Exploring Our Matrix

You Don't Know The Language Until You Can Say "Fireman"

2008-07-06T00:14:00.000-04:00

I'm always on the lookout for resources related to the Mandaic language, primarily its ancient classical form, but also the modern spoken version. (If anyone ever comes across a copy of the Drower and Macuch Mandaic Dictionary, please let me know!) Today I came across "Mandaean school lessons in English", in fact a single lesson in a Word document. The early pages of this online lesson are confusing, with what seems like it should be an introduction to the Mandaic alphabet in fact giving Arabic letters (go here for a clearer presentation of the Mandaic alphabet). But eventually it gets to a conversational lesson. And before its over, you will know how to say fireman in the modern Mandaic dialect.

Mandaic as a spoken language has persisted more among Mandaeans in Iran than those in Iraq, perhaps because Farsi is from a completely different language family (Indo-European), whereas Mandaic and Arabic spoken in Iraq are both Semitic languages, and in all but a very few places, various forms of Aramaic found themselves overpowered by the ease of transfer to Arabic as a spoken language.

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying working on Syriac, and trying my hand at not only the Peshitta but also a new chrestomathy (i.e. selection of texts) published by Gorgias Press, `Enbe men Karmo Suryoyo. And reading various Mandaic texts in English translation today (with consultation of the facsimile of the original and/or Drower's transliteration at key points), I found some very interesting hints about the group's history and relation to Judaism and other traditions. I'm looking forward to getting some of my findings and thoughts so far into writing over the coming week!

Christian Identity and Dalit Religion in Hindu India, 1868–1947

2008-07-05T01:17:00.000-04:00

My colleague Chad Bauman's forthcoming book on conversion to Christianity in India is now listed on Amazon and on the publisher's web page. Here are the details:

Chad Bauman, Christian Identity and Dalit Religion in Hindu India, 1868-1947 (Studies in the History of Christian Missions) (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008).

Congratulations, Chad!

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-04T09:00:00.002-04:00

It is the 4th of July, and in the United States, we often find people mixing Christianity and nationalism in ways that are at best ironic, and at times downright contradictory. The 4th of July is thus an appropriate day for reflection on Christianity, nationalism, and what might have been different had the colonies in the New World not fought for their independence.

First, we should remember the ways that Jesus challenged the nationalism of his time. There has been some interesting discussion of Bible translation in the blogosphere lately. If we're going to translate so as to make the meaning intelligible to any reader in a language today, then we have to effectively translate the impact of the story or saying, and the shock it would have caused to its original hearers.

I wonder how many American Christians would value their Bibles as highly as they do now in theory, if they contained such dynamically equivalent translations, and said things like "Many will come from Iraq and Afghanistan and take their place in the kingdom of God, while many Americans will be cast out." Ouch!

We also need to remember that today we celebrate our declaring our independence from a "Christian empire", and our independence surely contributed to the weakening and downfall of that empire. With the wealth and potential for expansion that ended up in the hands of the United States rather than Britain, presumably England's empire would have remained powerful for much longer. Its holdings also included the Middle East, and so all those lines that the British drew when they withdrew, creating nation-states that separated people who wanted to be together and lumped together people who wanted to be separate, would perhaps not be there even today.

Where would the Baptists and others who valued religious freedom have fled to?

Without this loss of prominence and dominance, would the Church of England have become such a broad tradition with such a progressive outlook in at least some quarters, ordaining women and eventually even homosexuals?

If the "United States" had remained part of this "Christian empire", then rather than celebrating our independence today, there might be many groups, including Christian groups, hoping and praying and perhaps even fighting for their independence from us.

Think about it... and remember, if we don't use our independence wisely, Alan Baxter, John Cleese and/or the Queen might still revoke it...

Have a happy 4th of July!

Exploring Our Matrix contains no four-letter words

2008-07-03T22:40:00.002-04:00

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

The Passion of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

2008-07-03T10:52:00.002-04:00

An Appeal To The Public About Intelligent Design

2008-07-02T22:55:00.008-04:00

Scientific theories are tested by scientists, whether in labs or in real-life scenarios that relate to the theory. Taking measurements, creating laboratory scenarios, painstakingly eliminating extraneous influences in a controlled environment, making repeated observations - all that is the stuff of science, the way science proceeds.

