Thinking Through...The Da Vinci Code

With a sequel to The Da Vinci Code on the way to theaters, it seemed wise to point out the silliness of Dan Brown's accusations. I hear that his book is fun to read (I'm a busy medievalist and only have time to read actual books about church history) but his claims are ludicrous and have added to society's misunderstandings about Christianity.

Hey, it's an effeminate guy! And, look, another effeminate guy!
Proof that there were 13 women at the Last Supper!

My favorite is the assertion that Constantine decided the canon, that is, that he decided which books of the Bible would be authoritive. This is not supported by documentation, in fact, he relied on other theologians for his spiritual leadership. He called for meetings to decide how the church could be organized, but only made recommendations; he did not try to shape theology. As this book will tell you, he did not care about having too many specific points in his belief system; instead, he was interested in helping the different factions of the church agree on some basic principles so they could be united.

The canon is usually attributed to Athansius, who lived at the same time as Constantine but was certainly not his friend. (After Athanasius' recommendation, the canon was further scrutinized and discussed by the church so it cannot be said that any single person made the decision.)

Listverse.com has a fantastic article on this and the real reason I set up this blog entry was so I could simply point you there - but I got distracted and wanted to write about Constantine. Enjoy, and tell your friends not to be afraid of albinos. Here's the list.

As if Theology Students Don't Have Enough Problems

I walked into an empty classroom and noticed something like this on the board:

Neo-Platonic

Orthopraxis

So I took the opportunity to grab a piece of chalk and make some additions. Now, the board says this:

Neo-Platonic Supralapsarianism

Orthopraxis vs. Neo-Constantinopolitanism

With any luck, a theology student will see it and his head will explode.

"That's not funny, I made up those words."

Thinking Through...Swine Flu

As you can tell, I'm not posting a lot right now and it has to do with school. It's this time of year when I don't water the plants, clean the apartment, or take care of anything but the most vital responsibilities to my health while finishing essays and madly reading texts in time for quizzes. And my blog suffers for it.

Anyway, I came across some advice on the swine flu (via Instapundit.com), here's the two main ideas, but there is more at the link:

*There is always some flu around and flu is always killing some people. Even when a raw mutant flu manages to kill off more people than a shooting-war, flu has never ravaged whole cities as cholera or the Black Death can do. As awful pandemics go, flu is like the snotty-nosed little sister of awful pandemics.

*You're not ACTUALLY gonna die unless your lips are turning blue, you have bad chest pains, you can't swallow water, you can't stand up, you're having seizures and you don't know where you are or what your name is. As this document suggests, you're gonna want to watch out for those symptoms.

And this simple, but critical, piece of advice from the Center of Disease Control:

The main way that influenza viruses are thought to spread is from person to person in respiratory droplets of coughs and sneezes. This can happen when droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person are propelled through the air and deposited on the mouth or nose of people nearby. Influenza viruses may also be spread when a person touches respiratory droplets on another person or an object and then touches their own mouth or nose (or someone else’s mouth or nose) before washing their hands.

(The link also contains information for what to do if you or someone else contracts the swine flu.)

So wash your hands like your mother always told you to do and don't worry. also, if you know of any more tips that are helpful, let me know in the comments. (Oh, yeah, and this guy looks really funny. Do they steal driver's license photos for these pictures?)

Depression and Disappointment as Part of the Chrisitan Life

It's a common misconception that the Christian life involves holding hands and singing songs in fields of flowers , blissfully unaware of the rest of the world's problems. This has led the non-Christian to think that Christians don't understand suffering and led some young Christians to wonder if their conversion means the end of disappointment.

As Jesus was preparing to leave his disciples he told them many important things, but one always stands out to me, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) The world is not a friendly place and the Bible does not sugar coat these problems.

The book of Ecclesiastes details the authors' attempts to find happiness. He was a Godly man who followed the commandments but still found himself feeling empty inside. (Today, we sometimes talk about this as part of the human condition.)

He tried to overcome grief by learning, but came to this conclusion:

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief. (Ecclesiastes 1)

He was also a wealthy man who could afford many things and tried to achieve happiness through accomplishments and possessions. This brought him to this conclusion:

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2)

The Psalms tell us that life is short and that our works are meaningless:

...let me know how fleeting is my life.


