Comments on The Forbidden Gospels Blog: Communal memory in operation

I don't think that any of this is a problem for ev...

2008-10-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

I don't think that any of this is a problem for evangelicals or the religious right. Hypocrisy is never an issue when power is the goal. The evangelicals have never been satisfied with religious freedom. They want domination of religion, their brand of religion, their ideology. Palin can help get them there. Making a split between the secular and spiritual worlds is helpful to their desire for power. Power is the goal and anything you can do to get there is okay.

On the subject of cultural memory, scholars are still doing a poor job in biblical studies. It is still de rigueur to erase Jewish evidence from the New Testament. Jesus' Jewishness is still one of the most feared subjects in the world. Scholars still keep imposing their own views on the ancient texts. Instead of letting the evidence speak for itself, they do all they can to eliminate any pro-Jewish evidence and exaggerate the anti-Jewish evidence. There is a very long history to "remembering" the Gospels this way and no one is willing to challenge it. So when power is misused to study ancient texts, it is not at all surprising that we still have problems with other expressions of power trumping objectivity (which is not the same as neutrality as April has pointed out).

Leon Zitzer

And how can fundies be so enthusiastic for someone...

2008-10-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

And how can fundies be so enthusiastic for someone who calls herself "Joe Sixpack?" I thought drinking beer was for bad people!

Fundy standards sure are changing. First they let guitars in churches and next thing it will be keggers.

Send me material and links that you have noticed a...

2008-10-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Send me material and links that you have noticed about these shifting communal memories.

Thanks again for a great post, and for re-membering. Here are a few items:

1) The blog Complegalitarian promotes vigorous discussion about some of these issues. A post on the contradictory "complementarian" views on Palin has generated more than 220 comments so far.
http://complegalitarian.blogspot.com/2008/08/woman-vice-president.html

2) The same Seminary that ousted Klouda because she was a woman (and would teach men - horrors!) has had an undergrad degree for women only, in homemaking. According to the administration's hermeneutics, men could teach the women in these "homemaking" classes; but, of course, the goal is to keep women in the kitchen and the bedroom and out of the theology faculty and the pulpit, so it seems.

3) The Chronicle of Higher Ed today reports on how men in the Political Science Dept at Rutgers are discriminating against the female faculty members and graduate students. (I posted on that here).

First, I'm a Presbyterian. That's PCUSA. But I w...

2008-10-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

First, I'm a Presbyterian. That's PCUSA. But I went to Fuller back in the 1970's when women were first being granted MDivs at Fuller. Also had women profs then @ Fuller. I thought I was an Evangelical and the Southern Baptists are Fundamentalists!

Interesting piece on communal memory as an organic...

2008-10-06T14:04:00.000-07:00

Interesting piece on communal memory as an organic, changing entity. But is “the Truth” organic and changing, or does it always stay the same? It seems to me that the Southern Baptists have made their brand of Christianity (even as we are seeing them make it now) into something other than what it was in the beginning. They are concerned about enforcing their selected version of morality, and will change doctrines, create new dogmas, or do whatever they have to do to preserve it. I especially like the words of the Texas paster/blogger that you cited, who said that “the overwhelming evangelical support [of Palin] demonstrates a willingness to sacrifice biblical principles for politics.” In this vein I am reminded of the words of Frederick Nietzsche, who said that “The ‘good’ do not believe that morality is necessary, they believe only that the police are necessary.” So, in my view, they are not concerned with what the Bible tells them they should believe, but rather with what their own sense of morality tells them they should advocate and enforce. Thus, as the Word says, “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” (Jeremiah 5:30-31)

Hmm. Sounds like all the more reason to vote for ...

2008-10-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hmm. Sounds like all the more reason to vote for McCain/Palin. It's a victory for feminists recognizing the value of women in the workforce and it helps "fundamentalist Evangelicals" broaden their perspective while still meeting biblical guidelines. This sword cuts from both sides and radical fundamentalist feminists are being caught in a very similar bind.