The proponents of "Intelligent Design" (or cdesign proponentsists, as they are also known) has chosen to promote its "theory" (thus showing it to in fact be an ideology) before the court of public opinion. It has bypassed all the methods that have been tried and tested over recent centuries, the methods that have made science such a powerful mode of inquiry, and have made use of distractions and switcheroos when legitimate scientists have analysed their claims. They have claimed that the public can assess the evidence, can make the right choice.

Yet when a conservative, Republican-appointed judge is called upon to examine the evidence regarding their claims to be doing science, and finds against them, they complain that he was "ill equipped to preside over the case".

Public, I am appealing to your intelligence directly. The proponents of Intelligent Design are presenting their message to you directly because they are confident that you are sufficiently "ill equipped" to be taken in by their claims. They are pandering to you, confident that you will vote with your gut rather than take the time to carefully investigate their claims. They are sure you will be swayed, not by the scientific evidence, but by the Christian apologist's prologue and the context that sets for their message. In short, they are banking on you deciding matters according to truthiness rather than truth.

Members of the public, I appeal to you to not allow these charlatans and tricksters to insult your intelligence in this way. Check their claims, investigate the facts, and show them that the public is smarter than they have hoped.

A Puzzle For The Would-Be Student Of Mandaic

2008-07-02T14:31:00.005-04:00

OK, let me see if I've got this straight. There are scarcely any resources readily available to enable one to learn Mandaic, and most of the resources that have ever existed are out of print and, if one can even find a copy, very expensive.

Yet there are apparently enough people who know Mandaic for there to be a market for these "I Can Be You Mandaic Teacher" T shirts on amazon.com.

Hmm...

If anyone else is working on the language (or planning or hoping to do so), all I can say is I hope you encounter someone wearing this T-shirt!

Family Guy: Blue Harvest

2008-07-01T22:32:00.007-04:00

At the recommendation of several of my students, I watched the Family Guy - Blue Harvest, the Family Guy Star Wars parody episode. Although there was a fair bit of rude humor and other aspects that are not for the faint hearted, some of it was so well done as to deserve a recommendation.

Among the funniest moments were these [SPOILERS ALERT]:

Princess Leia trying to save her message for Obi-Wan, and R2D2's interface is like Windows. The menu says things like "You need to download Real Player 7 to continue"...

Tatooine's talk radio station WTAT discusses the liberal media's claims that Hoth is melting.

John Williams gives a live performance of the wonderful, haunting music that plays while Luke watches the binary sunset. As a result, conductor and orchestra are all killed when the Stormtroopers come back looking for the droids - which leads Luke to complain that now they'll have to do the rest of the show with Danny Elfman!

Han Solo says that hyperspace always looks so freaky - and out the cockpit is the opening from the Tom Baker season of Doctor Who.

On Death Star News, in order to reassure those who found the destruction of Alderaan controversial, report on the finding of weapons of mass destruction on the planet. They also report on the Ewok pride parade.

On the Death Star, they try to find their way around using a mall map, encounter the imperial march as elevator music, end up in a Stormtrooper church, and try to take a couch with them that had been thrown away, which they found in the trash compactor.

I have no plans to ever watch Family Guy again. If you are unfamiliar with the series, be warned that it is not at all for children: the episode I watched contains profanity, drug references, allusions to Obi Wan Kenobi having been a pedophile, and all sorts of other nastiness that is supposed to be funny. But as far as adults are concerned, anyone who is a Star Wars fan ought to see this one episode (which you can watch online) of Family Guy. There is enough great Star Wars humor in it to make it worth putting up with the rest. And be sure to watch it all the way through to the end, where there is a self depricating reference to Robot Chicken having beaten them to the punch with its own cartoon Star Wars spoof!

Nosrim wa-Minim = Nasuraiia wa-Mandaiia?