You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Each man's life is but a breath.


Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
He bustles about, but only in vain;
he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.
(Excerpt from Psalm 39)

Am I trying to depress you? No, the lesson here is that the Bible does not deny suffering (in fact, it promises it), but God does give us light, hope, and direction. This world gets pretty dark and depressing sometimes, but Christians always have the lighthouse to follow, to tell us where to go, and to remind us that someone is waiting for us when we get there.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

(Psalm 23)

5 Misconceptions About the 2009 Tea Party Movement

I'm not asking you to like the Tea Party movement (to each their own, as far as politics are concerned) but I do want people to understand it well enough to discuss it. Yesterday, there were numerous articles printed about this movement that were full of mistakes and misleading. I've been following this movement since it began from news sources and independent blogs and here are some things I can tell you to clear up the misconceptions that are out there.

1 - It Has Nothing to do with Actual Tea

I am surprised at how many people think this is a movement to fight tea. This article from NPR lists reasons why we shouldn't protest the price of tea, which would leave any average Tea Party protester scratching their head. The movement does involve some individuals who use tea bags in their protest, but it is (obviously) symbolic. I really don't know how this misunderstanding can happen in country where most of us learn about simple symbolism from reading The Great Gatsby at a young age. (In the comment section of that NPR article you will see how their readers are humorously responding to this mistake.)

2 - Members of this Movement do not Regularly Call Themselves "Tea-baggers" (And, yes, they know what that means.)

Another thing that would leave the average Tea Party protester scratching their head. Some members of the movement have claimed that they are involved in the act of "tea-bagging." It's a tongue-in-cheek reference to the juvenile prank of the same name but this is not an official name for this group. The media thinks that this grassroots protest actually calls itself the "tea bag" protesters, but they are wrong. Most of those in attendance at a Tea Party will never know how this term became associated with their movement and would probably never use it.

3 - It is a Grassroots Movement with No Central Leadership (Yet)

A few news articles have run this statement:

The tea parties don't represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They're AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects," economist Paul Krugman wrote in Monday's New York Times.

The failure of the media to actually name these individuals is a clue that they are wrong. Calling them "the usual suspects" is a sinister way to cast them in a negative light. Why cast them in a negative light if they are just peacefully demonstrating their opinion? Are all protest leaders "suspects" of some kind? This is hate-talk from the media and it's shameful. Since there were 800 protests yesterday across all 50 states, it's obviously supported by more than a few Republican's behind the curtain.

Some leaders probably will emerge to centralize this movement, but it has not, yet, happened. Read this if you want to know how it all got started.

4 -This Movement is not Friendly to Republicans

In fact, some Republican politicians have been turned down when they asked if they could speak at these events. These protesters consider the abuse of taxes to be a long standing problem that has nothing to do with only one party. To be fair, Republicans like Newt Genrgich have supported and spoken at some of these events and many signs have been waved protesting Obama's actions, but the protests are not Republican in nature and are certainly not a good place for the average Republican congressman to be. It's more Libertarian than anything else.

5 - Making Fun of the Term "Tea Bagging" is Not the Same as Understanding the Movement

Did you see a TV show where someone made fun of these guys for being called "tea baggers"? That is not a discussion of their ideology - it is a smear tactic. Be sure you are disagreeing on their politics and not just laughing at the name the media has given them. Many Americans believe that government spending is out of control is some way (national debt, bailouts, paying for failed mortgages, anything along those lines...) and have chosen to get together to make this sentiment known. If you don't like them, argue with their stand on spending instead of quoting a clown on TV.

Conclusions

If you just started hearing about the Tea Party movement in the last two weeks (or, if all of your news come from people who make fun of them) you may want to research older articles on the issue. The media is usually mistaken about the facts (or it simply distorts them) when first reporting something.

For example, synesthesia is a mental condition that was originally reported as the exact opposite of what it really is. I am a synesthete and meet people who still have a backward understanding of it because of the media's mistakes. After unconvering numerous problems like this by the mass media, I decided to stop trusting them. (However, they are usually right when it comes to news about celebrities, go figure.)

