I Am An Impure Thinker

... and damn proud of it.

Giles Fraser writes a fine essay about how he traded in his ideology for relationships with people 25 years ago.

He includes a marvelous quotation from Kierkegaard in which the Danish philosopher  describes the philosophy of his nemesis, Hegel, as a huge magnificent palace in which no one could possibly live.

My friend David Kaplan once said that the left-wing Hegelians and the right-wing Hegelians met at Stalingrad.

Hannah Arendt said at the conclusion of The Origins of Totalitarianism that totalitarianism is not the creation of any particular ideology over any other. Totalitarianism comes out of the very nature of ideology itself. Arendt used the Greek myth of Procrustes and his bed, mutilating people who didn't fit in it, to illustrate her point. It is in the nature of ideological thinking to mutilate living reality to fit an abstraction.

Theseus kills Procrustes in the same way he killed others.

The Other Nigeria

Almost all the news out of Africa seems to be disaster reporting of one sort or another. We, who are not Africans, tend to see the place as a continent full of calamities. Those of us of the Episcopalian and Anglican persuasion see Nigeria in terms of sometimes violent tribal and sectarian tensions, Western corporate exploitation, corruption, email fraud schemes, and lingering post colonial resentments.

Perhaps it is time to take a different look at Nigeria, a very ancient country with an old and rich culture that had a great impact on cultures in the New World. Here is just a small sampling.

Nok Culture circa 300 - 100 BC

One of the earliest known cultures of Nigeria is the Nok culture, named by archaeologists after a town near the excavation site. Little survives of this culture beyond terracotta figures like those illustrated below found in river flood deposits. Scholars speculate that they could be based on sculptures in more perishable wood. Very little is known about this culture. There are other cultures from the same region and time period that are just beginning to become known to archaeologists and scholars. But the political and military situation in so much of west Africa makes field work difficult to impossible.

The Kingdom of Ife circa 1000 - 1500

The city of Ife plays a very large role in Yoruba mythology. The world began in Ife, and the gods taught humankind the civilizing arts and crafts there. In 1938, archaeologists digging near the compound of the Oni (king) of Ife found a series of brass and terra cotta heads of astonishing naturalism and idealized form. These are assumed by most scholars to be portraits of rulers, though very idealized. They are all shown in the prime of life with an aura of calm detached self-possession. The lines on some of them may portray tatoos or scarification.

Ife portraits are still surfacing. This terracotta head was found at a site called Obalara in 1971.

The Kingdom of Benin, 1440 - 1897

The city of Benin was the center of a great empire built on trade. By the 15th century, Benin emerged as preeminent among all the Yoruba city states. They were very expert metalsmiths in brass, bronze, and iron. Most of the art, especially in metals and in ivory, was reserved for the exclusive use of the Oba (king) of Benin, and was made by artists in his direct employ. The subjects are beautifully stylized representations of the king and his court and soldiers. What mattered was not the individuals, but their sacred office. Works of art from Benin are the most famous and celebrated to come out of Nigeria. The British military destroyed Benin in a punitive expedition in 1897, scattering the art of its royal court to museums around the world.

Yoruba Culture.

A large majority of the Africans who were forcibly exiled to the Americas as slaves were Yoruba, and the rich and complex Yoruba culture still shapes much of life in the New World. Practices like Vodoun (Vodoo) and Santeria come out of the old Yoruba religion.
Below is a pair of doors carved by a celebrated sculptor by the name of Olowe in 1910 for the palace of a Yoruba king. It records the visit of British Travelling Commissioner for Ondo province, Captain Ambrose visiting the Ogoga (king) of the city of Ikere in 1897 shortly after the punitive expedition against Benin. The King wears the tall crown on the left and the Captain is borne in a litter on the right.

I sometimes wonder if even the memory of traditional African cultures will survive. Frequently, the demand of foreign collectors leads to widespread looting and destruction of African heritage sites, especially of the Dogon and Bamana in Mali. The black market in art and antiquities loves poverty and political instability. That's why it's flooded with artifacts from Central America, Iraq, and Africa. Other times, foreign demand is all that's supporting the continuation of some African art and craft traditions. Colonialism and slavery were catastrophes for native African cultures, but they somehow survived, even if in fragmentary form. I'm not so sure they will survive the fierce competition for souls on the continent between the world's 2 great imperial religions, Christianity and Islam. Already, so much of native African religion and culture has been ground to powder between those 2 millstones.

Piece in Our Time. Piece o' dis, Piece o' dat.

Please note this conclusion from the statement of the Nigerian Church in support of pending legislation that would criminalize all same sex activity, and even any action that in any way could be considered helping a same-sex person.

“Same sex marriage apart from being ungodly is also unscriptural, unnatural, unprofitable, unhealthy, uncultural, un-African and un-Nigerian. It is a perversion, a deviation and an aberration that is capable of engendering moral and social holocaust in this country. It is also capable of existincting (sic) mankind and as such should never be allowed to take root in Nigeria.”