2008-07-01T15:22:00.006-04:00

Scholars of both the Bible and Rabbinic literature will be familiar with discussions of the Eighteen Benedictions (Shemoneh Esreh) and the debates about the history and original form of the "birkat ha-minim", the "blessing (i.e. cursing) of the heretics". Many New Testament scholars have intersected with this subject as it has been discussed in connection with the setting of the Fourth Gospel.

Eventually, Christianity did indeed become a significant enough factor for Judaism to need to interact with it in a major way. But just how much of a problem was Jewish Christianity in the first few centuries? In fact, the number of specifically anti-Christian polemical passages in early Rabbinic literature is relatively small.

I've argued in an article I wrote about "two powers heresy" that the original focus of this designation was Gnosticism, and only later it came to be applied to Christian beliefs. It may well be that Gnosticism was a more serious issue for Judaism in the earliest period.

If so, and if as seems likely the Mandaeans originated as a Jewish Gnostic sect, then could the condemnation of the heretics in some forms of the Eighteen Benedictions have singled them out? Could the (mostly Gentile) Christians who assumed they were important enough to be singled out for cursing in the synagogues have had an exaggerated sense of their importance to Jews?

The rabbis have always loved puns. Perhaps it is time to seriously consider whether the curse on the "minim" and "nosrim" may not have been aimed at the "mandaiia" (Gnostics/Mandaeans) and "nasuraiia" (Gnostics/Nasoreans), two key self-designations of the Mandaeans.

Intelligent Design Is Pure Science...

2008-07-01T12:51:00.007-04:00

"Intelligent Design is pure science" has been the claim of the movement associated with this name from the outset. And now you can read about it in a brand new book that explains what Intelligent Design is. The foreword to the book is written by a well-known conservative Christian apologist (and one of the authors is that famous apologist's son).

Hey, wait a minute...How are we supposed to parody this viewpoint when the reality sounds like a joke?!

At any rate, John Pieret has a better explanation of what Intelligent Design is (or why it is).

Elsewhere in the blogosphere, NT Wrong has an interview with the author of Saving Darwin (also here) and statistics on Republicans and creationism. Open Parachute has posts on "I didn't come from a monkey" (OK, maybe monkeys that can count) and whether most Americans are persuaded by the evidence for evolution. The Evolution of Mystery has a scary Gallup poll and Bob Cornwall has more Pew findings. Pisteuomen looks at the Genesis creation stories as parody. The Center for Progressive Christianity has news, book reviews and sermons.

Mystical Seeker has several interesting posts on subjects like "Why Religion?" and Keith Ward's book Rethinking Christianity. Biology in Science Fiction has Robert Sawyer on the relevance of sci fi for today. Metanexus has several posts on cybernetics, transhumanism and the posthuman future. Blogging Faith has a post on politicians' beliefs about salvation. And at long last, Codex has the XXX Biblical Studies Blog Carnival. That should get a few hits from people looking for something else...

Have We LOST The Doctor?

2008-06-30T22:59:00.003-04:00

I just watched the latest episode of Doctor Who, "The Stolen Earth" [SPOILER WARNING for American viewers]. Fan sites are abuzz with speculation about what is going on, since David Tennant is supposed to be back as the Doctor in subsequent episodes.

But Davros had been monitoring earth and watching LOST - that's where he got the idea to hide the planets a second into the future. And that, I think, is how the Doctor's new self, a second ahead of the universe, will somehow not prevent his present self from continuing.

Not that that makes sense, but whether it is LOST or Doctor Who, one needs a generous dose of suspension of disbelief. Then again, if we live in a world where our present understanding of Quantum mechanics is correct, and a universe in which time travel is possible, then most of our notions of what "makes sense" are destined to be discarded.

Syriac, Aramaic, and Mandaic: Learn One Language, Three Dialects, For The Price Of Five Alphabets

2008-06-30T12:24:00.006-04:00

Many people are (or ought to be) interested in learning the language Jesus spoke as his native tongue, and in which his words were first uttered: Aramaic. It is also the language in which a few parts of the Bible were written, as well as the Talmud, Targums (paraphrases of the Jewish Scriptures), and other Jewish literature.

