How will I be Judged?

The time of judgement is upon me. Tonight at midnight my pseudo-life (my blog) will be judged. Have I been just, have I been thorough, have I been honest and kind?

I beleive so. But if I be judged on the needful thing then perhaps I may be judged harshly. I did not finish The Bible. I only made it into the book of Numbers specifically Numbers 2. What I will say is up to that point I was reading thoroughly word for word, and when I found myself staring I stopped. Yes, numbers is where I lost my resolve. I dabbled in the other books Ruth, Luke, and Paul. Revelation I read through and through, climactic, exciting, viseral. Upon reflection I realize that I was destracted by other classes, my AA meetings, my lover, and my stomach. I cannot blame television because I don't have cable, and Netflix has hardly been needful. To be honest, in some sense I am disappointed in myself. I knew and know that I am capable of such a task, but I did not hold myself to it. However I plan on continuing my Bible reading. I plan to finish it over the break, before spring semester consumes my life.

Bottom line, I feel good. I feel I learned something about myself and about the world in opening the pages to The Bible. I was ignorant that is for sure, and an ignoramous I may still be if only a little less. I find it needless to blog endlessly now to make up for my sloth. I feel it would be like finding god during the Rapture (well no shit). This has been an apocolytic class.

In the words of Edward R. Murrow, "Good night, and good Luck."

Term Paper: Online

The Slave: the internal, external & digression

            The Slave. The slave is not just a man bound by chains, or that is driven by the point of the sword or the barrel of the gun. The slave can be bound by that which exerts no physical force or physical pain. The Slave can be bound and driven by an internal struggle. The slave in that case is bound by faith and belief, driven by principle. Thus is created two types of slaves the slave to the external and the slave to the internal. The external slave driven by the point of the sword or the end of the barrel, bound by chains or the like can define their pain.  This slave can see the source of his/her trials and tribulations. The slave of belief has a more difficult time defining the source. The slave of the self has none to blame, no finger to point, and if he/she were to place the blame upon their own faith and belief it would almost contradict their very existence.  Yet, that slave must at some point acknowledge being a slave to ones self. With no extrinsic force at work, the only option is to look on the inside. In most cases the two versions of the slave are not mutually exclusive, but a hybrid of the two trapped within in the same mortal coil.  

            Great pain and suffering in endured by one with great conviction, and with great conviction also comes great pain and suffering. Strong convictions can create a rigidity of the soul by acting in accordance to a certain faith and belief. Thus in the ebb and flow of societal change the slave is bent and broken over those convictions. Faith in effect acts as a metaphorical rack for the soul, and the slave endures and endures, because on the other side when the vessel is no more and the pain is gone paradise awaits with promises of eternal life. “The true palace lies beyond. Don’t let yourself be barred from it for the sake of a moment’s pleasure.”(Singer 21)Like the child whom told by the father to wait to indulge, to suffer in patient obedience for the treat in the end. The rack of the soul and the source of the pain is manifested from the conflict between the principle and the internal slave’s baser human nature. This internal conflict eats at the slave from the inside out. The soul wants to indulge, and to live.

            The form of the slave is manifested in Isaac Beshevis Singer’s novel The Slave.  The protagonist Jacob is both afflicted by the literal external form of slavery as well as the slavery of the soul, “making him a man at war with himself.” (Singer 36) However the more tragic is Wanda a slave to love the deadliest tyrant of all. Like Socrates had said in Plato’s Phaedrus, love “overpowers a person’s reasoning …this desire, all conquering in its forceful drive, takes its name from the word for force and is called Eros.” (Plato 18) Love. The novel stands as a testament to this dualism of the body and soul and how each is a slave in its own right.

            The typical extrinsic form of slavery exhibits force. One person being quite literally in control of the other etc… That is the quick and dirty of slavery. In fact an even quicker and dirtier way would be looking online for a definition of the word slave. On the other hand there are more implicit aspects of the internal slave, those that cannot be seen. This individual is a slave in the non traditional sense where the forces of enslavement are exerted internally.

            What is more difficult to decipher in Jacob’s case is whether or not he is a slave to God or a slave to religion. He does say at one point, “we are all slaves…God’s slaves.” (Singer 90) It could be argued that because Jacob is bound by orthodox practices of his religion that he is in fact a slave to his religion and not to his God. The religion being the entity that mandates all of the rules and regulations that Jacob must abide by. These guidelines are prescribed as a source of piety in the hopes that it will make him pious and essentially secure for himself a place in heaven after his life of suffering. However, it could also be said that even though he acts as a slave to his belief system, his faith in God acts as his captor. In this case faith serves as Jacob’s connection to God, his God consciousness. But take notice that in the novel Jacob seldom asks Rabbis or fellow Jews for guidance. There is the occasion in which Jacob encounters the Jewish emissary (Rabbi) but there isn’t so much a plea for direction but an attempt to remember what it means to be Jewish. As a side effect he gets a spine when the emissary remarks, “all is foreseen but the choice is given.” (Singer 266) No more asking, pleading, guessing or waiting.

