Religious Fundamentalism in Orwell and Pynchon

[Michael Joseph]

> Subject: Re: Religious Fundamentalism in Orwell and Pynchon
> >
> > On Tue, 20 May 2003, Otto wrote:
> >
> > > I think it's just a bad & unseemly (nice word) metaphor
> > > that has been used and withdrawn when it became obvious
> > > that there are connotations one hadn't thought of before.
> > >
> > It's not the connotation, it's the meaning of the word (ut infra)
> >
>
> But it's not the only meaning, the word "crusade" has other
> connotations in common language too. People lead crusades
> against the roaches in their kitchen.
>
Whom do they lead, Otto?

> > > Semantically "crusade" isn't that far from "jihad" so I think
> > > there havebeen a lot of crocodile tears wept by those
> > > complaining about it.
> > >
> >
> > yes? crocodile tears?
>
> I was thinking of complaining Muslims here who in their privacy
> might appreciate suicide bombings.
>
Ah, I missunderstood. Thank you. It seems that sanctioning murder is
always the point.  To protest against it is to be insincere because, if
one properly understands how things are, one is protesting against one's
own security. Does one therefore condone spiraling acts of reciprocal
violence?


Michael


> > from folks who lack the courage to concede that
> > America is a theocracy?
> >
> > Michael
> >
>
> I doubt that this is the case when I take the following literally.
> Contrary to "crusade" the word "theocracy" has nearly no colloquial meaning:
>
> theocracy
> \The*oc"ra*cy\, n. [Gr. ?; ? God + ? to be strong, to rule, fr. ? strength:
> cf. F. th['e]ocratie. See Theism, and cf. Democracy.] 1. Government of a
> state by the immediate direction or administration of God; hence, the
> exercise of political authority by priests as representing the Deity.
>
> theocracy
> a word first used by Josephus to denote that the Jews were under the
> direct government of God himself. The nation was in all things subject
> to the will of their invisible King. All the people were the servants of
> Jehovah, who ruled over their public and private affairs, communicating
> to them his will through the medium of the prophets. They were the
> subjects of a heavenly, not of an earthly, king. They were Jehovah's
> own subjects, ruled directly by him (comp. 1 Sam. 8:6-9).
>
> By displaying his belief to the public I think George W. Bush more is
> appealing to large groups of conservative voters from the Southern
> Baptist Convention than to the world abroad, but I have no objections
> to this:
>
> "Our nation is founded on religious freedom -- the principle that people
> ought to be able to practice religious freedom and speak their mind,
> freely." (Pres. Bush)
> http://www.bpnews.net/printerfriendly.asp?ID=6493
>
> If America is a theocracy why do I get that much porn spam and
> viagra-advertisement (not that I needed it) from there?
>
> Otto
>
>
>