Syriac, the dominant language of the Eastern church for a very long time, is essentially the same language, written with any of three different scripts. Aramaic is written in the 'square letters' that most people associate with Hebrew, but in fact originally this was the Aramaic alphabet. Syriac and Aramaic are dialects, rather than distinct languages. [Aramaic and Hebrew are, on the other hand, closely related languages (like Italian and Romanian, for instance). The distinction of course is not a hard and fast one, since presumably both languages go back to a common earlier one, and were both once more closely related as 'dialects'.]

A smaller number of people are interested in Mandaic, the language in which the sacred texts of a Gnostic baptizing sect that still exists today in Iraq and Iran as well as a diaspora stretching from Australia to the United States. Materials for learning this particular dialect of Aramaic are harder to come by (although that is improving), but some of their ancient texts can be found online.

When I first started learning Syriac, I used Thackston's Introduction to Syriac, since it provides transliteration into English. This is a very helpful feature when first beginning. But ultimately, the unvocalized Estrangelo script comes to be a hindrance. One doesn't learn a language by reading it without vowels. One learns one's native language by hearing it spoken, speaking it, and then eventually writing it (with or without vowels). Going about learning a language any other way, even an ancient one, doesn't make sense.

So then I moved on to John F. Healey's Leshono Suryoyo: First Studies in Syriac, published by Gorgias Press. It comes with a CD so you can hear how the language sounds, and uses the vocalized Serto script. Even with the vowels one needs guidance and help with pronunciation, and so having access to Thackston might still be worthwhile. But now you're learning two alphabets.

This isn't a bad thing - in printed editions of the Peshitta (the Bible in Syriac), as in some lexicons, one will encounter the vocalized Serto script for the main text, but Estrangelo for headings. So combining Thackston and Healey has another useful aspect to it.

Once you've got to grips with the basics of the language, get a copy of the Syriac New Testament. (You'll probably want to buy one, as the Peshitta available online is in the unvocalized Estrangelo script) Then you can use as you read it a wonderful free book available online, the Clavis Syriaca by Henry F. Whish (1883). It goes through the Gospels in Syriac, translating and explaining each word in English, as well as giving the Greek equivalent. In the book the typeface used for the Syriac Serto script is a bit different than in most texts printed nowadays, and so it will take some getting used to. But once you do, this will do for your reading in Syriac what Sakae Kubo's Reader's Greek English Lexicon does for students of Greek.

There are other potentially useful resources for Syriac online: Eberhard Nestle's Syriac grammar with chrestomathy (for those who have a good grasp of German), the Syriac grammar and Elements of Syriac by Philips, and the Syriac grammar by Uhlemann.

Also useful (although the print isn't as clear as it might ideally have been) is Lexical Tools to the Syriac New Testament by George Anton Kiraz (Gorgias Press, 2002). It works through the vocabulary of the Syriac New Testament by frequency, and students of Biblical languages will know that is the best way to get reading as quickly as possible. The book also provides verbal paradigms, a skeleton grammar, and other useful features.

In the end, you can skip the Nestorian script (not used much in printed Syriac texts a beginner is likely to work with), and if you stick with Syriac, you can move on to Aramaic and/or Mandaic later. For most people interested in Aramaic/Syriac, having better resources for learning Aramaic would have been ideal, since those who know even a little Hebrew already know the Aramaic alphabet. But there are far fewer good resources, and surprisingly little in terms of readers with vocalized/pointed Talmudic or Targumic texts for beginners to work with. I am starting to wonder how students of the Rabbinic literature go about learning Aramaic.

And so there you have it. You can learn the language of Jesus and his earliest followers, of parts of Daniel and Ezra, of the Eastern Church, of the Rabbis, the Talmud and the Targums, and of the last remaining continuous Gnostic group. Basically one language, but written in a number of different alphabets. Learning a new alphabet can always seem like a hurdle - especially alphabets used for Semitic languages, which have a tendency to change forms depending on whether there are letters before or after. But we need more students of early Christianity who know Syriac/Aramaic/Mandaic, whether their interest is in the historical figure of Jesus, early oral tradition, the cultural setting of the earliest Christians, Gnosticism, or many other areas.