             Despite this instance Jacob more often than not directs his prayers and actions toward direct connection with God. He prays to God, and acts with the assumption that God is watching him and is privy to his inner thoughts. He remarks, “I’m damned already,” (Singer 35) just after the thought of ravishing that sweet gentile Wanda. Throughout the novel it appears that two different entities are involved with the slavery of his soul, religion and God. His religion tells him what to do, what to wear, what to read, what to eat etc…In that sense it would appear that he is a slave to religion and not to God. Jacob does these things invariably because he assumes God is watching but God does nothing says nothing, like a contentious objector. At various moments Jacob does rely on God and not on his religion, in what to seem to be moments of clarity. However they are short lived because he resorts back to what he ‘should’ do, as per the prayers and practices of his religion. In effect this makes him a slave to religious practices and ideology because he believes this, the way to be pious.

            Yet Jacob breaks many of the laws of his religion making him a heretic of sorts, and he still returns. If his God, the God of the Jews is watching Jacob then no doubt he would be very displeased. God would be in the know. Now if God knows that Jacob is breaking the holy laws, and Jacob knows that God knows, then why return and why try so hard to pull of the charade of piety through religion. This is because Jacob is not a slave to God but to his religion. Jacob’s beliefs and faith have everything to do with his religion. Why continue if God knows? Because Jacob doesn’t care about God, he cares about being accepted in society. He is scared to start new, scared to change. He spent so much of is life as a Jew how is he going to start over? So he ignores what God knows and continues to ‘play’ orthodox Jew with his lying gentile wife who is carrying his bastard child. Also quite interesting is Jacob’s affinity for his religion despite all of his quarrels and troubles with those of his same denomination, “the robbed”…who…”had become robbers.” (Singer 270) At the end of the day, the question becomes who is Jacob trying to fool? The answer is himself.

            Then there is Wanda a poor peasant girl that became a slave of love. This is slavery. One only needs a minimal knowledge of poetry and writing regarding love to come to realize the power that love exerts on the love struck individual. “This is the monstrosity in love, lady, that the will is infinite and the execution confined; that the desire is boundless, and the act a slave to limit.” (Shakespeare) Wanda’s actions speak volumes to this proposal. In her case she transformed. She learned the ways of a religion she did not believe, she shaved her head, she changed her name, and she played deaf and dumb. She may have been wanting, but only driven under the lash of love. In the end her husband left her side (not physically) but in his support and protection, he did not stand by her. She died alone. On top of all this buried in an unmarked grave outside the cemetery walls like swine. This was not a willing course of action Wanda was a slave. Slave to love. Slavery in The Slave came in many forms. Humans are slave to themselves and slaves to each other. Slaves to the sword as much as slaves to love itself.

Frye Presentations: Mountain One

Looking back on the film that we presented to the class I am hard pressed to find anyone definite meaning. The conglomeration of our own ideas of the Frye as manifested in our short piece are really representative of the complexity and multilateral meaning that Frye can exude in people. For instance some of the skits in the film had no planning. Meaning that someone would bring up a concept from Frye and we would just run with it. I think the biggest hurtle for the group was overcoming Frye's complex ideas, because of the complexity it lent to an almost nonsensical feeling within the group. We were all over the place. Certain people held one interpretation while others in the group held exactly the opposite. This was difficult considering we had to come up with a sort of group consensus of meaning. The film I think did do a great job of being a representation of our confusion and alternative views. The medium of film allowed us to place somewhat individual perspectives in one a continuous act.

In terms of take aways I think it is hard to say. I would say that the overall idea of the mountain applies to this idea of ascension, both literally and spiritually. Like in the instance where we hiked up the 'M' that would have been representative of literal ascension. The change in altitude bringing us that much closer to God in the most literal sense with a physical change in location on the vertices's of the 'Axis Mundi' On the flip side the mountain as a metaphor alludes to a kind of spiritual ascension that brings about a change in spiritual perspective. Part of that ascension is to rise above the distractions and the literal. That is more or less why we included the interludes of absurd images in reference to distractions. By ascending spiritually we remove the distractions essentially clearing the way for a more in depth and non literal perspective of the Bible.

What I feel is key is that in both instances the person (reader, religious follower, literary theorist) must be an active participant in the act of ascending. In the case of hiking the mountain that is the literal an physical participation in ascension. While the spiritual ascension takes place within the mind, essentially putting the metaphorical mountain with in the mind. You could sit in one spot reading and still take part in the ascension of the mountain. Some would call this faith or spirituality. I don't really feel that either is more correct but both certainly offer different things. You gain a certain connection through the physical ascent and certain things through a metaphorical ascent. For example the Buddhist monk transcends the physical mentally through meditation and prayer, right? He moves without moving. The end result being a spiritual connection and alteration of their perspective. On the other hand you have astronauts who have walked on the moon. I recently watched a documentary "In the Shadow of the Moon" which documents the accounts of the surviving astronauts that stood on the face of the moon. Watch it and you will see that these men through physical act of ascension had a epephatic experiences that changed them forever. They talk about being on the moon like as if they had stood on the mountain top with God himself. So, whether physical or spiritually the ascension is key in human perspective.

