I always loved Victoria Jackson on Saturday Night Live – but of course I thought her persona was a put-on for comic effect.
Guess what? It doesn’t look that way. This display actually makes me feel more sorry for, and a little bit less angry at, the people that have been so woefully misled.
I could parse this whole thing, but why? See for yourself. Sadness.
Wow – fantastic video. Americans – do not despair.
How You Ended The War
Here are some more actions that you can take online. Pick a couple, or do them all!
A recent column in the Chinese University’s Student Press magazine (Hong Kong) was deemed “indecent” by the Obscene Article Tribunal because it asked readers about whether they had ever fantasized about incest or bestiality.
A storm of debate followed – on freedom of speech, the right to open sexual discussion, and the obligations and limits of social morality.
Seemingly in response (although I’m not sure how they would know that), someone launched an anonymous web site (truthbible.net ) that said the holy book “made one tremble” because of its violent and sexual (including rape and incest) content.
By noon Wednesday, Hong Kong’s Television and Entertainment Licensing authority (TELA) had received more than 800 complaints about the Bible. TELA now has to decide whether the Bible violates Hong Kong’s obscene and indecent articles laws.
If they decide that it does, then the bible could be sold only in a sealed wrapper, with a statutory warning notice. You’d have to be over 18 to buy it.
Ok, generalization time: Here in sanctimonious America it is common for people simply not to read the bible (really read, as you would read another book). Those who notice little issues tend, for whatever reasons, to keep critical thoughts to themselves. Many people on all sides feel ignore the parts that might make them at all uncomfortable, or that contradict one another, or that aren’t really comparable from one book to another. Many people don’t realize how much violence and censorship was involved in the selection and canonization of the scattered texts called the Bible, or that ideas about “inspiration” came along rather late.
“I think the Good Book is missing some pages….” – from “Icicle,” Under the Pink
, Tori Amos
There are plenty of odd bits in these texts. Ancient peoples lived a bit closer to life’s edges than we do, and their cultures and perspectives varied. Ever wonder about how things looked from the Canaanites’ point of view? Or why God would order someone to impregnate his brother’s wife? Where did Cain’s wife come from? And what was that whole thing about grabbing “thigh” to make a vow?
I won’t list more examples here. Hey, it’s a PG-rated blog, and some of these are too… tooo… toooo…. unreflective of American “family values.”
But I’ll link ’em! Here are a couple of lists – I’m pretty sure that at least one example may startle you.
Books are better. Reputable biblical scholarship is best, but some of the others are interesting too:
“It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it’s the parts that I do understand.” – Mark Twain
Perhaps Robert George really did intend to write an article that would describe the Well-Lived Life of Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, but the result leaves a sour taste in my mouth somehow. It misses something central about her.
Yes, she made a political turn into more conservative terrain. I’m not sure that everyone was so angry about it as the article would suggest. There is a wide spectrum of opinion about issues like abortion, gender relations, marriage, work life, and so on – even on the left. It seemed to me that the situation was a little more complicated.
I went to graduate school at Emory, but I never worked with Dr. Fox-Genovese, so my comments are based more on second-hand accounts from other students and faculty than on my own experiences (more’s the pity). Still, I got a very strong impression of her.
One of my best friends in the Emory community has worked for years on women’s issues. She is what I think of a real activist, not an armchair activist like myself. She doesn’t agree with Betsey on many of these issues, but she admires her a great deal and considers her a real friend. Their ongoing conversation on these issues has been valuable – and enjoyable! – for both of them.
Why is Professor Fox-Genovese so admired and respected? Certainly not because of some kind of dripping piety or even solely because of her take on what are very controversial issues. To imply that she was worshiped as some sort of a mommy-figure by orphan-like pits of need misrepresents the reality. She didn’t treat her students as children, but as younger peers. It makes a difference to be treated with respect. She stood up for and supported her students, even if they didn’t agree with her on specific issues. Unlike some others, she didn’t make a secret list of students to be rewarded or punished depending on whether or not they would become clones of herself. She didn’t infantilize anyone – she challenged and supported them. She respected individual curiosity and talent, and teaching was everything to her. She was an educator, in the best sense of the word.
She has a solid reputation as a scholar. No-one could fail to observe her intelligence and her passion, her willingness to engage in conversation and argument. I find it unusual and interesting that she had a willingness to reassess what she found important and worthy of analysis. Not everyone has that courage, flexibility and sense of integrity.
She continued to make every effort to come in and teach, despite her increasing frailty. She had great stories to tell. By all accounts, she had an amazing relationship with her husband. She had flair. She had grace.
I’m sorry that I didn’t get to know her better. I suspect we might have found some common ground somewhere.
Rest in peace, Professor Elizabeth Fox-Genovese.
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