progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital
I’m currently watching the Naked Archeologist, a series on the History Channel International. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a tongue in cheek look at archeology. At the same time, it’s a very serious look at history vis a vis religion. It’s completely in the spirit of this blog in that the host takes an alternative hypothesis to popular beliefs, in this case in the field of archeology, and then tries to prove it, or in the lack of proof, leaves you with a feeling of inquisitiveness.
This week he’s taking on the subjects of subjects: who wrote the bible. Pretty good question, yes?
And this is what I love about the show, he’s starting with the hypothesis that the Old Testament, or at least the first five books was actually written by Moses. As he points out, in the field of archeology, that’s an uncoventional view.
What we learn is that the conventional view, the “documentary hypothesis,” is that the books of Moses are written by a group of people, and truth be told, that’s where I’d put my money. We also learn that there are texts predating the Dead Sea Scrolls that have passages the same as the books of Moses. Interesting, but of course, not enough to verify the original hypothesis. The elan of the series is delightful, but not convincing.
Again, I’m not sure if the aim is to convince. I think it’s to elicit the question. And to make biblical history, well, fun.
[powered by WordPress.]
hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.
95. Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)
— Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
The best way to make sense of this legal tangle is to mouse over the title of an individual scandal, which will highlight everyone implicated. [Link]
A 22-year-old bicyclist was struck by a garbage truck and killed just north of Dupont Circle today, authorities said. Police and fire vehicles converged on the scene at 20th and R streets NW, snarling Connecticut Avenue traffic during the morning rush. [Link]
We're asking you to put some of the money you plan to give Obama "in escrow" until he demonstrates progressive leadership on the issues we care about, like warrantless wiretapping. [Link]
The report notes that the administration has gone to “unprecedented lengths to control and suppress information about the human cost” of the wars. [Link]
"We see a tipping point occurring right before our eyes," Hansen said during his appearance at the National Press Club. "The Arctic is the first tipping point and it's occurring exactly the way we said it would." [Link]
It appeared to confirm for the first time in an official examination many of the allegations from critics who charged that the Justice Department had become overly politicized during the Bush administration. [Link]
"After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be ans [Link]
It gives me a terrible mental image of the whole country linking arms and goose-stepping in unison, with the politicians out in front doing a straight-armed salute. [Link]
BOULTON: There are those who would say look, lets take Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Ghraib, and rendition and all those things and to them that is the complete opposite of freedom. BUSH: Of course, if you want to slander America. [Link]
In a subsequent e-mail to the employee, Cargol described himself as “a rub-your-belly, grab-your-balls, give-you-a-hug, slap-your-back, pull-your-dick, squeeze-your-hand, cheek-your-face, and pat-your-thigh kind of guy.” [Link]
Democracy Now! Radio and TV News [Link]
Let's take a look at how the Los Angeles Times covered the new Senate Intelligence Committee report on the claims made as part of selling the Iraq war, and compare it to how the editorial page of the Washington Post, by which I mean Fred Hiatt, sees the e [Link]
Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan writes in a new memoir that the Iraq war was sold to the American people with a sophisticated "political propaganda campaign" led by President Bush and aimed at "manipulating sources of public opinion" an [Link]
Hertzberg's analysis is noteworthy because he appears to be able to allow several ideas to coexist in his head simultaneously, which quite an achievement these days. [Link]
That night, George Stephanopoulos, who was then a top aide to Mr. Clinton, declared that it was “mathematically impossible for Brown to get the nomination” — the start of a campaign to declare Mr. Clinton the presumed nominee, even as several other [Link]
27 queries. 0.544 seconds
December 21st, 2006 at 5:47 am
Did they go into whether or not it may have been passed along orally first for several generations? That seems like the most plausible scenario.
December 21st, 2006 at 8:18 am
I think what they called the “documentary hypothesis” would suggest a period of oral teachings, but they didn’t go into that explicitly.
Also, the host tends to be very “hands on”, so comparing mythologies, say between the Greeks, Egyptians, and Hebrews, is different from what he likes to do.
December 21st, 2006 at 10:16 am
It took me a minute to figure out what you meant by “host.” Not to be confused with “Host.”
Oy.
December 21st, 2006 at 10:30 am
Yes, changing the case to “Host” and “He” does really change the meaning, doesn’t it?