The "it" in Garrett Fiddler's article (see my post below) raises the question: What kind of Christianity are the posters alluding to at Yale: the self-abusive, self-hating, self-flagellating kind of Chrsitianity that says
"I am worthless; but, because I am loved by Divinity I have value"?
"I am worthless; but, because I am loved by Divinity I have value"?
From COMMENTS posted to article:
"Good to remember that he was beaten and mocked and killed so that you didn’t have to be — because you deserved it"
I hope this "it" in the sentence above is a case of an unposited referent.
Otherwise we must ask: Why IN HEAVEN'S NAME would any human being DESERVE to be beaten and mocked and killed?
Because s/he ate an apple, disobeying an autocratic patriarch in a Babylonian garden thousands of years ago?
Such a masochistic self-flagellatory, self-crucifixion, interpretation of Christianity does untold damage to the human psyche and is antithtetical to the spirit of Easter.
Paul D. Keane
M.Div. '80
Say what you will, the fact remains that no "ROFL" would ever be placed on a Koran, a symbol of gay rights, Special olympics or any of the cherished minority references. However, no brouhaha is heard from admin when the Cross of Christ is defaced so insultingly. Chickenhawks. As long as the protest may be violent or prolonged (or both), Yale will rise to the occasion with the appropriate moral outrage and demand that the behavior stop. Has that been heard on the "ROFL" insult?
Ciarrai,
No brouhaha is made by the Yale Administration or the Divinity School or the Chaplain's Office because they understand the history of the theology behind INRI and recognize that the cross was NOT DEFACED by substituting ROFL for INRI.
You can't deface INRI by UPDATING Pontius Pilate's insult with a MODERN DAY EQUIVALENT. Rolling on the Floor Laughing (ROFL) is precisely what Pontius Pilate was doing when he put "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Judeans" (INRI) on Jesus's cross.
If anything, the "ROFL incident" has brought some needed intellectual discussion to Easter at Yale.
Bravo for that!
Paul Keane
M. Div. '80
Were it not for the ROFL tab on this cross, the university would be denouncing this stunt as a hate crime against non-Christians.
Some of the faithful have a deep seated NEED to embrace a persecution-ideation in order to feel fully participant in the Crucifixion choreography of this annual three-day event.
That NEED has been inculcated since childhood and cannot be removed with an appeal to facts or logic.
Ideation is not logical.
Paul Keane
M. Div, '80
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