In work, the greatest satisfaction lies
the satisfaction of stretching yourself,
using your abilities and making them expand,
and knowing that you have accomplished something that could have been done
only by your unique apparatus.
This is really the center of life,
and those who never orient themselves in this direction are missing
more than they ever know.
Kenneth Alsop
A Brief Follow-Up Rant
on Moss' The Myth of Persecution
Yesterday I commented on the promotion video for a new provocative book suggesting that the Church claims of persecution and martyrdom during the initial centuries under Roman authority are revisionist and unreliable.
In fact, Christianity was outlawed in Rome during the early centuries of the Church; pagans spread rumors of cannibalism (i.e., the sacrament of the Eucharist), a well-known graffito mocking the worship of Jesus given a donkey's head on a cross. Other claims were the Christians were worshiping a mere man as a God. One of the first independent references to the young, growing Christian movement was a series of letters of an early second-century Roman governor Pliny the Younger (in modern-day Turkey) whom sent Roman Emperor Trajan a letter describing his treatment of those anonymously accused of being Christians; Pliny was concerned because the new religion was rapidly spreading throughout the province (no doubt dead Christians pay no taxes). Pliny was more interested in creating an apostate than a martyr, and gave accused Christians a way out, but if they persisted in their beliefs, he did execute them. Trajan wrote back, approving Pliny's handling of the problem, as a matter of advice discouraging the practice of accepting anonymous lists. However, prosecution of Christians was unevenly practiced; for example, prolific late second-century theologian Tertullian claimed no African martyrs up to his lifetime.
Here is a fairly concise discussion:
In its first three centuries, the Christian church endured periods of persecution at the hands of Roman authorities. Christians were persecuted by local authorities on an intermittent and ad-hoc basis. In addition, there were several periods of empire-wide persecution which was directed from the seat of government in Rome.
Christians were the targets of persecution because they refused to worship the Roman gods or to pay homage to the emperor as divine. In the Roman empire, refusing to sacrifice to the Emperor or the empire's gods was tantamount to refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to one's country.Historically, since the fifth century, scholars have identified 10 early noncontinuous persecutions of the early Christian Church in the Roman Empire, staring with Nero's scapegoating of Christians for the great fire of Rome; it was during this persecution that St. Peter was crucified upside down and St. Paul beheaded.
The number of martyred saints is limited; for example, this list includes 15 first-century saints including 11 of the 12 Apostles (St. John died of natural causes) and over the next 3 centuries 16 individual martyrs and two groups of martyrs (the first African martyrs (12) and Lesser Armenia (40)). It's not clear from context that the Church is exaggerating the early Church martyrs; for example, Roman Catholics recognize over 10,000 saints; there are non-Christian sources corroborating events. It's unclear Ms. Moss' point by context: that there are unusual problems (beyond the usual ones of limited records and their accessibility in validating historical events), that some Christian writers may have embellished the life stories of martyrs (not unlike flattering biographies of Roman emperors) over and beyond the accounts of their martyrdom, that many or most Catholics have a superficial understanding of the early history of the Church?
I don't know of many Catholics who come to the faith because of the martyrs; we may be inspired by the examples of their faith and courage.
I hope that I'm wrong, but I think Ms. Moss has a much more insidious goal: I think that what she is doing to do is undermine the Church's authority by challenging its credibility; e.g., if you can't believe what the Church teaches about the early Church, what can you trust about what it teaches today on matters of faith and morals? If so, I think she fails. Most people are not reliant on the tools and techniques of Biblical criticism.
A Retired Democrat Governor a Fiscal Hawk?
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| Courtesy of Truth in Accounting |
Via Hawaii Reporter and Galllup:
Nearly three out of every 10 employees – or 27.8 percent of employed adults in Hawaii work in a government agency. Hawaii falls just behind the District of Columbia (29 percent) and Alaska (28 percent). The annual survey shows the average number of government workers is going down. In 2009, 17.3 of adult employees worked for the government and in 2010, the number was 17.2. In 2011, that number decreased to 16.3 percent and in 2012, dropped further to 16.2 percent.
Maryland, Virginia, New Mexico, West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Washington round off the top 10 states with the highest percentage of government employees. That compares with Indiana (11.5 percent), Pennsylvania (11.7 percent) and Missouri (12.4 percent) that have the lowest percentage of government workers. Not surprisingly, Washington DC has the highest number of federal workers, with Maryland coming in second and Hawaii third.
Hawaii currently has some $20 billion in unfunded liabilities including the State's Employee Retirement System and healthcare costs for workers and retireesThis interview is refreshing, because it's one of the first times where I've heard a former Dem governor take on an overbudget train boondoggle, public sector unfunded liabilities, etc. Still, when he compares the state of Hawaii's airports compared to state of the art ones across the Pacific. I can almost hear Obama's Politics of Envy with Obama's obsession with Chinese or Japanese money-losing supertrains or green-energy subsidies. Why are we not discussing privatizing public infrastructure, including airports?
MAV's: Not Just Science Fiction:
Will Technology Outstrip Inadequate Privacy Protections?
I'm a business technology professor, not a Luddite. I can easily see how small mobile devices might be able to augment search-and-rescue operations, monitor dangerous neighborhoods, assist in tracking fugitives from justice or border protection, provide more comprehensive intelligence, say on the nature and extent of an alleged threat allowing for more efficient, effective deployment of personnel and resources. But we must ensure that such devices don't infringe on privacy, that the judicial system not authorize fishing expeditions, etc.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Gary Varvel and Townhall |
Aerosmith, "Last Child"