I'm still looking for a audiobook Syriac Bible I can put on in the car...and of course, a Pimsleur course in Mandaic would be nice... There is, in fact, a spoken dialect of Mandaic too, which is as different from classical Mandaic as modern Syriac is from the classical form. If you want to hear this spoken Mandaic, there are mp3 files with accompanying pdf files available online.

But that won't be too daunting for you, I'm sure, because anyone who has read this far must love languages as much as I do!

Quote of the Day (The Qur'an)

2008-06-29T00:21:00.002-04:00

"Believers, Jews, Christians and Sabaeans—all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do what is right—shall be rewarded by their Lord; they shall have nothing to fear or to regret" (Qur'an 2:62).

I post this in particular because of a discussion on another blog where someone spoke from their assumption that all religions are as inherently exclusivistic as fundamentalist Christianity. Islam, for one, has an acceptance of at least some other religious traditions explicitly built in to its very Scriptures.

Fundamentalist De(con)struction of Romans

2008-06-28T23:21:00.000-04:00

In my class on Paul and the Early Church, we worked through several of Paul's letters, including Romans. As I worked through this famous epistle once again, it seemed to me that the most popular passages for quotation from the letter are not the parts most central to Paul's argument. Could it be that those who "quote-mine" the letter have, unwittingly, been engaged in a deconstructionist reading of Romans, focusing on tangential elements in a way that allows them to read "against the grain" of the letter?

I've long wanted to write a blogmentary (blog commentary) on Romans, to work through these and other issues. Since a blogmentary doesn't need to be written in order, I'm pondering the possibility of working through Romans backwards: starting where Paul ends up, and then figuring out how he got there. So perhaps it should be called a "Romans Blog Memento".

Flipping through channels about two months ago, I encountered a typically offensive example of the fundamentalist misuse of Romans. There was a discussion of homosexuality, and which passages in the Bible to read on the subject. The speaker recommended Romans 1, with the assumption that the meaning and application will be clear as long as one prays before reading - no need for a commentary, articles, a comparison of translations to make onself aware of ways in which any given English translation may render the underlying Greek in a way that is not the only possible way, or anything else that recognizes that this is translated literature which reflects a different historical, cultural, and linguistic context and assumptions.

The most offensive part, however, was that deceitfully innocent sounding phrase, "Romans 1". "Read Romans 1" is far from a good recommendation. There was no "Romans 1" in the letter Paul wrote - no chapter division, no versification. By recommending that one stop at the end of chapter 1, it is pretty much guaranteed that the reader will miss the point of Paul's stereotypical denunciation of Gentile sins in that part of his letter. It wasn't to condemn the Gentiles, but to get Jewish readers to join in the condemnation and then find themselves condemned in "chapter 2". But that is how fundamentalist de(con)struction of Romans and other parts of the Bible works. What was a tool Paul used to bring about self-criticism and repentance becomes a weapon to be wielded against others.

As I think about it, fundamentalists tend to focus on the marginal voices in the Bible rather than the mainstream of early Christianity. Of the epistles, it is Hebrews, which made it into the canon on false pretenses, that provides the most support for their particular doctrine of the atonement (even though their most popular one, penal substitution, isn't found even there). Of the Gospels, it is John, which again did not get into the canon without dispute, which gives the realized eschatology and thus the focus on faith determining one's eternal status in the here and now.

But that's another issue. The main point that needs to be made in this post is this: If you think "Romans 1" can be used as a weapon against homosexuals, you've fallen into Paul's trap. If you use "Romans 1" in this way, you aren't condemning homosexuals. You are condemning yourself. I can only hope that the power of Paul's message (which your way of chopping it up in pieces undermines) may one day challenge you in the way its author seems to have intended. But for that to happen, you'll probably have to keep reading past the end of "Romans 1"...

The Blog Brought To You By The Letter "T"

2008-06-28T09:35:00.006-04:00

I haven't posted about the keywords that are listed as having brought people to my blog, but this one, for some reason, grabbed my attention.

Someone in China was searching for the letter "T". It brought them here.

People continue to arrive searching for information about Who's Who and phishing scams, about Barack Obama and Nicolae Carpathia, about Tiktaalik. I'm always glad to see the unusual paths that bring people here (and somewhat relieved that the traffic of people searching for "hermaphrodite sex" seems to be dying down).

