O.K. so the news spin cycle seems to have stopped on Illinois just now, where all sorts of gnarly things seem to regularly go down, especially in the situation ethics sort of realm. I guess this is why Dan Fogelberg sang "Illinois, I'm your boy" but moved to Maine to live out his last days. I was reading the report on the 10 Worst Work Stories of the Year when I came across the following----
It seems that there were two security guards who worked at an Illinois Neiman Marcus store (or as I prefer to call it, a Needless Mark-up store). It seems they were video taped having sex on the job, and were fired. But did they feel ashamed and apologize to their employers for their behavior whilst at work??? OH NOOO.
Instead they sued Neiman Marcus for invasion of privacy and unfair termination for sexual activity! They claim the store manager 'secretly' video taped their tryst-- I guess its an invasion of privacy case, and then the manager shared the tape with others, including, apparently, wait for it, a nationwide online data base of security personnel. I guess that career in security jobs is looking a bit insecure now for those two.
Now I'm telling you this story with a disclaimer---it came from a Chicago newspaper, the same one that blew the whistle on their erstwhile governor. So, consider the source, some might say. All I can say is, this puts a new twist on the old 'I saw Momma kissin' Santa Claus complaint'.
BW3
Though I dont subsribe to the Limbaugh doctrine, you cant help but to beleive these 'liberal media types' wasted too much time on Palins clothing bill, while overlooking the Chicago machine! P.S. meant to say i liked your note on your dad 'he's with jesus' it's good to hear this from theologians every now and then! God bless, John [I meant simple, humble truths!]
ReplyDeleteSorry to be OT here, but I can't find a contact (which may be the policy of this blog).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I've been looking to see if BW3 had anything to say about last month's PBS Nova special on "The Bible's Buried Secrets". The Biblical Archeological Review liked it, and there have been some blogs that opined on it. One person even live-blogged the show!
I found the two hour documentary to be half-credible (the Israel Finkelstein part), but some of the claims struck me as going beyond what the archeological record supports (especially the origin of YHWH). The documentary probably offended fundamentalists, since it pretty much discounted anything before the time of King David as myth (or unsubstantiated through archeology). On the other hand, it refuted those minimalists who say the entire Hebrew Bible was concoted in Babylon by the priests - by showing fragments of scripture from the eight century BCE.
The documentary was a summary of the last 50 years of biblical archaeology and biblical scholarship, an can even be viewed online.
The documentary supported, more of less, the JEDP hypothesis, but doesn't spend much time on textual analysis since it's mostly about what's "buried" in the Levant.
I've heard that the last two centuries of critical examination of the Bible (OT & NT) have had two effects: to challenge some beliefs, but also to strengthen considerably others, especially since our post-Enlightenment world has new standards for evidence. The PBS documentary falls into that category. I'm guessing that many readers of Ben's blog would not like "The Bible's Buried Secrets", because of that aspect. I, on the other hand, thought the program to be stimulating and exciting.
I'd be very interested to read what Ben Witherington thought of it.