Religious Fundamentalism in Orwell and Pynchon

[jbor]

on 20/5/03 8:43 AM, Michael Joseph wrote:

> Oh, Ari, sweetie, "a broad cause?" Time to look in the dictionary.
> According to the OED the first/oldest def. of crusade is . . .
> 
> 1. Hist. A military expedition undertaken by the Christians of Europe in
> the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to recover the Holy Land from the
> Muslims.

This is a little disingenuous, isn't it, seeing as there are several other
definitions listed. Unless your point is that Bush has mastered time travel
and was planning to go back and wreak vengeance on the evil Saladin and his
army of infidels?

crusade n. 1. (often capitalised) any of the military expeditions undertaken
in the 11th, 12th, or 13th centuries by the Christian powers of Europe  2.
(formerly) any holy war undertaken on behalf of a religious cause  3. a
vigorous and dedicated action or movement in favour of a cause  4. to
campaign vigorously for something  5. to go on a crusade  (Collins)

Meanings 3 and 4 are pretty standard ones and the word is used, like
"homeland", in common parlance. As there is nothing else either in the
rhetoric or subsequent events and actions which gives any credence to the
idea that the U.S. was embarking on a "religious war", or that it has any
plans of embarking on one any time soon, then it seems plausible to accept
that this idea of a "broad cause" is exactly what was meant when the word
"crusade" was used. The unforeseen connotations of the word became a media
beat-up within a day or two and it was withdrawn pretty much straight away
after that.

best


> {alpha} 1577 HARRISON England III. iv. (1878) II. 29 At such time as
> Baldwine archbishop of Canturburie preached the Croisad there. 1616 JAS.
> I. Remonstr. Right of Kings Wks. 445 All such..as undertooke the Croisade
> became the Pope's meere vassals. 1753 CHESTERFIELD Lett. (1774) IV. 6 His
> history of the Croisades. 1769 BLACKSTONE Comm. IV. 416 The knight
> errantry of a croisade against the Saracens. >
>> Q Does he regret having used that word, Ari, and will he not use it again in
>> the context of talking about this effort?
>> 
>> MR. FLEISCHER: I think to the degree that that word has any connotations
>> that would upset any of our partners, or anybody else in the world, the
>> President would regret if anything like that was conveyed. But the purpose
>> of his conveying it is in the traditional English sense of the word. It's a
>> broad cause.
> 
> 
> "Broad cause?"