Why am I not shocked?
Does this Gospel of Judas reveal something new about early Christianity?
Yes, the Gospel of Judas really has been a surprise in many ways. For one thing, there's no other text that suggests that Judas Iscariot was an intimate, trusted disciple, one to whom Jesus revealed the secrets of the kingdom, and that conversely, the other disciples were misunderstanding what he meant by the gospel. So that's quite startling. Salon, interview with Elaine Pagels, April 2, 2007
Isn't this akin to being surprised by how well Hitler comes across in
Mein Kampf?
Labels: MWR: master of the WWII metaphor
Scenes from my outbox
I just wrote this (well, 99.5% of this) in an email to someone:
I have a thing about people who form conclusions about me based on things unrelated people did . . . . I suppose that could be one of those things that will hurt me from time to time, but to me it's an illegitimate way to think, kind of like stereotyping about what all in group X are like or whatever. I ordinarily don't make accommodations for that sort of thing, and certainly not on spec. So if someone ends up having some idiosyncratic issue I feel like that's not really within my control. If I'm negotiating a treaty with the Russians, and they say "Oh, well, the Germans double-crossed us so we don't trust you either", my response is to give that no credence because I'M NOT THE GERMANS AND IF YOU THINK I'M GOING TO BE LIKE THE GERMANS YOU'RE PRETTY FUCKING STUPID TO BE NEGOTIATING WITH ME IN THE FIRST PLACE--AND, BY THE WAY, I'M A LITTLE INSULTED THAT YOU THINK I'M GOING TO BE LIKE THE GERMANS.
Labels: MWR: master of the WWII metaphor, scenes from my outbox, what passes for introspection
"Do you favor an amphibious assault to open up a second front in the European Theater?"
O.K., remember not long ago when I pointed out that it would take more than a thousand years for U.S. military deaths to reach the toll from World War Two, in percentage terms? Of course you do. Yesterday I asked a well-informed friend how long he thought it would take and he said 15 to 20 years. I think that says a lot about perception versus reality, although I recognize that this is not WWII.
And, still fully acknowledging that Iraq is not WWII, here's what some of the questions from the Washington Post-ABC News Poll released today might have sounded like if it had been taken during WWII:
"All in all, considering the costs to the United States versus the benefits to the United States, do you think the war with the Axis Powers was worth fighting, or not?"
"Again thinking about the goals versus the costs of the war, so far in your opinion has there been an acceptable or unacceptable number of U.S. military casualties in the Pacific Theater?"
"Do you think the war with the Axis Powers has or has not contributed to the long-term security of the United States? IF YES: Has it contributed to the long-term security of the United States a great deal, or somewhat?"
"Do you think the Roosevelt Administration does or does not have a clear plan for handling the situation in the Pacific?"
"Do you think the Republicans in Congress do or do not have a clear plan for handling the situation in the Pacific?"
"Do you think the number of U.S. military forces in the Pacific should be (increased), (decreased), or kept about the same?"
Labels: MWR: master of the WWII metaphor
Enliven your communications with WWII metaphors
The history of World War Two, the Nazi rise to power and the career of Adolf Hitler are all rich clay for the fashioning of metaphors. Startling, entertaining, often telling, occasionally tiresome, such metaphors add a distinctive dimension to your communications.
The key is to make your WWII metaphors unexpected and offbeat. No one wants to hear the next likening of some current episode to Chamberlain at Munich. What you want are playful, lighthearted references to WWII episodes and personages that most educated people know of. In a later post, I may offer a list of promising such episodes and personages, but for now, a few examples mined from my own correspondence using
Google Desktop searches (just download and install it--you'll wonder where it's been all your life).
- She is the most self-absorbed person since Hitler! [Camille Paglia]
- SHOUTING IS NOT USUALLY VERY PERSUASIVE, BUT IT SEEMS TO HAVE WORKED FOR HITLER!!
- I’d like to see what kind of weaponry our boys would have hit the beaches with back in WWII if [Mariners CEO] Howard Lincoln had been calling the shots. "Our goal is to be competitive with the Germans . . ."
- Some people seem to love Oceanaire, but many of them seem to be from Minnesota and I just don't trust Midwesterners to tell me about seafood (among other things). I can't really get past the idea that it's from the same people who created Buca di Beppo. I suppose it could be amazing and we could learn to separate them in our minds, as if Hitler had invented the light bulb.
O.K., those examples were a little skewed, but you get the idea. And maybe "metaphor" is too narrow a term. Maybe "reference" would be better.
Labels: MWR: master of the WWII metaphor
