Crime and Punishment

I read this clever take on the old story about the woman caught in adultery, on Shane Clifton's Blog, this morning.

It really IS clever... but somehow, I can't quite agree with it.

Orson Scott Card frames the tension in this story as a tug-of-war between legalism and corruption.  Somehow, "Rabbi Jesus" comes out as having the perfect balance, able to both "preserve the law and forgive the deviation".

Now I might be on shaky theological ground, here... so I'm chucking it out there to see what others have to say... but I don't think Jesus was on the Law/Lenience paradigm at all, at all, at all.  Hear me out... then tell me what you think...

Against such things...

Recently I've been involved in some online discussions regarding the issue of same-sex marriage.  In the first, I posted what I thought was a fairly innocuous comment on facebook, in support of marriage equality.  The reaction was... astounding!!  I was quite unprepared for the level of vitriol - and the most vitriolic responses invoked "God" as their justification.  Ouch!!

Jesus as Performance Artist...???

Image Credit:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/oct/03/interview-marina-abramovic-performance-artist

Yes.  I know - this sounds kinda weird...  but I have been switched on to performance art, recently, after viewing a performance by Marina Abramovic, and learning more about her solo work, as well as her collaborations with German artist, Ulay.

Performance art is something I have never previously understood.  My first experience of it was when a friend and I visited the NSW Art Gallery, and attended a performance art event that just happened to be on.  I think we were all of 18 or 19 years old at the time.  We didn't know what to make of the bizarre behaviour of the performer.  It was confronting, to say the least!  Over the years I have seen occasional performance art pieces, but did not find the artform accessible.  The piece by Abramovic, linked to above, moved me to tears - in fact, I was a wreck!  I shared it with a good friend, and she had the same reaction.  Powerful stuff!