Monthly Archives: June 2015

Confederate Flag Full Mast (South Carolina)

Posted on June 18, 2015 by zjb

With the American and state flags at half mast over the South Carolina state house, it’s no surprise but still shocking to see the Confederate flag at full mast. I  found the picture first at Twitter and then checked to … Continue reading →

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Rachel Dolezal (Race, Intentional Community, & American Protestant Religion)

Posted on June 18, 2015 by zjb

Another wrinkle to the Rachel Dolezal story that has not been much discussed is its aspect as a Christian, religious phenomenon. I caught this little bit in the New York Times, which you can read here.   As I see it, … Continue reading →

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Being Black Being Jewish (Julius Lester) (Rachel Dolezal)

Posted on June 16, 2015 by zjb

Since I found it on FB, I think I can post this piece  by Julius Lester. Writing about his own maternal great-grandfather, who was a German Jewish immigrant, and having himself been judged as not being black after converting to … Continue reading →

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(Canaanite Origins) Material Artifact (Ishba’al ben Beda)

Posted on June 16, 2015 by zjb

Clay jar from Khirbet Qeiyafa, an Iron Age site from around 1020 to 980 BCE inscribed with the name of Ishba’al son of Beda. It’s the same name but most likely not the same person identified as such in Chronicles … Continue reading →

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(Gods, Godesses, and God) Aniconic Politics in Ancient Israel (Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehlinger)

Posted on June 16, 2015 by zjb

I’m prepared to walk back anything in this post with sufficient critical pushback from experts in a field upon which I’m making such gross trespass. But I wanted to write about God, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel, which has … Continue reading →

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(Rhyzomatous) Nymphaeaceae (New York Botanical Garden)

Posted on June 15, 2015 by zjb

Water lilies in the pools outside at the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at the New York Botanical Garden, in the Bronx on a bright June Sunday. The first thing that caught my eye was the flat, green edge of the … Continue reading →

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Sun Breakers –Architectural Brutalism in Israel

Posted on June 14, 2015 by zjb

Neat photo blog at Ha’aretz, which you can see here,  documenting architectural Brutalism in Israel. About this particular shot above, I like the vertical composition juxtaposing the rough building material with the darkened cypress trees. The use of massive amounts … Continue reading →

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Kabbalah & Art (Redeem & Salvage) (David Greenstein)

Posted on June 12, 2015 by zjb
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Science & Religion & The Public Sphere (The Brian Lehrer Show)

Posted on June 12, 2015 by zjb

It was painful listening at NPR this morning on the Brian Lehrer Show interview with U Chicago evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne plugging his new book. Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible is not much more than additional … Continue reading →

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Not So Chummy (Ancient Near East Gods in Temples)

Posted on June 12, 2015 by zjb

Reading Michael Hundley’s Gods in Dwelling: Temples and Divine Presence in the Ancient Near East, this made the greatest impression. As I’m reading it, this relates directly to debates about “monotheism.” Squirreled away in the innermost and most private sanctum … Continue reading →

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