This Should Be Splashed On The Headlines

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7958039.stm

Tourists in Iraq! Of course, good news about Bush's war doesn't make the headlines.

clever

a humorous and interesting note, by an Orthodox Priest, discussesing the King James Version of the Bible, and some sly translation therein.

"First, in order to make the argument for the King James, those who believe in that text make an argument for Holy Tradition. That is, the argument is not simply that the Textus Receptus is a manuscript that survived entire and supposedly unchanged. Read the sites and you will see that the argument goes further and claims that the Holy Spirit preserved this particular version to ensure the purity of God’s word. As you can imagine, I have no problem with arguments from Holy Tradition. I love arguments from Holy Tradition. I agree that the Holy Spirit has preserved in the Church the Truth that was passed down from the Apostles. I simply do not agree that the Textus Receptus is part of that Holy Tradition, though the Bible itself is. But, I find it humorous that fundamentalists argue from Holy Tradition about a particular Greek text while denying that God could have preserved anything else by his Holy Spirit. In fact, the King James only people are, in just about every case, radically against any type of tradition, liturgy, church structure, etc. That is, in every case but this one...

Third, the original King James version is quite helpful in making an argument for Holy Tradition because its translation of a certain Greek word is more honest and more consistent than in several modern Protestant English translations. That Greek word is paradosis. If you look it up, it is the word commonly translated “tradition.” Except for one verse, the King James faithfully translates it “tradition.” That one exception is corrected in the New King James version. But, in several modern Protestant versions, there is an unfaithful switcheroo pulled. In them, the word paradosis is translated as “tradition” only when either Our Lord Jesus or one of the apostles is speaking against the practice. If they speak positively of the practice, then paradosis is translated as anything but “tradition.” Let me give you a couple of examples:

King James Version
2 Thessalonians 2:15 — Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

2 Thessalonians 3:6 — Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

New King James Version
1 Corinthians 11:2 — Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

Compare with the New International Version
1 Corinthians 11:2 — I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 — So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

2 Thessalonians 3:6 — In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.

Compare with The Message
2 Thessalonians 2: 15 — Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter.

2 Thessalonians 3:6 — Our orders—backed up by the Master, Jesus—are to refuse to have anything to do with those among you who are lazy and refuse to work the way we taught you.

You see, one good way to destroy Orthodox and Catholic arguments about Holy Tradition is simply to deliberately mistranslate a word when it is found in a context that could give “aid and comfort” to the people with whom you disagree. Nevertheless, I find it humorous that the Bible most often used by hard-core KJV-only people contains translations that are accurate with respect to Holy Tradition and help us make our case."

[emphasis added]

The Ruins of Detroit

This house is quite similar to one that Josh Bedford and I did the electrical work on during a pretty sweet renovation project. It started a lifelong desire to own a big old house with a turret and a vaulted ceiling in the third story. And a spiral staircase.

Progress

This from an old post on "A Cool, Wet Place," illustrating an excellent point--nothing equalizes communities like firearms. They are the ONLY weapon that does not discriminate on the basis of upper body strength, weight, and reach. They are the only option for people too diminutive, undernourished or outnumbered to put up a resistance to injustice. Disarming the helpless is the first step in commanding and controlling them with fear.

" "[Young, educated Afghan woman] Ms. Ellaha's younger sister, who had been pledged [to marry] another cousin, was facing the same treatment. After a week of being tied up, the two sisters agreed to marry their cousins. "So we went home," Ms. Ellaha added, "and escaped."

"The two sisters moved into a cheap guesthouse as they prepared to flee Afghanistan. But their family learned where they were hiding, and the police came to arrest them."

"The police subjected Ms. Ellaha to a mandatory virginity test. Fortunately, her hymen was intact, or she would have faced a prison sentence."

I didn't provide a link to this because after two weeks of being online, NYT content morphs into pay-per-view. It's from Kristof's 10/6/04 column "Beaten Afghan Brides." You can tell it's good from the dateline "Kabul, Afghanistan" whereas I'm betting if most of the other columnists were honest, they would have datelines like, "Sitting At Home, In My Underwear."