You can read PDF downloads of the full text of the statement, and of the legislation itself here at Thinking Anglicans. Kudos to Simon Sarmiento for posting this, and to those Nigerian activists who risked life and limb to get this published.

The Nigerian ruling elite has gone stark raving verkakte with this homophobic obsession.  The legislation is nothing more than a hunting license for the cops, license for settling scores and doing away with political opponents and with people who are just inconvenient.  It is using a despised minority as a scapegoat and distraction.  Where have we seen that before? 

Adrian Worsfold over at Pluralist has gone so far as proposing expelling the Nigerian Church from the Anglican Communion if this legislation goes through with their support.

I haven't yet decided about that drastic step, but this legislation is also pretty damn drastic.

Below is a recent photograph of the Archbishop of Canterbury with a draft of the proposed Covenant in his hand.

Peace in Our Time, and in Our Communion, indeed.  And who pays the price this time for our peace of mind?

And speaking of the fatally toxic mixture of homophobia, hypocrisy, arrogance, and criminality, read this story posted by Grandmere Mimi of what happened to a young seminarian in the Orthodox Church of America.

So, all you rightwingers who can't bear the the thought that the LGBTs are your equals legally and spiritually, is this what you really want?  Do you really want to be associated with all this?

So all you folks who shook the dust of the Episcopal Church off your feet in anger and disgust  before you left with the silver... 

martyrs? 

 really? 

  

How now brown cows?

Jon Stewart, Tribune of the People

"These guys went on a Sherman's March through their companies with our 401k money... They burned the fuckin' house down and walked away rich as hell."

This is very much worth watching.  Stewart confronts Jim Cramer of CNBC for not doing his job as a journalist, and for being a willing butt boy for the Masters of the Universe. 

Pitting Embryos Against Children

I don't normally like to comment on the abortion wars.  Like most people, my thoughts and feelings on the subject are too mixed for the usual frothing shouting match between crazy people.

But this excommunication in Brazil is really horrific, and the Vatican's reasons for backing Cardinal Sobrinho are beyond the pale.

A 9 year old girl becomes pregnant with twins after being abused and raped repeatedly by her stepfather.  She probably could not have survived the pregnancy.  She only weighed 80 pounds.  Cardinal Sobrinho excommunicated all involved in the abortion that became necessary to save the girl's life.  The Vatican went so far as to say that the abortion was worse than the rape, and that the lives of the embryonic twins counted for more than the life of the 9 year old forced to be their mother.   While the doctors and hospital staff whose only motivation was to save the life of the 9 year old girl were all excommunicated, the raping step father got off scott free in the eyes of the Church hierarchy.  Hell, they might as well have given him a medal.

Saying that an embryo or a zygote has an equal claim with already born and living children is one thing.  Saying that little cell cluster has a superior claim, especially over the life of another child already born, is going several steps too far in my view.  Public opinion in Brazil is outraged.  President Lula of Brazil publicly criticized the Cardinal's decision.    This will probably lead to liberalizing Brazil's harsh anti-abortion laws.

But then, the Roman Catholic hierarchy has a long record of winking at child abuse and child rape.  The state legislature of New York is about to end the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse; and wouldn't you know, the Catholic hierarchy is fighting it tooth and nail, with help from orthodox Jewish rabbis and the Republican party.  They claim it would bankrupt the church.  Perhaps after so many decades of looking the other way or enabling crimes against children they SHOULD go bankrupt.  Lord knows enough prosecutors looked the other way for years rather than take on powerful local clergy.

That's the very last thing the Princes of the Church want, accountability, especially to their subjects.  I say, ecrasez l'infamie!

But then, we can always blame it on the gays!

Speaking of Christianity in decline...

Update...

Apparently, opinion within the Vatican is not unanimous on this case.

Christianity in Decline

It's now official,  the numbers of people in the USA who identify themselves as Christian are down by 10% since the 1990s.  The fastest growing group is "none of the above."  And among Christians, the fastest growing group has no denominational affiliation.

On the one hand, this is part of a long term trend toward secularization in the USA.  On the other hand, it is a consequence of the politicization of Christianity over the last 25 years; the growing tendency of Christianity to be linked to right wing politics.  

Secular progressive and liberal commentators who I normally agree with are rejoicing over this news.  My feelings are more mixed.  On the one hand, it means that the extremist reactionaries who want to police everyone's souls are already losing much of the power and influence they enjoyed for so many years.  On the other hand, as numbers and church attendance decline, the fanatics in every denomination have more influence, accelerating rates of decline, and further marginalizing any kind of serious religious conversation.

The long tradition of Christian progressivism, that began together with the labor movements and campaigns to end slavery and now embraces LGBT rights and feminism, is almost forgotten.  Christian Socialism, the Social Gospel movement, the religious dimension of early feminism, Liberation Theology, all of those movements are largely forgotten by the public.  The message that the exploited and marginalized were not only fully human and fully citizens with dignity, but beloved by God with sanctity is now twice buried in popular memory.  It was first buried by communism and its militant secularism, and then again by triumphalist capitalism at the end of the 20th century.  Christianity is now thoroughly identified with conservative and right wing politics and social identity.

