Forgiveness II

Yeshua bar Yosef has been given many titles by those claiming to worship him. One that Unity, my denomination, bestowed on him is "Way Shower." This title was born out of his repeated assertions that his followers could do anything he did. I think it also refers to the lessons we could learn from his humanness, how he lived his life when he wasn't transfiguring, transmogrifying stuff, and resurrecting.

In Unity we don't get into fights over the historical veracity of the Bible. Or at least we shouldn't. As I understand the official position, the Bible is viewed metaphysically. The writings tell a story for your personal edification. Coming as I do from an average Baptist-Episcopalian-Catholic-Nondenominational Protestant-Jewish-Buddhish-Methodist-Congregational background with dashes of Hindu and Wiccan on the side, this is a great relief to me, and that's the way I'm going to deal with scripture here, nimbly sidestepping questions like the Immaculate Conception, Virgin Birth, Perpetual Virginity of Mary, Age of the Earth, Cain's Wife or any other question useful for distraction and division.

The topic is forgiveness, which necessarily implies a something to forgive: a betrayal, an injustice. Many of us are familiar with Judas' betrayal and Jesus' forgiveness on the cross, but I want to start much earlier. Our text for today is Matthew 1:18-25. It's the first instance described in Jesus' life of betrayal/forgiveness (not that I don't think there were others that haven't been described, like Mary's mystical experience with the angel calling her blessed, and then her being viewed as an adulterous unwed mother. She may have had one or two resentful thoughts about that, but they're not recorded.)

The writer of Matthew tells the story of this Jewish man who was engaged to a girl in his village, and she turned up pregnant. Not by him. The law considered her his wife, and he had the right to have her stoned to death. No one would have called him wrong. It was the law, secular and religious.

We're not told if Mary used her angel story. Maybe all unwed mothers told that story. Maybe it had as good a chance of being believed then as it does now. ("Oy! Not only pregnant, but crazy too!" "Another lying slut!") Joseph came to a decision on his own, though he may have said, like I do all the time, "If only she'd tell me the truth! If only she'd say she was sorry! If only I knew why!" The scripture tells us "being a just man, [he] decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly." I don't know the necessary language to look at the source material; I've seen the word rendered "just" and "righteous," but I know a lot of just and righteous folks that would have ordered the Jumbo size collection of rocks. So I wonder if this word might be translated differently.

Because Joseph went beyond his own hurt and his legal rights. He decided on the compassionate course. Instead of a public execution, he would get a private divorce. After this decision, he had a dream in which an angel visited him and explained the situation. The timing here is critical: First he let go; then he was comforted.

The question isn't "Why?" Neither is "How could he/she/they/God..." Joseph made his decision based on who he was, not on what she did. So I ask myself the first question, "Who am I?"

3:53:32 PM    

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Fair and Balanced Help

I received this forwarded email from the Author's Guild:

"We are writing to solicit your help in a submission we'll be making to the court in Fox News Network v. Franken. Fox News Network, as you've probably heard, claims that Mr. Franken and his publisher Dutton have infringed its trademark by using 'fair and balanced' in the subtitle of Mr. Franken's upcoming book. Fox is seeking the extraordinary remedy of blocking publication of the work.

"The Authors Guild is compiling a list of works that might have faced legal action under this bizarre interpretation of trademark law. Entries on our short list so far include Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut and The Lexus and the Olive Tree, by Thomas L. Friedman, among a handful of others. We intend to include this list in our submission to the court.

"Here's where you come in. We've created a web page to collect the names of other books that might be (or might have been) subject to challenge on trademark grounds if Fox were to prevail. To see the list, and to add your own suggestions, go to [this link] and click the link near the bottom of the page.

"As we point out on the web page, the case is unavoidably political, pitting a liberal author against a conservative network. The Guild takes no side in the underlying politics of the issue. 'The Guild's politics are purely writers' politics,' says Authors Guild president Nick Taylor. 'We care that trademark law is being used as a blunt instrument in an attempt to silence an author's expression.' Thanks for any suggestions."

Authors Guild Statement Issued Tuesday

August 12, 2003. Fox News Network has sued Al Franken in state court in Manhattan to block the publication of his upcoming book, "Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" (Penguin). Fox claims the subtitle infringes their trademark on the words "fair and balanced." The Authors Guild issued the following statement from board member James Gleick regarding the lawsuit: "Fox News' attempt to use trademark laws to silence criticism is deplorable," said Mr. Gleick. "Book authors and publishers, television journalists and networks all depend on First Amendment protections to pursue their craft. News organizations, which willingly enter the rough-and-tumble of public debate, must accept the possibility of drawing sharp criticism as part of the bargain."

"If Fox disagrees with Mr. Franken's position, it has ample access through its affiliated companies to respond in a manner that respects our joint need for vigorous, open debate. That way, the various positions can be heard, and people can decide."

Molly Speaks

Read Molly Ivins' explanation here, with an update on the Texas Senate in exile and judicial investigation.

If Fox's ploy works, I'm going to trademark the phrase "Jesus Christ."

2:45:09 PM    

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Jr. Geek Neep

Pardon the small skip as I celebrate putting an email link on my page. Hold that sneer: the program Christopher (Welcome back, and thanks for the gorgeous photos) calls Loserland advertises as being WYSIWIG, but that's only the Windows version. Us Mac users have to pound away with our html hammers and stick our hands in css goo. So, having the most minimal html skills and none with a css, I am pleased with myself. Dare I hope in future for a sidebar to worship? With real links to other blogs? Flying towards sun, wings melting...

9:50:05 AM    

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