regulation of free enterprise. We considered the Kennedys, communism, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Endowment for the Arts and modern entertainment to be deeply flawed and possibly evil. Especially the Kennedys.

Patriotism seemed, for a time in childhood, to be inseparable from nationalism (and perhaps tied to Republicanism, for that matter). Early on, however, I found that idea unsatisfactory. Why should I celebrate the piece of land I live in just because I happen to live there, but also expect other people in other lands to admit that my piece of land is the best piece of land, when they clearly have their own pieces of land? This was nothing more than an expanded version of ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation. It was certainly not the lofty spiritual concept its adherents sometimes paint it as, and it never made sense to me. Nationalism is not patriotism. Continue reading →

In the vein of avoiding work, I just read a 1996 Outside article about a truly amazing (in both the positive and negative sense) man in the Eastern Andes of Peru. Excerpt:

Don Benigno Añazco carved his way 36 years deep into the green heart of the Andean forest, founded 14 settlements, abandoned his wife and many children, married his daughter, slew his son-in-law, fought drug peddlers, tamed the wilderness, and reclaimed, as best he could, the Inca Empire. And now I was going to find him.
By Kate Wheeler

Lesson #1: don’t mess with Don Benigno Añazco.
Lesson #2: don’t mess with Kate Wheeler.
Lesson #3: special characters like á, ó, ñ, and ü sometimes don’t age well in the www environment.

Ever wonder how to mummify yourself with minimal or no help from your friends? Hint: It takes several years, and reads like a horror story. Click for information on the Sokushinbutsu, who spent the last several years of their lives doing this. So. Freaky.

Mummy! I'm hungry!

After being narrowly defeated (5-0) by the Flyers in St. Catharines tonight (but I don’t care; I got some good passes, and fell on my butt significantly less than a few weeks ago), I listened to the CBC’s Ideas. It was about Rene Girard’s “mimetic theory.” Religion on the CBC (and not of marginalized peoples)? I prepared myself for the pooh-poohing, the retreat to relativism, the self-congratulatory debunking, and the tangible avoidance of relevance. Instead, I heard a very engaging Girard expounding his very interesting theory. I will relate some of the nicer points, with apologies to Mr. Girard and anyone else whose views I mangle.

Girard asserted that Christianity was revolutionary among ideologies. Other systems of belief, he said–focusing heavily on the mythology and religions of ancient civilizations–tell stories of communities ganging up on a victim in order to preserve communal peace (e.g., Oedipus Rex). These stories are all from the point of view of the persecutors, the accusers. They emphasize the rightness of punishing of the victim, who totally has it coming.

Christianity and Judaism tell the story from the point of view of the victim, acknowledging the innocence of the scapegoat, or sacrifice, and the unjust brutality of the mob. Christianity was also revolutionary as a story about a god being persecuted but returning to his persecutors with something for them other than vengeance.

Girard added that many people think of Christianity as a popular, or even populist, religion. In fact, he sees it as totally antipopular. It points out what we all know but have “hidden since the foundation of the world”: we are violent and immoral, but we punish others for our misdeeds and call that justice.

The radicalism of an intellectual taking Christianity seriously–in public–is enormously refreshing.

I also heard comments from fanboys and -girls, who seemed to alternate worshipfully intoning Girard’s name with offering to fix the glaring flaws in his theories. Mostly the worshipful intoning, though. One of them said, “People think the opposite of violence is peace, but it’s not. The opposite of violence is order. Order can come from two sources: from coercion, whether legal or physical; or from holiness.” The guy immediately went on to spoil this insight, but I won’t subject you to that.

Another of Girard’s cheerleaders suggested that the crucifixion, widely understood by Christians to be a payment of debt by proxy, is actually something else: Jesus demonstrating that the violence attributed to His father was actually done by us. When the mob killed Jesus, they acted out what we all want to do every time we hurt another human being: hurt God. We make God the scapegoat for all the evils that we ourselves commit. Nevertheless, Jesus came back after being killed and offered us forgiveness instead of vengeance.

Nice messages. Nice thoughts. Nearly suffocated at times (especially by the narrator) under the embroidered throw pillows of intellectualism (lest anyone be accused of actually taking any of this seriously, or having a personal belief in anything; how gauche), but good thinking, nonetheless.

I didn’t agree with everything they said or the way they said it, but it made me happy to hear people debating the re-radicalized notion that Jesus had something important to say and do, and that those who actually read the texts will begin to understand that. Christianity can only be written off or casually dismissed by individuals who are willing to ignore an awful lot of salient and important information.

I’m Bobby. Bobbyfiend. Or Bobby Fiend, if you prefer a two-word name. Whatever. Anyway, I don’t know if anyone reads this, but it’s fun to post stuff here. I post pictures, stories, and general ramblings and rantings about things I find interesting. No guarantee you will find them interesting. I tend to blather on about behavioral science, religion, politics, outdoor activities like bicycling and disc golf, indoor activities like breaking things and trying to reassemble them, and of course my beloved sweetie pie Alex and our friends and family.

Look around, read posts, and comment if you like (click on the title of a post to do that). Feel free. Visit the photos and enjoy their amateurish goodness.

I hope you enjoy the stay. Ta ta.