Re-posted by N.S.
mar 23, 2020
"when it comes to the ancient world, what Catherine Nixey calls “the story of wicked, oppressing romans crushing the Christians of the empire who just wanted to be free and wanted to praise God” in this episode of The World in Time is a familiar one. unfortunately, “when you look at almost any element of that story, it’s nonsense.” In her book The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World, she sets out to dismantle this well-trod foundational myth. Nixey spoke with Lapham’s quarterly about how ancient Christians did much to crush to the world they inhabited.
"Lewis H. Lapham talks with Catherine Nixey, author of The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World."
N.S.: About 100 years ago, Lewis H. Lapham edited Harper's monthly, in which he was proudest of occasionally publishing excerpts from speeches by Bush I, mocking his diction.
I coulda sworn I'd seen a picture years ago, in which the heavy runs into Lapham at the end and says, "Lewish Lapham? I thought you was dead. To which Lapham replied, "Not hardly," before blowing him away.
I've never heard of Lewis Lapham,so I looked him up and he's now 87.It appears his last book was in 2016,called "The Age of Folly"--a putdown of Trump and Hillary Clinton.
ReplyDeleteIf he made fun of the Bushes,what would he think of Biden?
--GRA
DeleteMy last thought on Lewis Latham,via a snippet of an article,by a Ron Rosenbaum,from 2012:
"I was fortunate to write for him, so, not being entirely objective myself, I asked New York University professor Robert S. Boynton, head of the literary reportage program there and author of The New New Journalism, to describe Lapham’s significance: “He pushed the idea that the memoir form might influence ANY piece—an essay, report, investigation—and make it more, rather than less, true. Another way to put it is that he attacked the false gods of ‘objective journalism,’ and showed how much more artful and accurate writing in the first person could be.”
GRA:Latham abhorred "objective journalism"--the opposite of which--is propaganda.If you have nothing but propaganda in your papers and tv,the reader or viewer cannot possibly know if he's getting facts or lies,as he donates his time to either endeavor.
--GRA
You've come rather late to the party. This 2017 book has had some severe criticism for its polemical bias that undermines the author's scholarship. See https://davidtinikashvili.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/cameron-blame-the-christians-review/ and the much lengthier https://historyforatheists.com/2017/11/review-catherine-nixey-the-darkening-age/ that dismantles her argument piece by piece.
ReplyDeleteCONGRESS SET TO PUT FEDERAL BLESSING ON QUEER AND INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE
ReplyDelete(npr)The Senate is set to vote Tuesday on the Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.
Lawmakers are moving forward with the vote Tuesday afternoon after securing essential Republican support during a procedural vote on Monday. With bipartisan support, the legislation is expected to clear the Senate Tuesday, then head back to the House where it is expected to be passed quickly and sent to the president's desk to be signed into law.
The bill would require that all states recognize same-sex and interracial marriages performed in any other state. It does not require that states individually allow these marriages to be performed. The measure also recognizes these marriages for consideration of federal benefits such as Medicare and Social security.
GRA:Supposedly being done in the wake of the abortion overthrow by SCOTUS--with some fearing a federal rugpull of fag and coal burner marriage(not that those perversions would disappear,they just would be overseen by the states.)
--GRA
Everyone seems to think that monotheism is inherently superior to paganism. Why exactly that is the thought I am not sure. Pagans had a moral code mostly similar to that of the monotheistic faiths. Don't murder, steal, lie, commit adultery, etc.
ReplyDeleteWell, the Greek portion of the ancient world did not fall at all, it lived on in Constantinople for another thousand years and that is the part where Christianity was most popular. The Italian part seemed in decline even before Constantine, could well be unrelated. If not for the monotheistic civil war in the East (Christian vs. upstart Islam) Byzantium might have stayed together into the modern era. However, the big focus on "the hereafter" in Christianity may have sapped a lot of energy out of the civilization, the Judaic world did not expend such effort on such pie in the sky, it was about righteousness here and now. That is one big shift in the Greek world's interest in monotheism, (but hesitant to chop off the tip of their dick and give up all the creatures on their dinner table.) They sort of wanted to be jews and found the thing attractive in a less legalistic form, but the heresy they accepted changed the focus to rather silly ideas that comfort the weak.
ReplyDelete