Whether that came off in our presentation is another question.

Northrop Frye and the Axis Mundi

There is no doubt in my mind that Northrop Frye is a vast resource when it comes scholarly work on The Bible. However some times I feel that I am reading above and beyond my level of comprehension. For example Frye takes the notion of intertexualtiy to the next level with his seemingly endless conections of The Bible and other texts. Regardless of complexity he is quite interesting, definatley not lacking in the arena of literary intellect.

One thing I found inter woven in the text is the Axis Mundi. Not only in the beginning of the book in the introduction and the first chapter but later on in Frye's chapter "First Variation: The Mountain." To be honest I knew about the Axis Mundi in a sort of innate way prior to reading Frye, and only after reading portions of Frye did I have a name for the "Axis Mundi." Interestingly enough looking into the Axis Mundi I found that the Axis Mundi is sometimes considered to be, "a natural and universal psychological perception." Perhaps that explains this feeling of knowing the Axis Mundi before I "Knew of" the Axis Mundi. However I wonder if the conception of the Axis Mundi is so fundamental in the understanding of the self in relation to the world as portrayed in underlying ways by literature that we are never given an opportunity to conceive of any other form of relational existence. Regardless of the scientific evidence and the presence of the actual the Axis Mundi seems to be some what of a rational human manifestation.

This idea of the Axis Mundi also prompted me to open a book from my "personal archive" entitled You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination by Katherine Harmon. The book touches on notions of personal geographies as a transcendence of the physical into the realm of the imagination, and the innate ability for humans to create within the mind; nations and borders without a prior knowledge of the like. Like the coded nature of words in Frye there is a coded visual language of the map. I feel this is interesting because the notions of the Axis Mundi proposed in Frye in relation to the literary is then manifest in visual form in the mind. What I really find interesting as I observed my mental image of Frye's Axis Mundi and other theoretical maps is that humanity lay in the center of things. We have this notion in of Ascension and Descension with God on top in what most would view as the position of power. While this may be true people have continued to place humanity in the middle, or the center of things. Now the top may be the power position, but being in the center of things has all sorts of implications of power and importance.

This is little excerpt from Leonardo Da Vinci:

"Man is called by the ancients a world in miniature and certainly this name is well applied, for just as man is composed of earth, water, air and fire, so is the body of the earth. If man has in him bones which are the support and armor of the flesh, the world has rocks which are the support of the earth; if man has in himself the sea of blood, in which the lungs rise and fall in breathing, so the body of the earth has its oceanic sea which also rises and falls every six hours for the world to breathe. If from the said sea of blood spring veins which go on ramifying through out the human body, similarly the oceanic sea fills the body of the earth with infinite veins of water."


Yggdrasil from Norse Mythology (not "actual" axis mundi)

Lacking Direction

I feel that I am walking in the shadow of death and I am fearing evil. I really was hoping to be inspired by The Bible. You hear people all the time I was down and out and I found God so on and so forth. Well, for some reason I always felt that The Bible would carry a little bit of that in it. That in some way The Bible carried some codified message that upon reading would open your eyes make life clear and bring, I guess I thought The Bible would be Epiphatic in nature. Thus far I have found Sunday funnies more Epiphatic than The Bible. I must admit that I am only in the book of Numbers. That said I should probably hold off on any lasting judgement of The Bible until I have finished it, or at least until I have climbed from the depths of the old testament.

The Old Testament thus far was not with out good stories however. Adam and Eve always a crowd pleaser, Noah and the Ark, Sodom and Gomorrah, Joseph and his Brothers. And the interesting thing is it precisely why these are the stories that are taught in bible school, and in mainstream Christianity, because they are interesting. The rest I feel like, are we serious? These laws through them out their old absurd contradictory, meddling, racist bigot news. Some are however pertinent but we don't need to Bible to tell us that. Don't have sex with your sister. Got it, thanks Bible good looking out. Don't commit murder, um... we are working on that one. Point being the judicial system has put God out of the smiting business. All this for me at least boils down to, "Why?"

They call it the Good Book in my opinion it should be called "The Shitty book: with some good parts." Yet the damn thing remains so freaking important because it has infiltrated every aspect of western society. What Northrop Frye wrote in Words with Power hit it right on the head, "Nobody would attempt to study Islamic culture without starting with the Koran...why should not a study of Western culture working outwards from the Bible be equally rewarding?" It is for that reason alone that I Roberto Amado-Cattaneo III continue to read The Bible despite an overwhelming internal struggle.

