Smart people saying smart things (8.28)

Last updated on: August 28, 2014 at 4:26 pm by Fred Clark

Smart people saying smart things (8.28) 2014-08-28T16:26:59-04:00 Fred Clark

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Rebecca Mead, “The Troll Slayer”

There is an injunction among users of social media that one should not pay attention to online detractors. There is even a Twitter account, @AvoidComments, which issues monitory statements: “You wouldn’t listen to someone named Bonerman26 in real life. Don’t read the comments.” [Mary] Beard argues, instead, that comments sections expose attitudes that have long remained concealed in places like locker rooms and bars. Bonerman26 exists; his vileness should be contended with. In this spirit, she posted the image of herself-as-genitalia on her blog—it was surely the first time that the T.L.S. site might have needed a Not Safe for Work warning—and suggested possible responses for her supporters to take, such as flooding the offending message board with Latin poetry. The story made international news, and the message board soon shut down.

Imam Mohamed Magid and Rabbi Michael G. Holzman, “Muslim/Jewish Statement on Gaza and Israel”

The current military operations in Israel and the Gaza strip should disturb all people of faith. The only moral path to a solution between Israelis and Palestinians (Israeli Jewish/Muslim/Christian and Palestinian Muslim/Christian) will be dialogue and negotiation. This is a long and arduous path, but the faith that grounds our traditions can sustain the slow evolution of history. The current conflict is an outgrowth of over a century of opposing narratives and ideological differences that no military operations can resolve.

Our traditions exist to uphold the moral foundations for civilizations and as such we urge an end to the current violence. While we acknowledge the need for self defense, when the can of violence opens, as it has now, worms of vengeance and blood-feud crawl out. Then people begin to abandon the principles of justice and mercy upon which civilizations are founded. Instead they turn to more tribal urges, seeking retribution for past wrongs.

We believe the current violence crosses that line. …

Caroline Schleier Cutler, “The Other Noah”

There are two voices heard throughout the Old and New Testament Scripture — voices that are often not thunderously loud but are unmistakable nonetheless, especially in the context of a patriarchal society. One is the voice of daughters claiming an inheritance. The other is the voice of God announcing the message: “Your daughters shall inherit!” We hear these voices in the story of Noah and her sisters Mahlah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. We hear them in the protests of Leah and Rachel that their father’s property inheritance has passed them by. We hear them in the initiative taken by Achsah to request a better land allotment from her father Caleb. We hear them in the actions of Job to give his daughters an inheritance “along with their brothers” (Job 42:14). In the Beatitudes, we hear the voice of Jesus saying that the meek or humble will inherit the whole earth (Matt 5:5). And we hear these voices in the letters of Paul to the Galatians (3:23–4:7) and Romans (8:14–25) where those who were formerly excluded from inheritance — the dispossessed — become the heirs of God through adoption.

Stephen Eric Bronner, “The Bigot”

Using the language of liberty to justify policies that disadvantage woman, gays, and people of color cynically enables [a bigot] to fit into a changed cultural and political climate. It is also not merely a matter of the bigot demeaning the target of his prejudice but in presenting himself as the aggrieved party. That purpose is helped by (often unconscious) psychological projection of the bigot’s desires, hatreds, and activities upon the Other.

The persecuted is thereby turned into the oppressor and the oppressor into the persecuted. The bigot’s self-image is mired in such projection. Birth of a Nation (1915) — the classic film directed by D.W. Griffith that celebrates the rise of the KKK — obsesses over visions of freed black slaves raping white women, even though it was actually white slave owners and their henchmen who were engaged in raping black slave women.

Robin McKie, “Miami, the great world city, is drowning while the powers that be look away”

Miami and its surroundings are facing a calamity worthy of the Old Testament. It is an astonishing story. Despite its vast wealth, the city might soon be consumed by the waves, for even if all emissions of carbon dioxide were halted tomorrow – a very unlikely event given their consistent rise over the decades – there is probably enough of the gas in the atmosphere to continue to warm our planet, heat and expand our seas, and melt polar ice. In short, there seems there is nothing that can stop the waters washing over Miami completely.

It a devastating scenario. But what really surprises visitors and observers is the city’s response, or to be more accurate, its almost total lack of reaction. The local population is steadily increasing; land prices continue to surge; and building is progressing at a generous pace. During my visit last month, signs of construction – new shopping malls, cranes towering over new condominiums and scaffolding enclosing freshly built apartment blocks – could be seen across the city, its backers apparently oblivious of scientists’ warnings that the foundations of their buildings may be awash very soon.

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