At any rate, I hope what you find here fits your needs...to a "T"! :-)

For The Bible Tells Me So

2008-06-28T00:01:00.001-04:00

There isn't too much I want to say about the movie I am watching as I write this, For The Bible Tells Me So, apart from this: Watch it. It addresses the roots of homophobia, the Bible and how it relates to homosexuality, and the damage that parents in particular can do if they respond in the wrong way to their child who comes out to them. It addresses the science, the radical ways marriage between men and women today in our society differs from "Biblical marriage".

Perhaps most poignant is the perspective of a mother who raised her children according to the teachings of James Dobson. Her daughter killed herself. Another family has a more positive story, but when they tried to confront James Dobson with how they focused on their family, they were threatened with arrest for trespassing.

Watch the movie. For more information, try TEACH Ministries, Soulforce, and Would Jesus Discriminate?. If you are a gay person who came here looking for help, try those sites, but most importantly, don't let a bunch of heterosexuals who never chose to be the way they are tell you that God supposedly doesn't accept you for something you know you didn't choose either. And don't just assume that the loud, shouting voices you hear are the ones who really speak for God or Christianity.

This is a decisive moment for Christianity. I can understand how it is that many people are still persuaded that including homosexuals in the church is a mistaken understanding of Christianity. But what seems impossible to understand is how can so many fundamentalists can not be persuaded that the terrorizing, threatening, bullying and killing of people who are different than them, who are sinners in their eyes, is far more antithetical to Christianity than anything to do with sex could ever be?

Here are clips from Mel White and Susan Sparks, who also appear in the documentary:

Go Sell, Then Tell

2008-06-27T18:49:00.002-04:00

I think that it should be a principled stance of educated Christians that we only take seriously someone's claim to be a "Biblical literalist" when we are dealing with those who have sold all they have and have given it to the poor. Those words are found in the Bible and are as plain as day. Only those who consider it relevant to consider a broader range of passages and applications, contexts and considerations, can conclude that that does not apply to them if they consider themself a disciple of Jesus. And if they are willing to proceed in this way in that case, then to be consistent they cannot simply say "The Bible says..." and quote a single verse, or even a small number of verses, in relation to other issues. Because what is needed to determine "what the Bible says" is not a verse or a selection of verses, but a detailed study, and perhaps above all else, a conversation. And if they aren't willing to have that conversation about some issue or other, then they need to figure out why. But I can tell you that "because it's what the Bible says" will not, in the end, be the underlying reason.

If Barack Obama is Anti-American, You Will Become A Millionaire!

2008-06-27T09:44:00.003-04:00

I like the way Obama responds to some of the rumors circulating about him with humor:

Around the blogosphere, Joshua Rosenau has a suggestion for how to decide what to do with the millions transferred to you by that Nigerian bank Obama mentions. Pharyngula has yet another piece of evidence of the evolution of fish into tetrapods (also at Panda's Thumb). If there is a conspiracy in science, the chief conspirator if God, who either placed these fossils there to mislead us or allowed them to be placed there. Opposing evolution requires belief in a dishonest God.

Mike O'Risal points to another "convtroversy" we'd have to teach to be consistent if we "teach the controversy". Because the controversy itself is fabricated. I've tried changing my approach somewhat in my own teaching. Yes, I want students to evaluate ideas for themselves. But some ideas simply have no correspondence to the relevant data and other considerations. In all disciplines, the desire to be "fair" can easily give a foothold to nonsense.

Evolving Thoughts has other miscellaneous science news. Louisiana's governor signed the bill. Bob Cornwall has a number of interesting posts, including on science and faith, America's iconic Bible, and listening to our critics.

Review of God and Evolution redux

2008-06-26T11:07:00.003-04:00

My review of God and Evolution that appeared in print in RNCSE 27 (5-6): 53-54, as well as on this blog, has now also been posted on the NCSE Resource web page.

Can You Digg It?

2008-06-26T09:41:00.003-04:00

I've received a few visitors via Digg to my spoof post about Barack Obama. I wonder how many regular readers use Digg. Do click on the link and "Digg" the post in question, if it isn't too much trouble - I'm curious what effect it will have, if any!

