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March 26, 2016
Another first century messiah. This one endured.
How did an illiterate and very likely married young Jewish day laborer from a Galilean backwater who rose up against an entrenched Roman-Jewish priesthood establishment as a messiah and was killed by the regional establishment like a dozen other messiahs in the same region during the same period--and for the same crowd control-related reasons--become the focal point of a major and enduring world religion? "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" is the best selling book by Iranian-American author Reza Aslan published by Random House in mid-2013. Zealot is not going to make everyone happy but it's a brave, competent and well-written sliver of history. Part scholarship and part clever provocation.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:35 AM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2016
The T Word: Fear & Loathing on a Southern Campus.
Coca Cola-built Emory University was once a great notion. See Susan Svrluga's piece in the Washington Post this morning: "Someone wrote ‘Trump 2016’ on Emory’s campus in chalk. Some students said they no longer feel safe".
Photo: Amelia Sims
Posted by JD Hull at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2016
Happy Spring, all you Druids out there.
Today, Sunday March 20th, is the Spring Equinox for 2016. Also called the Vernal Equinox, it's an astronomical event in which the plane of Earth's equator passes through the center of the earth's Sun. On this date, day and night are of approximately equal duration all over the planet. The Equinox also marks the first day of Spring, and the start of the time of year to revel in and celebrate Rebirth and Renewal, observed in most Western religions and cultures this time of year. Christianity, Judaism and a number of forms of Paganism of course have their own versions of celebrating Spring. See in todays' Sunday Express (UK) all ye need to know about the Equinox. Below: Shooting cherry blossoms, Washington, D.C., April 7, 1922 (LOC photo). Peak blossom time in 2016 will occur this week, March 23-24.
Posted by JD Hull at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)