Let's think about Byron the Bulb

[Kai Frederik Lorentzen]

My goodness! > > ... Let's compare. The dodo gets killed off, so it is _elect_ or is it> _preterite_? The multiple choice answer is b, preterite. But does the dodo> metaphor extend out to all the people who would be killed by the bad> cruisaders, Belgian congo indusrialists, Are preterite the Hereros in> Namibia? The Asian peasants living in China's valley where they plan to> open a huge dam and flood it? Do we say they are the preterite? Maybe what> I'm coming to is that the lifestyle they once enjoyed has passed. > > But do we extend the anxiety to ourselves, as educated better-off (people> who communicate with computers generally are) that _we_ might _be_ those> nasty elect ourselves, staying our hands as we reach for the latest plastic> toy? Calling the elect the Chosen people always makes me think of the Jews,> yknow, complicating matters in that they got gassed, the chosen people got> gassed. Is it bad to say that I hope I am not offending anyone I am just> coming to the table with what I got.. But one could also say the Jews> today enjoy much success as integral members of society, many brilliant and> esteemed in every community, at least where I live no one cares if you have> a minora or a christmas tree. > > I once read a partial book on the Rothschild inheritance, and have read> Merchant of Venice.> > I think the elect and preterite thing always confuses me because there's a> radical point where it flips back in on itself, paints itself into a corner> and struggles with words words words -- the tortured writings -- if the> Meritorious Price is any indication of what you gotta do to make sense of> our salvation, is why to me, Zen Buddhism looks better every day. Someone> on this list expressed similar sentiment earlier this year, maybe Laura or> Heidi or someone.> Jill> 
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