If you're looking for still more humor, then Chris Brady shares an interesting news item about the maker of the first two testaments planning to make another sequel. You can also get Biblical help balancing your checkbook.

Also, Biology in Science Fiction has pointed me to a blog I hadn't encountered before, that addresses the question pressing on all our minds: What is Kara Thrace? And Debunking Christianity has a former colleague of mine's perspective on whether C. S. Lewis lost his faith. And Mystical Seeker discusses what to do when history and theology clash.

Daily Dose of Scam/Spam

2008-06-26T09:22:00.005-04:00

Today's scam spam not only included "winning the lottery" but a "job offer". As always, I post those items that make it through my spam filter so as to help other people out there who might be gullible enough to fall for one of these scams. None of these e-mails that contact you out of the blue offering you money, a job, or your place in a "Who's Who" volume is legitimate. If you're wondering how I know, take a look at the one that claims to be from Burkina Faso but was sent from a Hungarian e-mail address...

Here's the text of the e-mails:
_______________________
FROM MR PHILIP GOMER.

BILL & EXCHANGE MANAGER/ AUDITING.

GROUP BANK OF AFRICA (BOA)

BURKINA-FASO WEST AFRICA.

DIRECT NUMBER TEL/ 00226 76 61 65 94

My Dear Friend,

I am the bill and exchange manager at FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPT,In my department we discovered an abandoned sum of U.S $10.5million US dollars, TEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS in an account that belonged to one of our foreign customers who died along with his entire family in a plane crash.

Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or a business associate to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidlines and laws, but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim.

It is therefore upon this discovery that I now decided to make this business proposal to you so that the bank can release the money to you as the next of kin or a business associate to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and I don't want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed bill.

Since the bank law and guidline here stipulates that if such money remained unclaimed after Six years the money will be transfered into the bank treasury as unclaimed fund.

The request of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occassioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and a Burkinabe cannot stand as next of kin. I agree that 40% of this money will be for you as a foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account, 10% will be set aside for expenses incured during the usiness and 50% would be for me and my Family.

There after I and my Family will visit your country for disbursement according to the percentages indicated and for some possible investment under your kind control. Therefore, to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged,you must apply first to the bank as a business associate or next of kin of the deceased person.

1. Your Full Names and Address.

2. Direct Telephone and Fax numbers. please i will like this transaction to be strictly between you and i Upon receipt of your reply, I will start by giving to you the application which you will fill and send to the bank.

I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer and given your 100% full assurance and risk free transaction. You should contact me immediately as soon as you receive this mail,

Trusting to hear from you immediately,

Yours faithfully.

MR PHILIP GOMER

_______________________

Dear Candidate,

We have a job offer available for you, I am Stuart Christopher, Recruiting agent,
eSources UK. We carry a selection of latest T-Shirts, Cardigans, Ladies Tops,
Kids wear & Silver Jewellery. We offer exceptional customer service and quality
at discounted prices!. Everything in our catalogue is priced in UK/US funds.
We ship within UK, US and also in other parts of the World. Our products are designed,
made, manufactured in India & imported from India and are shipped world wide.

We are presently looking for a trustworthy representative in the United States,Canada and
Other Asian Countries that will aid as a link between us and our customers in US for getting
and remitting our payments.
I would like to know if you are interested, respond only if you will like to work from home
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How To Believe

2008-06-26T06:00:00.000-04:00

How to Believe: Teachers and Seekers Show the Way to a Modern, Life-Changing Faith by Jon Spayde (New York: Random House, 2008) is a striking book to read after finishing Gretta Vosper's With Or Without God, since it reflects an almost opposite perspective, that of someone who is attracted to Christianity, as opposed to someone who is trying to mediate its core to those who are repelled by some of its features. The book is a collection of interviews, and here are a few quotes to give you just a taste:

Richard Rohr: "God refuses to let Himself of Herself be thought. God can only be experienced. You can't think God, you can only be present to God" (p.5).