I wonder if a religion that proclaims a new heaven and a new earth can really be called "conservative."  I wonder if a religion whose leader was executed for blasphemy and sedition should really be considered a spiritual bulwark for any political or social order.  I wonder if a God who so explicitly favors the poor and the cast off can really be relied upon to bless the success of the already privileged and powerful.  

If it's all about preserving the "traditional family" (whatever that is, and I assume they mean the 19th century Victorian model and not the much older and more durable model where husband and wife worked as equals out of necessity, and children worked in fields or in shops as soon as they could walk), then maybe the religion that works better is the old Roman religion of hearth and ancestors where the home was literally sacred and the family patriarch was a priest and judge in life and a god in death.  That religion had everything a Fox News commentator could want, patriarchy, strict sexual regulations, and even a virginity cult.

I'm not so sure that a religion founded by wandering homeless celibate men and women who all forsook homes and families works quite so well for preserving social order and hierarchy.

Napoleon said that nothing works better to keep the poor in line than the threat of eternal damnation.  Bismarck believed that the Church was the most effective instrument of the State for keeping social peace.  Marx described the priest as the landlord's best friend.  Right wing Christian leaders have been all too willing to play that role of establishment social and cultural cop (which is why the plutocracy loves them, "anything to keep the yahoos voting our way" has long been the attitude on Wall Street).  And now a public that's been left holding the bag and expected to pay the bill now that Our Betters have spent the inheritance at the roulette table has lost faith and patience.  What a surprise.  They  see the Church as but another collection agency, another enforcer, another branch of the Bank; the same one that went broke selling bogus mortgages and gambling with credit default swaps.

More Personal History: My Grandfather Blanchard

Ray Blanchard, my Grandfather, in 1907

My Grandfather on the right with an unknown friend about 1910

My Grandfather in 1918 in the Army Signal Corps stationed in Palo Alto, California (he notes on the back of the picture that the coat was entirely unnecessary).

I never knew my Grandfather. He died in 1948 almost 10 years before I was born. What little I know about him is from my father's memories and his own limited knowledge about his father's life. My father adored his father, and he was clearly his father's favorite of his 2 sons. My father was the younger of 2 sons, and so was his father, which might explain part of that bond.
Ray Blanchard, my Grandfather, was born in Warsaw, Missouri. His older brother was named Frank (my father was named after him). His mother (my Great Grandmother) was named Minta Knuckles, and was known as "Minnie Knuckles" or "Grandma Knuckles" to my father. Somehow for some reason, she was in Galveston when the great hurricane of 1900 struck, and she lived to tell about it.
When my Grandfather was still a boy, his father died, and both boys had to work to support the family. They both went to work in a telegraph office, I'm told in Hannibal, Missouri.
For unknown reasons, my Grandfather left that job and ran away. He was probably 17 or 18 years old at the time. He spent a couple of years hopping freight trains through the Midwest. He kept a diary of those travels all in Morse code. My cousin in Austin has that diary and has had it translated. My Grandfather says very little beyond what train he hopped and what town he slept in and where he looked for work. There will sometimes appear a revealing detail like a brief note saying he pawned a coat in Arkansas. My cousin was able to make a map of all his travels based on the information in that diary. My father had, and now my brother has, the wicker suitcase he carried on his travels.
The next part of the story is less clear. It appears that his older brother, my Great Uncle Frank, rescued him. Frank got a job with Western Union in Dallas, and was able to persuade the company to hire his younger brother and bring him in from the cold, to their mother's great relief. Both my Grandfather and Great Uncle worked for Western Union for the rest of their lives.
When the USA entered the First World War, both brothers joined the Army Signal Corps. For a brief while, my Grandfather was stationed in the Rio Grande Valley just in case the Germans (so it was rumored) tried to invade through Mexico. He was then stationed out in California. I'm told that a rich society girl fell for my Grandfather in California and married him out there. The marriage was brief and ended quickly in divorce. I'm told she grew tired of him and discarded him.
He went back to work with Western Union. His brother Frank I'm told had a very successful career with the company rising to an important executive position and spent the last years of his life working in the company's HQ in New York City. My Grandfather spent his life as a minor local sales manager. My father says the company blackballed him for union activity sometime in the 1920s.
My father remembered him as a quiet though mercurial man, quick to take offense. He told one story of a barber that my Grandfather visited regularly for many years. They became old familiar friends. One day, the barber said something that offended my Grandfather, probably by accident. My Grandfather left without saying a word and never went back or spoke to the man again.
In his last years, my Grandfather was overweight and in ill health. He was a very heavy smoker. He went into the hospital for routine gall bladder surgery, and died of a heart attack over night in his sleep. My Father and Grandmother arrived at the hospital the next day not knowing what had happened. Apparently the hospital staff did not know he was dead either. My father discovered him dead in his room. He never really recovered from that experience.