Quick story then I will terminate this communique. Back in June of 2006 I traveled with a group of volunteers to Africa through group called "Urgent Africa" in conjunction with another called "Slum Doctor". Both where not in any way shape or form in allegiance with any religious denomination. Our primary purpose was to deliver medicines and basic first aid to AIDS orphans and widows in a small village called Majiwa, Kenya which is located north of Lake Victoria close to the Ugandan border.Non the less drive from Nairobi we stopped in a small town called Homa Bay outside the larger city of Kisumu. There is were my disdain for The Bible was born.  I witnessed on multiple occasions sermons given by Evangelicals, Catholics, Mormon, etc... in which prophylactics were condemned, and God not science will save them. Heart breaking things to hear, all backed by quotations from The Bible. Not to say that this is all The Bible has to give, but my experience has by no means done The Bible any favors. As I read I try to keep an open mind both a literary sense and in a more "spiritual sense". 

I've got biblical blogger's block.

I know that we have left the Old Testament in the dust, because the semester must go on. However I am not and will not abandon my quest to read The Bible in its entirety. It may be slow going and you all may have left me in the old testament for the greener pastures of the new, but my will is strong and I resolve to finsih the task at hand no matter how long it may take. That said my blogs on The Bible are going to seem archaic, because I am writing of old news. My blog is now an oxymoron in and of itself. Besides being behind in my Biblical reading I wil try to contribute posts that are some what relevant to the class.

I read Leviticus 15: 19-33 to my girlfriend and her replie was:

"God! Not only insulting, but where and the fuck would I get two turtles and two pigeons let alone every month."

I thought it funny, maybe you had to be there.

Now a story. Last friday evening I decided to attend a meeting of which I had never been. So I ventured out alone into the night headed for the Gallatin Gateway. On the way traveling on 191 I almost hit a deer thank God the bugger turned tail at my bumper. Shaken but not detoured I continued on into the night. It was "black as a panther's asshole" that evening. I searched in vain to find the meeting. In hopes of finding it I turned onto the main drag that empty's the highway into town. Then like a specter through the gloom of the night shown bright red lights reading "BAR" over which were enscrolled the words "old faithful". Oh! I ought. The devils hand is at play in attempt to lure me away from new way of life back to the old. I felt like Job himself. With all earnestness I turned my steed of steel around to find that which I sought. As I made my way though town I got on the highway in hopes that my destination lay further down the line. Again in the dark shown another devious place. The "Buffalo Jump" shiny bright, welcoming among the cold and dark road. Oh! This is where the Buffalo jump was hidden and of all times to stumble upon it. I laughed. Oh! How the denial of temptation can be suffering itself. Again I righted myself and continued on. There a neutral ground lay ahead a gas station casino. I left my ride and walked inside I asked a nice old woman, "Do you know where I can find the Gallatin Gateway Community Church?" She replied, "Yes, it is just a couple blocks down on the right". Ah, and there it was down the road to the right. The church was completely dark but cars parked all around I new this was the place. My pseudo salvation hidden in plain sight. As I descended the basement steps the aroma of black coffee and linger of cigarettes clinging to coats. I was safe, I was home. The moral of the story being that it is easier to find sin than salvation. Like Job I stayed the course when it would have been so easy to give in to yield to suffering to succumb to pain. Doing the right thing is not easy.

The Slave: A beautiful tragedy

I am pleased to announce that yesterday I finished Isaac Beshevis Singer's The Slave. What an amazing story. Interestingly enough I didn't find the plot to be that "original", but something about the writing itself lends to the powerful and moving effect of the story on the reader. Lovers are destined for pain and suffering endured by the prospect of true love (e.g. Romeo and Juliet, Harold and Maude, Adam and Eve, The Odyssey). I find myself almost being able to tie love directly to life. Being alive entails suffering almost from the day a life leaves the womb. Similarly with love. The stronger the love for one another the more suffering endured by the lovers. The "love story" really has become archetypal in its portrayal of love- that it is almost always a tragedy. For instance even in a love story where lovers endure no pain and suffering, death is always looming in the background. For in death the lovers will be separated. Bringing to light that in even the most heavenly relationship there will always be a "breakup"- pain and suffering. Just look at The Slave it is absolutely beautiful portrayal of life and love, and further more it is absolutely tragic. I could even go as far as to say that what is incredibly tragic also makes the story incredibly beautiful. The loss of life and the loss of love and the prospect of reuniting seems to me to be a powerful driving force underlying the creation of heaven in The Bible. Just think the existence of heaven doesn't just serve the prospect of eternal life catering to human fears of mortality, but it is a place in which the image of our loved ones can forever reside. It would be too painful to know that the one you loved so dear is nothing more than food for worms (which is true in the most scientific sense). Not only that but the afterlife holds with it the prospect of reunion with those that we have loved and lost. Death brings about purpose, for example in the end Jacob's faith is never so clear and concise. His servitude his enslavement to religion, god, and love all come to a head with his approaching death. In those last pages is where Jacob acknowledges that his spirit will be united with that of god, and his love Wanda/Sarah. At this point there is no questioning his faith or his actions all had been preordained for that final moment. That destiny is never so clear when, "the spade struck bones." This also is a beautiful use of cosmic irony, again making the story that much more tragic. Ah...my heart pangs for Jacob. Job eat your heart out.

