"Emo Philips Tells A Story About Heretic Scum. Trump Picks Up Where Emo Leaves Off"
https://newsfrombarbaria.
https://newsfrombarbaria.
I just stumbled on the audio file (at the bottom of this email) which - unlike other "Jonah links" in my archives - seems to work!
I think this re-working of "Jonah" -- the shortest book in the bible with just a few pages -- is exactly how the bible (or any sacred scripture) should be rendered and taught. (Here is the entire text of "Jonah" from the New International Version of the bible. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jonah%202&version=NIV )
Whenever I attempt to determine the lineaments of truth, I do so from the conviction that "the fullness of truth" ONLY emerges in a rich context. (Frankly, far more often than not, uncontextualized truth is a convenient vehicle for the propagation of blinkered, ideologically-driven falsehood.)
I also believe that "any text, without a context, is a pretext."
"Unless Truth Is Richly Contextualized, It Is Likely That Uneducated, Ideologically-Driven People (Who Never Learned How To Think In Context), Will Use Fragmented Shards Of Truths To Tell Colossal Lies"
"How Conservatives Use Decontextualized Shards Of Truth To Tell BIG Lies"
"Truth Infuriates People Whose Lives Are Lies"
The fundamental truth that "any text, without a context, is a pretext" has been stonewalled since "holy books" were first written.
And this ongoing "maiming-of-meaning" is, in large part, attributable to the widespread (ubiquitous?) tendency of philosophical-and-theological absolutists to insist that their black-and-white worldviews are indisputably, incontrovertibly true.
And so, these rigid, stiff-necked people (as they are often called in the bible) build "houses of cards," clinging to what they call "literalism" as the only way to determine truth.
But often - if not routinely - questing after impossible "literalism" is not only the worst way to determine truth, but the easiest way to supplant substantive truth with "shades" of falsehood. This substitution of truth with falsehood manifests in nearly every "Christian" "conservative" who believes that their particular truth is THE precise, literal Truth, when, in fact, everyone's truth diverges (to a greater or lesser extent) from everyone else's.
Biblical "Literalism" And The Cultivation Of Hatred
Often, the most infernal outcomes are attributable to the most simpleminded manifestations of faith.
It is simply inadequat and misleading to say that "God said it. I believe it. That settles it."
It is an "inconvenient truth" that many people -- particularly "Christian" "conservatives" (who are neither) -- are tormented by the ever-present possibility of "eternal damnation," and that there is no better way to be "assured" of one's personal salvation (an essentially ego-centered enterprise) than "pointing their finger" at all the satanically evil people (i.e., baby killers) in comparison with whom "Christian" "conservatives" are surely SAVED!
Hillary and Tom Hanks drinking baby's blood in murderous satanic rituals illustrates how this absurdity masquerades as "truth."
If you are not familiar with "salvation assurance," it is a big deal in Christianity.
The following article will "fill you in." https://scrupulosity.com/assurance-of-salvation/
All of us - but absolutists in particular - spin truth according to our built-in preferences and prejudices.
But real measures can be taken to minimize distortion and misrepresentation.
Tragically, "Christian" "conservatives" are (in the main) poorly educated people who, because they never undertook the lenghty, meticulous educational process of learning "how to think in deep context," exempt themselves from any need to learn "in depth."
They justify their deliberate ignorance by droning on about St. Paul's observation that "the wisdom of the world is folly before God."
In fact, the wisdom of the world is epitomized by their demigod, Donald Trump.
I find that Anne Herbert's re-telling of Jonah is inimitably - and insuperably - good.
I hope you enjoy it.
Pax et amor
Alan
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Alan Archibald <alanarchibaldo@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, May 27, 2022 at 5:21 PM
Subject: My Recording of "The Story of Jonah and the Whale" by Anne Herbert ("Jonah" is the shortest book in the bible - just a few pages long)
To: Maria Archibald, Daniel Archibald
From: Alan Archibald <alanarchibaldo@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, May 27, 2022 at 5:21 PM
Subject: My Recording of "The Story of Jonah and the Whale" by Anne Herbert ("Jonah" is the shortest book in the bible - just a few pages long)
To: Maria Archibald, Daniel Archibald
Dear Maria and Danny,
You may have heard this recording already, but after several years being unable to access this file, I finally figured it out.
It is, I think, such an extraordinary tale (as told by Anne Herbert, an early collaborator of Whole Earth Catalog's, Stewart Brand) that I am confident it will have wide appeal.
I hope it brings you pleasure - and perhaps a measure of insight - in the welter of our wacky world.
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