I have 60 books tagged as "commentary" at LibraryThing.
They're all my dad's.
I found that a number had notecards or other bookmarks at points discussing the proper role of women within the church.
Has anyone else even tried reconstructing a person from his or her library? Silly me.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Biblically Sleep Deprived
I think, one day, I'm going to write an entire Bible commentary -- but only while I'm massively sleep deprived and have no real filter going. It'll be great, filled with comments like: but this was before God didn't like Solomon. You know, it's not until later that Solomon started liking the ladies more than he liked God.
Or: I can just see Jesus the first time he appears to the apostles after the resurrection. "Stupid, stupid, boys! Listen to the girls the next time I send them to tell you something!"
But for right now, my biology major roommate just shakes her head and goes back to studying birds.
Or: I can just see Jesus the first time he appears to the apostles after the resurrection. "Stupid, stupid, boys! Listen to the girls the next time I send them to tell you something!"
But for right now, my biology major roommate just shakes her head and goes back to studying birds.
Categorical data
I've been wanting to write a post for a while on the problematic nature of labels, such as gay and straight, masculine and feminine, theist and atheist, republican and democrat, etc. But I was browsing through the archives of Peterson Toscano's wonderful blog and found this post that says anything I would want to say but far better than I would have said it.
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Lights in Memphis
I keep thinking that, one day, Memphis might actually get some positive coverage in national media that doesn't pertain in one way or another to Elvis. But then I remember that Memphis fails at getting positive coverage in the local media.
The New York Times ran an article today about our current Ford scandal with Memphis, Light, Gas, and Water extending $16,000 dollars to Edmund Ford. You can't cut off a Ford's lights here in Memphis. I'd be surprised. Except I'm not. It's Memphis. Moreover, it's people.
This specific scandal is emblematic of a flaw that Memphis possesses in abundance, but a flaw I hardly think is limited to Memphis. The rich use their wealth and influence to protect themselves while ignoring the need around them. This quote from the Times article sums it up.
The New York Times ran an article today about our current Ford scandal with Memphis, Light, Gas, and Water extending $16,000 dollars to Edmund Ford. You can't cut off a Ford's lights here in Memphis. I'd be surprised. Except I'm not. It's Memphis. Moreover, it's people.
This specific scandal is emblematic of a flaw that Memphis possesses in abundance, but a flaw I hardly think is limited to Memphis. The rich use their wealth and influence to protect themselves while ignoring the need around them. This quote from the Times article sums it up.
“I think it is a travesty of the public utility system in the city,” said Ron Johnson, who works with low-income students in the city’s school system. “Memphis is a town in which the poverty rate is high, and you have individuals who could truly benefit from help. And yet you have politicians benefiting on the backs of poor people, and it’s just wrong.”It's particularly obvious in Memphis because there is so much poverty juxtaposed with ostentatious displays of wealth. One of the first things a visitor sees entering the city from the east is Bellevue Baptist's crosses and their obnoxious billboards -- God alone only knows how much was spent on those that could have gone to ameliorate the vast amounts of suffering in this city. But the poor masses of Memphis won't be able to contribute to Bellevue's capital in way the upper middle class white folk drawn in billboards will be able to. MLGW's President gets more from currying favor from the Ford family than he could by breaking up 16,000 dollars worth of credit among several poor families.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Religion goes digital!
I saw an article about this website that allows people to purchase pujas at temples in India over the internet a few weeks ago on the BBC's site. The Washington Post had a longer article today, and I must confess that I still don't quite know what to think about it. Although, I'm glad a found the longer Post article. They spend more time creating a simple character sketch of the people involved on both sides of the service.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Inherited Heretical Psychosis
This is the ancestral home of the Hampshire crazies. Built just after the Civil War. Pretty, ain't it?"Now Uncle Gene was never an inside member of the church, he just attended." Granddaddy
I've grown up hearing about Uncle Gene -- one of those crazy bachelors of which my family tree seems to be full. Uncle Gene was my great, great uncle on my father's side, and he was a blacksmith -- big, big man. I don't think he had a scary beard like the great-grandfather on that side, but maybe I should check. I've seen the remains of his blacksmith shop; today it seems to be a popular place for 'Shire youth to hang out and get wasted while munching on Doritoes, if I were to speculate based on the amount of trash. There's a handful of knives and other gadgets he made being passed about the family according to who's in favor with whom. I learned today that when the family hosue started to settle back in the day and they were afraid that it would fall off the hill he rigged some iron bars and drove them through the house to hold it up. Legendary member of the clan, Uncle Gene.
Heard another story about him today as well. Back in the 1930s when folks in the 'Shire were starting to get cars -- my grandfather reckons that there were three families with cars, and yes, my family was one of those -- the elders at Cathey's Creek Church of Christ became all bumfuzzled by the existence of cars. Someone was going to get run over. Horses were getting spooked. Things were liable to blow up. In other words, Church of Christ elders don't deal well with change and this extends to modes of transportation.
Well, one of the elders decided that it'd be a good idea -- in order to keep the cars away from the church building -- to drive a bunch of oak posts into the perimeter of the church yard. And the elder goes ahead with his plan.
