Tag: Jesus

Scenes from the Pandemic

Burglars recently broke into Tillie’s Cafe in Schulenburg Texas — halfway between San Antonio and Houston. After gaining entry they apparently had sanitized the place, using a can of Lysol they left behind. The intruders got away with $150 cash, some ice cream and a few checks. They exited through the front door, which they locked behind them.

The ongoing societal upheaval has become so desperate the state of Oregon has lifted the ban against motorists pumping their own gas. (Oregon is one of only two states prohibiting self serve. New Jersey is the other.) The easing of the restriction is temporary, until — for now — April 11, the day before Easter. “During this unprecedented time of state emergency, we need to ensure that critical supply lines for fuels and other basic services remain uninterrupted,” said the State Fire Marshal in a press release. Naturally, this has set off a new panic. “We were the only ones touching the pumps. Now if you let everybody touch the pumps, that’s a higher breeding ground to spread the virus,” said an attendant at a Chevron station near Portland.

An anti-gay activist and three Houston-area pastors have filed a petition to the Texas Supreme Court arguing that Harris County’s stay-at-home order violates the Constitution by ordering the closure of churches and failing to define gun shops as “essential” businesses. Because that’s what Jesus says.

And in politics…

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) blamed Democrats for the spread of the coronavirus. “And it came up while we were tied down on the impeachment trial. And I think it diverted the attention of the government, because everything every day was all about impeachment.”

In a rare moment of candor, the current occupant of the White House explained his opposition to vote-by-mail and other proposals for the 2020 election in response to the pandemic. He fears “…levels of voting that if you ever agreed to it you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

And now, this… click here

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The Romans and the First Good Friday

Mt. Calvary (Golgotha) today

The Romans occupying Galilee had a preferred remedy for Jewish rabble rousers stirring up the common folk: crucifixion. It was the favored method of executing slaves and enemies of the state. Being crucified was considered the most shameful and disgraceful way to die. Condemned Roman citizens were usually executed by other means. Crucifixion was a slow, painful death, carried out publicly. Corpses of the crucified were typically left on the crosses to decompose and be eaten by birds and animals, a reminder to others under Roman rule about who was in charge.

To the Romans there was nothing special about Jesus of Nazareth; he was just another itinerant prophet roaming the area preaching and performing miracles. Jesus spoke of another kingdom, the kingdom of god that his followers should be striving for. Jesus and others were guilty of sedition and were dealt with quickly and brutally by their Roman occupiers.

(Here is a Top Ten list of fun ways people were executed in the ancient – and not-so-ancient – world.)

Historians and religious scholars have tried to draw a portrait of Jesus of Nazareth from the scant historical evidence apart from any judgment about divinity. It was Reza Aslan, though, who stirred up controversy with the publication of his book Zealot. Aslan’s offense was having the temerity to be a Muslim of Iranian descent. Never mind that he was a religious scholar and a professor at the University of California, Riverside. Take a look at a popular news outlet’s interview with Mr. Aslan.

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