But back to the substance of the article. I have an idea that might provide women in poor, lawless, fundamentalist countries with a measure of security and equality. It would be cheap to implement, have immediate effect, and be applicable in a wide range of cultures:

Give women guns.

I say this as a registered Democrat, an Ivy League graduate, an idolizer of reason and culture, and a vegetarian. Reform of civil society, enforcement of human rights, separation of church from state; these are all great things. But of greater imminence to women in poor countries is the terribly pressing need to NOT BE BEATEN, RAPED OR MURDERED. And since police are usually doormats for whatever stone age tribalism is closest at hand, I say again: Give women guns. They don't have to form an army or even be very good shots. Yet all the same, the presence of armaments fundamentally changes the relationship of the rulers to the ruled."

[emphasis mine]

"The presence of armaments fundamentally changes the relationship of the rulers to the ruled."

That's why I'm pissed off at our President's administration for destroying perfectly good brass cartridges at cost to the government instead of letting civilians re-use them for peaceful, legal target shooting. He's making it clear that he doesn't think Americans should be trusted with firearms. Once you disarm a country, those communities of shooters that are necessary for the fostering of knowledge and practice that makes for civilian marksmanship disappear. And they don't come back easily when you need them. You effectively remove a set of survival mechanisms from your society's gene pool. You end up with a society of individuals who are just a little more helpless, just a little more reliant on expensive and unreliable specialists for their own survival. They are just a little more domesticated and a little less free--closer to sheep and farther from mountain goat. That might come back to haunt your children when their America is less prosperous and secure than it is today.

Some Viewing

The Wire totally had me at "Hello:"



"This America, man!"

This looks like a pretty sweet movie (thanks Ethan Zuckerman). You've got guys rapping about keeping governors accountable and being involved in the political process in Dakar, Senegal. (Hey! I got friends from Dakar!)


African Underground: Democracy in Dakar - Episode # 1 from Nomadic Wax on Vimeo.

Also, Dave Matthews goes to Senegal:



I didn't realize til I saw this video that Dave is the amazing piano savant from this episode of House. Now that I see Dave Matthews not acting like an idiot savant...I kinda see how he played the role so well?

So's you all know...

Here's a little update from the late shift.

It's closing on my 26th birthday, which is a little scary. Last year around this time, I was gearing up for Officer's Candidate School. Part of that gearing up process was a high-intensity running schedule, during which I sustained bilateral (that's both-side-ical in medical jargon) lower leg injuries due mostly to bad shoes and an idiotic determination to "run through the pain." After months of trying to treat shin splints through all sorts of techniques and resting and physical therapy, it's finally been confirmed by X-Ray that I sustained at least one stress fracture, in my right tibia. I went in for a bone scan last week to see if there were any more. Still waiting for the results on that. I have an appointment with an orthopedist to see if I'll ever be able to get back on my feet.

And, in the meantime, I've thoroughly enjoyed plugging myself back into life here at Houghton. I'm working with the volunteer rescue squad again, hosting game nights on Wednesdays with an exciting variety of local guys, and getting psyched for another riding season (the snow is almost completely gone now!). At some point, I'll put some feet on a new career search (ideas, anyone?), but for the meantime, taking an EMT refresher course, applying for another part-time job in emergency dispatch, and making more trips back home to Michigan is keeping me busy enough.


Thought of the day, from the Fellows of the Boar's Head Tavern:

“Living in the age of sensation, we think that if we don’t feel something, there can be no authenticity in doing it. But the wisdom of God says something different, namely, that we can act ourselves into a new way of feeling much quicker than we can feel ourselves into a new way of acting. Worship is an act which develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God which is expressed in an act of worship. When we obey the command to praise God in worship, our deep, essential need to be in relationship with God is nurtured.” -Eugene Peterson