Tensegrities

I’m in the middle of writing a book review of the most stunning new book — Jolyon Mitchell’s Media Violence and Christian Ethics. At one point he is talking about a sermon that Jeremiah Wright preached (the sermon which includes the now famous soundbite about “chickens coming home to roost”), as well as some other sermons preached around the time of 9/11 (93):

In this context, the prophetic reframing found in many sermons provides alternative reads of what was not articulated initially in the mainstream media. This could be described more technically as transgressive interpretations in local alternative public settings.

I can’t help being struck by how accurate Mitchell’s own words were, given how quickly the MSM moved to identify the transgressive nature of that speech when it reached beyond the “local” and “alternative” location where it was sourced.

Here’s a fun lay commentary on the Hebrew bible, by a columnist at Slate.com. From his introduction to the Song of Songs, for instance:

The Bible is like my grandmother’s basement, which is a magnificent hodgepodge of everything from jam jars to 83-year-old report cards to failed perpetual motion machines. The Bible, too, has everything under the sun. A creation story? Check. Law books? Yup. Genealogical tables, prophecies, history books, ritual instructions, self-help manuals—they are all in there. And now, right after the grimness of Job—we get … erotica!

Thanks to Tony for this link, an example of a Catholic bishop with integrity.