My Last Martyr
--The Martrydom of Saint Sebastian,Hans Holbein the Elder
I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
--Don't Think Twice, It's Alright, Bob Dylan
We’re gonna jump down turn around
pick a bale of cotton,
jump down turn around pick a bale a day
--Pick a Bale of Cotton, Leadbelly
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be
--Working Class Hero, John Lennon
_______________
You could have done better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
--Don't Think Twice, It's Alright, Bob Dylan
We’re gonna jump down turn around
pick a bale of cotton,
jump down turn around pick a bale a day
--Pick a Bale of Cotton, Leadbelly
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be
--Working Class Hero, John Lennon
_______________
Blogger Disaffected and it Feels So Good sardonically observed on his Christmas Day post that it was bankers that drove the Prince of Peace to violence. If He didn't trust the moneychangers, why should we?
A humorless Christian calling himself, modestly, "TRUTH" protested , "Jesus forgave the people that crucified him. I think forgiveness is a much better message for Christians to be spreading than Jesus is mad and will smite everyone that reads Disaffected and it Feels So Good ..."
Maybe, TRUTH, but He did not choose to forgive the moneychangers. An inconvenient truth, perhaps, but one not difficult to reconcile. He may have been trying to introduce a New Way, but recognized the perfidy of those about him. People are wicked, and will not always accord the proper respect -- in those instances, outrage and banishment may be the proper response.
Thanks, TRUTH, but speaking for myself, were I to be crucified unjustly, I would not forgive those doing the nailing. While there's something to be said for accepting one's circumstances (pinned to a cross, there's not all that much else to do), there is also a good in righteous condemnation and rejection of abuse.
I am only human, and that is my preference. Let Jesus be the last martyr. It hasn't done much good in progressing humans, far as I can see. Right, we all feel a twinge of guilt and sadness when he see Him hanging there dolefully on the cross, then given the opportunity, pull a Tiger Woods ("15th hole, anyone?" )
If JC's martyrdom hasn't shepherded in a Better Man, surely my personal martyrdom will do little to forestall anyone's impulse to villainy. Nope, I personally am done with martyrdom. Possible sainthood after flaying is not my cup o' tea.
Martyrdom -- it's what's not for dinner, if you want any respect.
[Cross-posted at Big Brass Blog]
Labels: jesus didn't like bankers, last martyr
posted by Lisa at 6:29 PM
4 Comments:
technically, it was moneychangers, and not moneylenders that jesus went tribal on at the temple.
jews who visited the temple were expected to make sacrifices. those sacrifices had to meet very strict standards and could only be bought on the temple grounds.
the moneychangers were there to change, or launder if you will, the money that travelers and pilgrims brought into the acceptable currency of the temple.
since judea was a roman province, the currency that business, taxes, and other commerce was done is was roman. the temple would only accept coins from a kingdom of israel that had not existed for a very long time. herod "king of the jews" was a roman stooge, who wasn't even jewish himself.
the moneychangers, being in possession of a product that the faithful were forced to buy, were not generous in their exchange rates, either going or coming. the temple, in order to do any other business outside its own walls, needed to change the money that was left by the faithful into usable roman currency. the moneychangers screwed them too.
that's why jesus went off on them. that's also a big ass reason that the romans were not at all amused by him.
MB,
Thank you for the correction. I knew that, but I'm dashing things off late at night, and bound for errors. So if you don't mind, I'll go in and make the correction, with many thanks for your careful edit :)
Yer 'umble servant,
Lisa
I wouldn't agree that Jesus' Martyrdom "hasn't done much good in progressing humans, far as I can see."
On the flip side, Lucifer is not the cartoonish imp of popular depiction.
I don't want to go into what Christianity is or is not here, but this is a favorite Christmas carol that still can make me tear up.
http://tinyurl.com/ydpalfl
bb
Thank you, bb, for sharing that very moving tune.
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