Those who have truly loved will not fear the prospect of death.

Argue with someone about The Bible: FAIL

Yesterday I was at the gym. While at the gym I typically try to squeeze in some reading. On this occasion I decided to catch up on some Northrope Frye while I enjoyed the warmth of the sauna, you could say I was Fryeing in the sauna (I love bad puns). While I read a couple gentlemen entered the sauna and took up respective seats on the tiered benches. Then at random one guy asks me what I am reading. I reply, "Northrope Frye's Words with Power." He then asks me if it is a religious book and I ended up explaining that I was in a class that focused on reading The Bible. This prompted him to ask how far in The Bible I have read. I tell him, "Leviticus 10." He then scoffs and says, "You are in the thick of it my friend, nothing as thick as the pentatuc." When he says this I realize this is the guy. I am going to argue the meaning and writing of The Bible in a sauna with this guy. When I asked him about his biblical experience he went on to give me a rundown of his history growing up in kentucky with baptists, and how he had gone to bible school etcetera. Honestly at this point I was thinking,"Fuck. Picked the wrong guy to argue The Bible with." This guy knew his shit. For instance when I would reference a story he could tell me the book and the chapter. That is how good he was. I felt like I had picked a fight with the skinnest nerdiest white kid I could find only to find out he was a quadruple black belt in, "FucYu up." To my shagrin he was knowledgable but did not force his opinions on me. For instance we talked about Exodus and Leviticus and how the rules in there were practical for the survival of the people in there quest in the desert. I agreed on some aspects of his arguement and argued my points of thematic value of story and the integration of societal laws as a method of government and control. All the while the third guy sat there in silence shaking his head periodically, and nodding even less. Come to find out that the guy I had been talking to left the church in college to become and atheist and is now going back to a presbetirian chuch as an adult living here in Bozeman. So fourty five minutes later we end up having exit the suana for risk of heat stroke. He recommened a book called The Message a contemporary translation of The Bible. So all in all I was pleased with the outcome; no punches were thrown, no yelling ensued, actually the whole thing ended with a hand shake.

Psalm 51 and Allegri's Miserere

After hearing the piece in class last week I went out (iTunes) and bought a version of Allegri's Miserere. The version that I purchased was that performed by The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge (recorded in 1997). This version is much clearer than the more famous 1964 recording but lacked that really hair raising high C that we hear in the 1964 performance. The Cambridge choir does have the High C as part of the music however it just doesn't go to that breaking point that is so moving in the older recording. None the less the piece I purchased is still quite moving. That friday I sat down to do some homework which included reading Psalm 51, and as I read this I was listening to Allegri's Miserere. I read the Psalm and sat there with the Miserere Mei, Deus (Psalm 51) on repeat. I must have sat there for twenty minutes listening to the song. I was moved, I was in awe, I was speechless. Later that same day in the afternoon I went to my usual afternoon meeting (AA). Mind you up this point my day had been what I call typical not bad but not terribly exciting either. So the meeting continues as usual, people are speaking and saying useful things but nothing particularly revolutionary. Then as a person is sharing I start to tear up, then before you know it I start to cry. I start to cry in public out of nowhere. I am thinking what the he'll is happening to me? I ended up staying the course and sitting through the rest of the meeting instead of ducking out tail between my legs. People asked me what was up and I literally replied, "In all honesty I am fine". I ended up going for a walk to reflect. And what I came to realize is that I had come to terms at that moment with how fucked up my life had become and that I was the result, and that only a greater power than myself could restore me to sanity. I literally had a spiritual experience. What I think led to such moment of self realization was Allegri's Miserere. I honestly feel that the music had somehow found a chink in my emotional and rational armor making me vulnerable or susceptible to feelings and perceptions that I had defended against for so long and so furiously. Now this may sound extreme, farfetched, nuts, and impossible but it is what happened. This is the power of the word. Maybe Frye is right.

Leviticus 1-7: Sacrifice 101

In all seriousness I don't understand why sacrifice became as important as it did. I understand the premise of sacrifice as the performance of "sacred rights", but why? I know why according to The Bible: because God told Moses (like when children question there parents "Why?" "Becuase I said so."). That still does not satisfy my questions as to why? My question also brings into light how ritual sacrifice seems like a pretty pagan thing to do, and not only that but it would seem that most beleifs and religions across the board beleived in a kind of sacrifice in one form or another. The Aztecs used sacrifice, the Jews, the Scandanavian religions, and the Greeks. Some theorize that the sacrifice comes from hunting traditions as appeasment for the hunter having to have taken another living creatures life. I guess at the end of the day what is interesting is how sacrifice was so important in the Bible and today I think you would be hard pressed to find ritual sacrifice. I am pretty sure in might even be animal cruelty. Really if I think of modern day sacrifice I think of Satanic Worshipers, not bearded jews. Upon searching the internet for clues I stumbled upon a video from the BBC entitiled "Witch Doctors Reveal the Extent of Child Sacrifice." http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8441813.stm It is about modern human sacrifice, and what is interesting is how many similiarites sacrifice in the Bible have to those taking place in Uganda today. Look for the use of Children (kid/lamb) and Unblemished specimens.