Kosuke Koyama: "You know, if you were to go up to Jeremiah and ask him what he thought of monotheism, he'd say 'What? I've never heard that word. But Yahweh commands us to care for the widow and the orphan'" (p.14). He also quotes Max Mueller (p.16) as saying that "he who knows only one religion knows none".

John Shelby Spong: "The theistic God is either impotent, evil, or He doesn't exist. If God hasn't got the power to stop the tsunami, then he's impotent; if He has it and doesn't, then He's malevolent. That kind of God doesn't live very long in the thoughtful minds of people. A lot of what people call prayers to the theistic God are letters to Santa Claus - dear God, I've been a good boy...[M]ost people have so identified God with that sort of image that, when they hear you critique the theistic God, they think you are saying there is no God. But theism is a human definition of the holy, and all human definitions can change" (p.41). I also liked Spong's self-description on p.42: "I understand why people want to hold on to the old conceptions, because I once held them. They finally got cracked open for me in theological seminary, and I became more or less what I am, which is a sort of mystic wandering in the wilderness, convinced of the reality of God, not convinced of any formula that purports to describe what God is. I am always on a journey into the mystery which is bigger than any of the creeds can possibly contain."

James W. Jones: "[T]he mind can't carry the weight of your whole life" (p.85). I like Jones' description of the Christian contemplative tradition, and his suggestion that there ought to be a Bodhisattva vow for Christians.

Leo Lefebure: "One of the saddest results of the current battles between the partisans of the conservative and liberal religion in America, it seems to me, is the loss of a sense of religion as the exploration of mystery - probing a truth so compelling that it must be explored but so vast that it will never be comprehended" (p.133).

Obama Confesses To Being Hindu Muslim Antichrist

2008-06-25T22:03:00.006-04:00

In a recent statement, Barack Obama has acknowledged that he is indeed a devotee of the Hindu god Hanuman. He also acknowledged being a Muslim, and that he also happens to be the antichrist. His statement did not address the accusation that he is, in addition to everything else, a fruitcake.

When asked if these revelations would affect his nomination as the Democratic candidate for the presidency, a spokesperson for the Democratic party (who wished to remain anonymous) said that there shouldn't be a problem, provided Hillary Clinton does not become Obama's running mate. "The Evangelical voters are the only ones who are likely to mind that he is an idol-worshipper or the antichrist, and since they've already said they would sooner vote for Lucifer than for Hilary Clinton, we can strike a deal that makes it possible for them to do just that".

Reactions from around the world were varied. While there was jubilation in most quarters in India, Iran is demanding to know whether Obama is Sunni or Shiite. The strongest reaction came from Northern Ireland, where Rev. Ian Paisley (retired from politics but still a spokesperson for the Protestant community) asserted that while he found no cause for concern in Obama's claim to be the antichrist (since there is no feasible way that Obama could become Pope), he was troubled to learn that Obama carries a Catholic statue around with him. "A Protestant Hindu Muslim who thinks he is the antichrist could be welcomed by Northern Ireland's Protestants," Paisley was quoted as saying, "but not a Catholic Hindu Muslim antichrist. That would be too much for our people to take."

At the end of his statement, Obama explained why he had kept these aspects of his religious convictions a secret. "Religion is very important to a large number of bitter Americans with guns. I didn't want to take unnecessary risks," Obama said.

With Or Without God (a song for Gretta Vosper)

2008-06-25T19:42:00.003-04:00

With or without God (with apologies to U2)

See the stone set in God's eyes
See the thorn twist in God's side
I wait for God

Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails God makes me wait
And I wait without God

With or without God
With or without God

Through the storm we reach the shore
God gives it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for God

With or without God
With or without God
I can't live
With or without God

And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away

My hands are tied
My body bruised, God's got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose

And God gives Godself away
And God gives Godself away
And God gives
And God gives
And God gives Godself away

With or without God
With or without God
I can't live
With or without God

With or without God
With or without God
I can't live
With or without God
With or without God

Obama's Faith...in Hanuman?!

2008-06-25T15:32:00.004-04:00

The Times of India reports plans by Hanuman devotees to send a gold-plated statue of the deity to Barack Obama, whom they believe to be a devotee himself, and to carry a lucky charm of Hanuman on his person. Hmm...