For more information, Wikipedia's article on the phenomenon of Tea Party Protests is quite good, or, at least it was when I last checked it. (And, bear in mind that I'm not asking you to agree with these protesters, I just wanted to clear up some very obvious confusion.)

5 Reasons Things are Better Than They Were During the Middle Ages

People like to complain about the times in which we live and everyone I am around is always full of gripes. There is nothing wrong with trying to improve the quality of our lives, but it's also good to look back and remember how much we have accomplished. Being a medievalist makes this an easy thing for me to do.

Here are a few things to be thankful for:

• Usury Laws - You might think banks are full of crooks, but in the old days there were not always laws against excessive interest (until you tried it on King Phillip the IV). Today, even the stupidest investor is protected by laws against unconscionability. Of course, if Jesus were in the temple that day, you were in luck.

Jesus - 1; Userers - 0

• Disease - There are people today who think we shouldn't use soap so we can build up our own natural immunities. They wouldn't say this if they remembered the great plagues that destroyed Europe. The black death struck young men first; when the older men and women died there were no younger people to replace them. It took Europe 300 years to re-populate; until then, the country side was empty and devoid of life. This kind of thing is unimaginable to us.

"But we're not dead!"

• Taxes - Sometimes, one class group accuses another group of not paying taxes. Since all of us do pay taxes this is an obvious hyperbole, but at one time it was true that the rich didn't pay taxes but used them to take money from the poor. Even in its most corrupt and broken form, the U.S. tax system is far more equitable than the old Roman system.

"Just think, in 1000 years people won't have to wait in line at the tax office!" (Also, what are those midgets doing there?)

(Image from Paradoxplace.)

• Literacy - My favorite. The printing press led to great reformations that were not as possible before people could read and pass the word along to others. (By they way, these medieval barbarians always wrote better than the average YouTube commenter.)

"Should I tell William that he misspelled France on ALL of these?"

• What do you want to do with your life? This question was not relevant to a medieval person. Almost every individual had to be involved in food production every single day so that people could eat. You didn't get to be an astronomer or an actor because your heart so desired it; instead, you got to grow plants or raise cattle. Every day. Today, you can pursue anything you want; even poor people in poor countries have an outside shot at success, which is more than anyone could ask for in the olden days.
  

"I wonder what I should have for dinner, tonight. Cabbage? No, not cabbage..."

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. My life isn't perfect, but I have a lot of comforts for which I am thankful.

The First Time I Handled Snakes

I used to think that snake handling was for those odd Christians who sat in their basements sharpening their knives in preparation for Armegeddon. I was wrong. It's a beautiful demonstration of faith.

My first experience was with my church when I was 10. One day we went out in the woods where a special shack had been built to perform these ceremonies without the prying eyes of the skeptical.

I remember being told to grab a rattler by the tail. Everyone knows that you don't grab snakes by the tail, but that's what I did. As fast as lightning the snake bit me and I felt its poison going into my arm. I shot a worried look at the older men in the room, but they assured me that this was normal and that I would not be hurt.

My grandfather handling snakes in the 40's; snake handling is an important part of my heritage. My great-grandmother is in the background playing the cymbals.

I was glad to know that the poison wouldn't affect me, but then I got woozy and started to fall. The snake ran away and slithered out of the room (and I've always wondered why the other men in the room got out of its way). I blacked out at this point.

I woke up to a man sucking poison out of my arm. I was confused, but he told me to "be still" and that he was going to suck the poison out of me because he was more faithful than I and could ingest the poison. I didn't remember this being part of the ceremony, but I blacked out again so I don't remember anything else.

When I awoke in the hospital I noticed the ministers were really excited to see me awake and asked me to keep the whole a secret. I asked the senior pastor if we were keeping it a secret because the ceremony had gone so well and he didn't want people to know how good of a snake handler I was. He looked worried but he told me that I was right. I asked him if we could do it again and he said that the ceremony only worked once for each person. That made me sad, but I'll never forget my first snake handling.

Read more about my family's snake handling by clicking here.