Profesor Sexson blew my mind.

The wonderful thing about learning is that you slowly but surely find out how utterly ignorant you are. I came to realize that after Linda Sexson's lecture that I am an intellectual misogynist. I, through years and years of schooling have fallen into the patriarchy's pedagogical trap.

For instance this whole time reading The Bible I have almost entirely focused on the male characters, pushing the female ones to the side, dismissing them as shallow characters in the periphery of the great stories of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Ark, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, and many more. I have come to the conclusion that The Bible really tells two stories at one time. The most obvious is the story of the men of The Bible, and the other is the story of women. The second being the one that you really have to read into, do to The Bible's focus on the righteousness of men and God.

The Bible in no uncertain terms has probably done more to denigrate, subjugate, objectify, and abuse women that any other text in the world. I cannot mention the whole Bible because I have not read it all, but so far it would seem to prove my point. I say this because roughly 168,000 Bibles are sold, and distributed every day. That means this book is quite literally every where. Now if those who have Bibles are being fed this notion of woman as being the cause for all sin (Eve), Harlots (Ghomer), Whores (The whore of Babylon), Incestuous schemers (Lots Daughters). That is just a few that I can remember, but the point being that women don't exactly get fair representation. What is important though is the implications this has on male views of women in our society, and how The Bible has helped perpetrate those misogynistic views.

God I took like four pages of notes I find that I must take a women studies class because this is like learning all over again. I thank Linda Sexson for coming in and sharing her incite with us. One thing that I really took away was Linda's Law #45: All gods are metaphors. Like Paul said in the new testament, "through a glass darkly." We will only have partial understanding.

How to cite (not smite) The Bible.

Recently I was working on a paper for another class and I wanted to reference The Bible. That is when I thought, "how do you reference The Bible?" In all seriousness I have never once used The Bible as a reference in any paper. However upon reading some of The Bible I now know that I have inadvertently quoted The Bible many times over the course of my academic career however this was the only time I have payed any intelectual royalties to it. So first I hunted down my McGraw-Hill Handbook (another type of bible). However that proved to be fruitless because they did not include any specific citations for The Bible or at least citations fitting to The Bible. Then it was off to the internet (another infinite bible) to look for the answers. Low and behold there it was the answer, on the internet. The Bible gets its own special kind of citations. If you are curious go to http://hbl.gcc.edu/citingBIBLE.htm for MLA, APA, Turabian, and Chicago style formats. The Bible realy is a uique thing in many way it truly is a stand alone text in terms of fame and infamy. Also if you notice the word bible I have capitalized in reference to The Bible, however I also use The Bible for its extended meaning. In the dictionary the term bible has taken on the extended meaning of: any book, reference work, periodical, etc., accepted as authoritative, informative, or reliable. Very interesting I find that The Bible has almost become a in and of itself a cliche.

Progress not perfection.

Kudos and Congratulations to those in our class who have enlightened me as to what blogging can do. I found upon sifting through our class blogs that I am not taking the the blogging medium seriously. Until recently I had presumed that the blogging sphere was a cyber realm filled with those cyber geeks who would who hide behind cyber anonymity  ranting and criticizing- people and various topics. How ignorant I was. Some of the members of our class have created some superbly interesting blogs. Some have taken a journalistic approach like Jennifer's blog and others have made theirs a gathering place for ideas and information which they have researched like that of Russell Rickers blog; which includes some interesting definitions and clarifications of words from Exodus, "Thank You Russel." I am coming to the realization that all of your blogs are resources and assets to my journey through the intellectual landscape of The Bible.

In addition to this I am realizing that I am a slacker of the worst kind. I have hid behind the a veil of ignorance and righteousness. Ending with my own ineptitude in the realm of cyber social networking, and cyber communication. I would like to issue an amends by making a formal apology for my ignorance and my slanderous thoughts against facebook, blogging, twitter, so on and so forth.

The Bible, Words with Power, The Slave, The Good Book, Folklore in the Old Testament. I am behind considerably with these five texts looming ominously above, waiting for due dates to exact their wrath upon my head, for I have worshiped false idols: the Internet, television, work. That said it is time to focus on the task at hand.

