Tabled, For Now

Here are a few things that I probably won't be ranting about over the next few days, and the reasons why:

"Defense" of Marriage: Timshel (here, here, and here, offers an excellent Louisiana perspective on the issue, one that I certainly agree with. Ken likewise seems to be of the reasonable position that, no, gay/lesbian marriage isn't an unobstructed, off-peak, eight-lane superhighway to Gomorrah, no matter what the bible-thumpers say. All the big-league (etc. etc. for the other big-leaguers) and up-and-coming bloggers seem to recognize this as well. My .00002 cents won't add anything to the debate. For the record, I'm in favor of gay marriage, and I think the mayor of San Francisco and the Massachusetts Supreme Court have courageously taken the correct position on this, in spite of the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the grass-eaters--and think the whole debate is nothing more than raw meat for the religious right--something to work them all in a lather so they'll donate money and go vote for the fascist of the month.

Dan Savage, though, has some interesting things to say about the issue.

The Passion: I won't be going for at least a week or so (if at all), at least until the hoopla itself expires. Mel Gibson seems to have lunatic views towards religion, if you ask me.

There are other places to explore the historic elements, many right here on the internet. I'm a little lazy right now, but one place to start is PBS--I think the title of one of the better retrospectives is "From Christ to Christianity," or something like that. On the internet everything from the Bible itself to the Apocrypha, to "Q," etc. etc. can be searched for, and a discussion of religion and/or Christianity (or Islam or Judaism) is always something I'll listen to or talk about--usually with drink in hand--but I think the movie is all hype. IF the hype dies down, I might check the movie out for substance, but seriously doubt Gibson is capable of adding anything other than more realistic effects to the subject. Great: now we can watch the nail get driven RIGHT INTO THE PALM (and then read/hear "serious" scholars discuss whether it was the palm or wrist that the nail was driven into, thereby causing excruciating pain, blah, blah, blah).

It is pretty funny though, that nail pendants are being hawked in an attempt to cash in on all the publicity. To paraphrase Bill Hicks: should Oliver Stone have attempted to hawk rifle pendants when promoting JFK?

I for one wouldn't mind seeing more attention paid to the epistles of Paul, or the Acts of the Apostles, or other early examples of Christian writing. There are items contained in these that might surprise some. As far as the whole blood-and-guts element of the Passion--I don't think there are too many people who HAVEN'T had some exposure to this, so Mel's version is just another rendition. Sure, it's in Aramaic and Latin--but someone should have mentioned to Gibson that ancient Greek was a major language in the region too.

But I've said I DON'T want to get lost in discussions of gay/lesbian marriage and Jesus--even as I wonder if a google search for that will bring up my site...

So--for now, you'll have to get your gay/lesbian marriage and Jesus news elsewhere--not that you'll have any trouble finding anything. Meanwhile, I'll keep doing my best to offend and/or educate on whatever else catches my eye--of late, by the way, a fantastic series about one Wm. Shakespeare that just finished airing on Public Television (last week was the conclusion of another good program about the Medici family), and whatever else I come across.

That Shakespeare dude was one hell of a playwright...