The next Sunday morning, Uncle Gene arrives at the church with the rest of the clan, in their spiffy new car, and he's not too happy to see the posts. So Uncle Gene, who is most likely past sixty by this point -- he was born in 1871 according to familysearch.org -- and walks with a big stick, hops out of the car, pulls the oak posts out of the ground by himself, sets them to the side of the church building, walks in the building, and sits down in the back row like always.
Now, this reminds me of a story about my great aunts, Alice and Anna, who were twin sisters, and a force to be reckoned with. According to my cousin, one Christmas, probably in the sixties, Alice and Anna both had new pantsuits. And it was cold. So they decided that they were going to wear their pantsuits to church at the Cathey's Creek Church of Christ. Mind you, people today will still glare at a member of the female sex if she shows up at Cathey's Creek on a Sunday morning in pants. Anna and Alice put on their pantsuits and Revlon Love that Red lipstick and they went to church, with Alice's husband and two daughters in tow. They stepped in the church building. The elders looked at Anna and Alice. Anna and Alice looked at the elders. The elders looked at them. The elders backed down. And Anna and Alice became the first two women to wear pants to the Cathey's Creek Church of Christ and unknowingly became heroines to future feminist members of the clan.
My family has a long history of challenging church authorities it seems. My madness is in the genes! Teehee!
I've grown up hearing about Uncle Gene -- one of those crazy bachelors of which my family tree seems to be full. Uncle Gene was my great, great uncle on my father's side, and he was a blacksmith -- big, big man. I don't think he had a scary beard like the great-grandfather on that side, but maybe I should check. I've seen the remains of his blacksmith shop; today it seems to be a popular place for 'Shire youth to hang out and get wasted while munching on Doritoes, if I were to speculate based on the amount of trash. There's a handful of knives and other gadgets he made being passed about the family according to who's in favor with whom. I learned today that when the family hosue started to settle back in the day and they were afraid that it would fall off the hill he rigged some iron bars and drove them through the house to hold it up. Legendary member of the clan, Uncle Gene.
Heard another story about him today as well. Back in the 1930s when folks in the 'Shire were starting to get cars -- my grandfather reckons that there were three families with cars, and yes, my family was one of those -- the elders at Cathey's Creek Church of Christ became all bumfuzzled by the existence of cars. Someone was going to get run over. Horses were getting spooked. Things were liable to blow up. In other words, Church of Christ elders don't deal well with change and this extends to modes of transportation.
Well, one of the elders decided that it'd be a good idea -- in order to keep the cars away from the church building -- to drive a bunch of oak posts into the perimeter of the church yard. And the elder goes ahead with his plan.
The next Sunday morning, Uncle Gene arrives at the church with the rest of the clan, in their spiffy new car, and he's not too happy to see the posts. So Uncle Gene, who is most likely past sixty by this point -- he was born in 1871 according to familysearch.org -- and walks with a big stick, hops out of the car, pulls the oak posts out of the ground by himself, sets them to the side of the church building, walks in the building, and sits down in the back row like always.
Now, this reminds me of a story about my great aunts, Alice and Anna, who were twin sisters, and a force to be reckoned with. According to my cousin, one Christmas, probably in the sixties, Alice and Anna both had new pantsuits. And it was cold. So they decided that they were going to wear their pantsuits to church at the Cathey's Creek Church of Christ. Mind you, people today will still glare at a member of the female sex if she shows up at Cathey's Creek on a Sunday morning in pants. Anna and Alice put on their pantsuits and Revlon Love that Red lipstick and they went to church, with Alice's husband and two daughters in tow. They stepped in the church building. The elders looked at Anna and Alice. Anna and Alice looked at the elders. The elders looked at them. The elders backed down. And Anna and Alice became the first two women to wear pants to the Cathey's Creek Church of Christ and unknowingly became heroines to future feminist members of the clan.
My family has a long history of challenging church authorities it seems. My madness is in the genes! Teehee!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Ironically placed Chick tracts
Or, how my dad continues to manage to brighten my bad days.
I'm going through cataloging my dad's books on LibraryThing. I'm going through the stacks of Bible commentaries (we have three complete multi-volume studies and numerous other one-volume studies) and noting where he left bookmarks and notes scribbled on index cards. I find a Chick Tract hiding out in one book explaining in graphic detail why the King James Version is the only English translation that you may use unless you want to burn for eternity in hell with the Catholics, the Wiccans, the homosexuals, and well, virtually everyone, I guess. What book had this Chick tract taken up residence in? -- The King James Debate: A Plea for Reason, which, according to the back material, is a refutation of KJV only arguments.
I'm amused. And, yes, Mr. Chick's tract will continue hanging out between pages 68 and 69 of The King James Debate. Because the irony is too fun. It's like modern art in my library!
I'm going through cataloging my dad's books on LibraryThing. I'm going through the stacks of Bible commentaries (we have three complete multi-volume studies and numerous other one-volume studies) and noting where he left bookmarks and notes scribbled on index cards. I find a Chick Tract hiding out in one book explaining in graphic detail why the King James Version is the only English translation that you may use unless you want to burn for eternity in hell with the Catholics, the Wiccans, the homosexuals, and well, virtually everyone, I guess. What book had this Chick tract taken up residence in? -- The King James Debate: A Plea for Reason, which, according to the back material, is a refutation of KJV only arguments.
I'm amused. And, yes, Mr. Chick's tract will continue hanging out between pages 68 and 69 of The King James Debate. Because the irony is too fun. It's like modern art in my library!
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