Currently I have only read up to the book of Leviticus and I am more and more convinced of my beliefs about The Bible. It for me as an individual it as a text and nothing more. I would sooner worship Plato's Gorgias as my religious doctrine (no offense to those who believe in The Bible, like I say to each his own). When I say the bible is a text and nothing more that does not be any means denote that The Bible is meaningless. The Bible has great meaning it has almost single handedly shaped our literary traditions, and the foundations of our country. Most of western societies canonical works bare some reference to The Bible whether or not intentionally or accidentally. So regardless of religious ideals The Bible for me from the perspective of an English and Literature major is a a piece of literary dogma. In terms outside of "truth" The Bible has the ability to influence: people, places, events, things, and even thinking which are all reflected in literature. It is for this reason I continue reading in spite of the daunting task before me. The Bible will be read by the end of this semester or the next.

Till Then.

40 Years and 54 pages in the desert with Moses (Exodus)

Just for fun. Moses parting the red sea. Courtesy of Godview Earth (LOL). Actually found this on http://alfg.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/bible-scenes-via-satellite-as-seen-from-google-earth/moses-parting-the-red-sea/



Enough Shenanigans. I would like to start with a piece I only have now come to appreciate while reading The Bible.

        The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
        It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
        Crushed. Why do men then now not reck
           his rod?
       Generations have trod, have trod;
           And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared, with
                  toil;
           And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell:
                 the soil
        Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

       And for all this nature is never spent;
                 There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
       And though the last lights off the black West went
                  Oh, morning at the brown brink eastward,
                        springs-
       Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
                   World broods with warm breast and with ah!
                         bright wings.
        -1918 (written 1877) Gerard Manley Hopkins

I read this about a year ago and upon reading Exodus (specifically about moses and his convo with god) all I could think of, "Why do men then now not reck his rod."The image of the rod turning to a snake and back again is powerful. I just love how moses says they won't believe me, and God tells him to through down his rod and it turns to a snake, and then back again. You do get this feeling that if Pharaoh doesn't believe him then that should do the trick (which it doesn't). Only the plagues will suffice. Very interesting content in terms of Literature. It is a story of the noble quest.

Two things that I wanted to discuss quickly then I am done. First, typically when I read aloud I read slower than I do when I read to myself. This however is not the case in terms of the bible. The when I read the bible to myself I find myself getting lost, skimming, and lacking comprehension. Now when I read the bible out aloud I find that my pace is quicker, I comprehend more, and it is general kind of fun because who doesn't like speaking Biblicley. Secondly recently my girlfriend was listening (from the kitchen) intrigued. Periodically she will remark, "That is in the Bible?" Neither of us has ever been religious, or the church going type so this is the most Bible exposure we have ever had. When I was reading about moses in Exodus she also said something that cracked me up, "It is like that Disney movie Prince of Egypt." Funny because now I have to watch it in terms of comparison. I am beginning to see that the Bible is the epitome of intertextuality. It is everywhere. Hell I am pretty sure that some of the words used as names/titles for places have become descriptive words in our modern language (e.g. Sodom which is now used as sodomy/sodomize/etc...). If anyone can relate to what I am saying please let me know what examples you find.

"And god said to Abraham, Kill me a son."
               Johnny Cash

Exodus!

The Bible is rough. I don't consider myself to be completely inept when it comes to reading and comprehension but the Bible is starting to make me reconsider. I feel like I am on a plot line that looks like a roller coaster with bends, turns, dips, dives, curly ques and whoopdy doos. For context I am just now reading the book of Exodus. Genesis I thought would be the straight forward book, the one I would just fly through (not true). Now I know why they have bible college, LOL.

David Plotz has thus far been my life line and partner in crime. I feel his pain, and laugh when he laughs. By reading Plotz  I am able to go back and pick up what I had missed in various chapters. The book should be called the bible buddy.

To add insult to injury my Penguin Bible is falling apart. Genesis has completely fallen from the book, I now have Genesis leaflets. My bible is on a diet plan, getting thinner as time goes by. I didn't know I bought a biodegradable Bible (does it have an expiration date?). At this rate my Bible will have disintegrated by the time I get to Leviticus.

One book I haven't been able to put down is the Slave by Singer. My goodness it is just a good book to read, and brings to life some of the little tidbits we have read in the Bible.

I am reaching a kind of plateau. I find myself just staring at the Bibles tissue paper pages trying to draw meaning from seemingly endless and repetitive chaos. I was having fun at first but now it is a chore. Every time I pick it up I become ill (not really but that is how I feel). If the King James version is the most updated version then we need a even more updated version. There should be a George W. Bush edition of the bible written in terms even he could understand (myself included). I am an English Lit major and I am at the limit of what I can swallow. I would gladly take War and Peace at this moment. However to quote Wilfred Owen, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge." I will keep up the good fight.

P.S. Still have not received my Frye and Frazer books damn you UPS!

Non Literary text as Literary text and Bible Progress not perfection.

It would seem that more often than not in Literary studies of any kind, readers must do close readings of the texts that they are studying. For example we in class together did a pseudo close reading of Sam's receipt. We gained all sorts of interesting insight from the information on the receipt, like dates times, there was kegger hosted by Sam (at that point the receipt becomes evidence). That word for me is key, "Evidence." To clarify I am not talking about evidence in a case like criminal evidence, I am talking about evidence as it pertains to historical record, something to be looked back on. A piece for reflection.

