by cameron | Apr 11, 2009 | activism, Culture Jamming
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“This is a great day for Adbusters,” says Kalle Lasn, editor and co-founder of the magazine. “After 20 years of legal struggle, the courts have finally given us permission to take on the media corporations and hold them up to public scrutiny.”
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I’m a big fan of Kalle Lasn, editor and co-founder of Adbusters Magazine and author of the book Culture Jam. For 20 years, he’s been prevented from buying ads in newspapers, magazines and TV. They refuse to take his money! Why? It might have something to do with the content of his ads, which tend to say things “Consume Less”. Lasn believes the Canadian Charter grants EVERY Canadian citizen the right to access the public airwaves, so anyone should be able to buy ads under the same rules and conditions. So Adbusters has been trying to use the legal system to force the TV stations to play ball and in a recent ruling, the British Columbia Court of Appeal has overturned a previous BC Supreme Court ruling which means Adbusters can now take their case against the big media companies to the BC Supreme Court.
Read more.
by cameron | Apr 11, 2009 | Christianity
When I asked that question on Twitter today, I had a few people tell me “Wodewick” or “Woger”. Oh and in typical Christian fashion, I was also called “an asshole” by @Griffmiester for asking the question.
But I learned something interesting today, another twist in the New Testament that I wasn’t previously aware of.
Most versions of the NT say that the man that Pilate released (it was apparently a custom for the the praefectus or governor of Judaea to commute one prisoner’s death sentence by popular acclaim) was a criminal called Barabbas.
For example, in the New International Version of the NT, in Matthew 27:16 it reads:
At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
HOWEVER…
If we look instead at the Contemporary English Version, the same passage reads:
At that time a well-known terrorist named Jesus Barabbas was in jail. So when the crowd came together, Pilate asked them, “Which prisoner do you want me to set free? Do you want Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
Apparently some of the oldest versions of the NT, including the Syriac Sinaiticus, have the name of the prisoner as “Yeshua bar Abbas” but the “Yeshua” was dropped from later versions – yet another example of early Christian authorities editing the manuscripts to suit their agenda.
In Amaraic (and in Latin), “bar Abbas” translates as “Son of the Father”.
So the crowd was given a choice of “Jesus, Son Of The Father” or “Jesus, who is called The Messiah”. Don’t they sound like the same person to you?
What was Yeshua bar Abbas’ crime? In the different gospels, he is referred to in a variety of ways: a “notorious prisoner”, a “bandit”, an “insurrectionist” and a “murderer”.
When Pilate asked the crowd which prisoner he should release, they said “bar Abbas!” (The Son of the Father!).
What do you think? Confusing?
by cameron | Apr 9, 2009 | Christianity
I’ve been blocked from commenting on a Christian blog. Was I being a troll? Was I being offensive? No, actually it was the opposite.
Some guy called Nick Norelli writes a blog called “Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth –
Study to show thyself approved unto God… (2 Tim. 2:15)”. Apparently Nick is only interested in study if it agrees with his point of view though. On April 6, he wrote a blog post called “Out of Touch with Reality“. Guess who is out of touch with reality? That’s right – me.
Nick wrote a blog post attacking my intelligence. “Mr. Reilly shows himself to be woefully out of touch with reality.” It wasn’t bad enough that he got his argument wrong, claiming that I had, in another discussion on another site (which, by the way, was a very civil debate on both sides) claimed that “all scholars” agreed with my position on the historicity of Jesus, something I had not done.
So I left a comment on Nick post defending myself.
That lead to a discussion with some of the folks who read Nick’s blog and I believe the discussion was civil and honest. True that some of Nick’s readers, like Nick himself, are very dismissive of anyone who disagrees with their position. Instead of debating facts or refuting my position by providing evidence, they prefer to say things like:
“… his arguments reflect a slanted type of scholarship that doesn’t accurately represent the data.”
“… your doubt that Jesus even existed renders you unfit for me to engage in such matters.” (That’s the great Nick himself speaking.)
“… you just don’t know what you’re talking about.” (That’s Nick again.)
“I’m not even willing to discuss your arguments with you let alone debate them.” (Nick, again.)
So, as you can see, typical Christian avoidance and insults. Instead of debating facts, they would rather insult your intelligence, your knowledge or, as Nick did, just end up blocking you from the discussion.
I’d like to remind you again that HE started it by writing a blog post insulting my mental state (“out of touch with reality”).
by cameron | Apr 9, 2009 | Christianity, Podcast, Vanini Day
My guest today is Dr Greg Clarke (PhD), Honorary Associate, Dept of Ancient History, Macquarie University
and Director of the Centre for Public Christianity.
We talk about the survey that the CPX has recently sponsored that finds that 55 per cent of Australians don’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead but only 11 per cent doubt that Jesus was a real historical figure. As you know, I am one of those 11 per cent. So Greg and I also had a chat about the lack of evidence (as I see it) for the existence of Jesus. As Greg works in the Dept of Ancient History I thought he could confirm for me that my basic facts are correct. As you’ll hear, that was like drawing blood from a stone. 🙂
Here are the census stats for religion in Australia.
If you want to join me in celebrating
Vanini Day, then join the club.
If you want to listen to some of my other podcasts on the history of Jesus, see this page.
And finally, please support TPN’s April drive! We need your support!
If you want to keep TPN on the air, please show your support. If just the listeners of this show contributed $20 a month, I could fund TPN indefinitely! Is the information and entertainment you get from TPN worth a bottle of cheap wine?
http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/d3b7a44909380763
by cameron | Apr 8, 2009 | capitalism, Podcast
OMFG. Last night I did a live show with my most-excellent co-host Mr Nick Hodge and WE TALKED FOR FOUR HOURS. I kid you not. I only recorded the first THREE HOURS and I present them to you here (well the audio version anyway – to see the video you have to turn up on the night). Oh and this audio recording only has two of the five live numbers I performed during the show. One was in the pre-show festivities (“Come On Eileen”) and there were a couple during the post-show wind-down (including “Ship Song”by Nick Cave).
During this four hour marathon, Nick and I discussed:
Australia’s National Broadband Network
America’s bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Whether or not Nick is an atheist or an agnostic
The financial crisis scam and what we might replace capitalism with
The ethics of veganism
The Church of LOTU
The historicity of Jesus (or lack thereof)
And much, much more.
Listen to the full three hours – if you dare.
Tune in to future live shows every Tuesday night at 8pm here.