For instance I just got a new job. So recently I had to read through the orientation hand book, and it has all sorts of rules and regulations, as well as the businesses mission statement etc... What is funny is that it is like a bible for an Italian restaurant. In the beginning it says, "Paul and Karen Ward, as proprietors, welcome you...this franchise brought to you through an agreement with Fired-up Inc., the corporate owner..." really the opener that I extracted these lines from is a creation story of another kind not unlike Genesis. The CEO of the corporation goes by the name Abdallah (biblicalish). Then there is a sort of 10 commandments of working at the Italian restaurant and I quote:

"In the Villages of the Italian Countryside:"

1. The elderly are revered and respected for their wisdom.
2. Children are adored, and well attended.
3.Romance is cherished, so couple receive warm, yet unobtrusive, service and hospitality.
4.There is room for families to gather around big tables to enjoy a leisurely meal.
5.Single diners may be alone, but not lonely-they are welcomed with gracious service.
6. No on is a stranger-all are made to feel at home.

I could go on and on with the biblical type similarities. This presented to me how much of the Bible really acts as an ancient and archaic orientation hand book for life.

Another thing I wanted to add quickly is that I have got to read the Bible Carefully. I would read the Bible then read Plotz's "The Good Book" and see that I missed something in my reading. I would then go back over the Bible reading and what do you know I read right of it. For instance Plotz was talking about the three wise men coming to Abraham, and I thought, "Whoa! When did that happen?" Then I would go back over it an what do you know three wise men. Bottom line my reading is going really slow because otherwise I am just not picking up what the God put down (text on the page). Just finished Genesis, going on into Exodus, slow and steady wins the race?

Detour Ahead

So there I was minding my own business, reading some material for my Rhetoric and Composition class and boom! There is some information on the Biblioteca ("I believe that is spanish for bible" Ron Burgundy), and given that I am concurrently looking at the Bible I decided to look into it. The piece was called "Pursuasion in Greek Literature before 400 B.C." taken from a book titled, A New History of Classical Rhetoric by George Kennedy. In it, on page 12 he refers to, "the Gospel according to Saint John and, "In the Begining was the Word," where it refers to God's plan and thus to Christ. Logos is thus a very broad concept." So in the begining there was the word, well at least according to John. Later Kennedy goes on to write about christians problem with rhetoric and his evidence is this from the bible, "Saint Paul in first Corinthians (2:4) rejects the "wisdom of this world": "My speech and my proclamation are not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, in order that your faith may not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." If I may interject Mr. Paul, but if I am not mistaken the Bible was written by men. Even if it is in fact the word of God it was transcribed by men. Hell, one transciptionists error in that text could have changed history, and who's to say that there weren't errors in the transcription of the bible; additions, subtractions, revisions, reversal of wording. Robin Williams once had said, "what if thou shall not kill was actually supposed to be thou shall not wear kilts."

As far as the differences between Genesis 1 & 2 they seem slight yet still noticeable. The shift from, "God" to "Lord God" are interesting, because in the first paragraph the writer uses the just "God" then starting in the second paragraph lines 4 and 5 the writer switches to the use of "Lord God." Why you ask, I don't know seems fishy, jesus fishy. Then it is true that the writer goes on to recapitulate the creation myth in different terms. This second version, or creation 2.0 if you will, is by far more poetic in style. Now was this just to one up the first writer I don't know I wasn't there, but there must be purpose for it. One more tid bit I noticed was that the second piece was on the borderline of giving out the directions to the garden of eden (some lattitudes and longitudes would be helpful). I will continue to not read everyones blogs to find the answer, just kidding.

Till next time blogging bible buddies.

And on the third day I rest (out of shear exhaustion)

Currently I am reading the bible (as many of you already know). Thing is that holy moses it is thick/dense. Thus far I am really struggling with the book of Genesis, and believe you me I am filled with contempt. In terms of literature the Genesis comes off like an elementary student wrote it. Now, I am not saying that the content is giving me trouble it is the writing itself. Like in most stories and literature there is exposition, and in the case of the Bible I find myself scratching my head. For instance in Genesis at the "Beginning" (both literally and figuratively) days are simplified into a mere sentences and it would seem if there where anytime for descriptive language in a 1,900 page book now would be the time (not that I care for any description, just an observation).

The writer(s)/author(s) in Genesis have personally written the hand book for Misogyny, and Anti-Eco friendly treatment of our planet (I am not a vegetarian, I just like our planet, I live here.) Look at verses 1 line 30-31 for the Eco stuff, and Verse 3 lines 8-14. This is not to say that there aren't more examples I have found I just wanted to provide evidence for my claims so I am not here blowing smoke up my own ass.

Good Night, and Good Luck

Popping the blogging cherry!

This is a test blog. As opposed to a serious and in depth blog, explaining the trivialities of life and opinions. Bible here I come. Yee Haa!