Day: November 21, 2012

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And a World Filled with Stupid People is Shocked! Shocked I Say! *yawn*

The headline from the subliterate British idiot (well,he’s either subliterate or deliberately deceptive, although I wouldn’t rule out both at once, yet), Nick Squires, tries to sensationalize a yawner:

Jesus was born years earlier than thought, claims Pope

Seriously, is there any literate person anywhere in the world who didn’t already know this? No, really. The error in a sixth century monk’s calculations has absolutely no impact whatsoever on the NT record of Jesus’ birth. None. Zilch. A big zero with the rim kicked off. It’s nothing more or less than a moderately interesting piece of trivia about one small aspect of one of the relatively early stages in the development of the most common Western calendar.

The article makes clear that the “years earlier” in the headline (leading people astray right there) is around two to maybe as many as seven years’ difference between Dennis the Small’s erroneous calculation and Jesus’ probable birth (most scholarship settles around four years). Oh, but do notice the idiocy in the lede:

The ‘mistake’ was made by a sixth century monk known as Dionysius Exiguus or in English Dennis the Small, the 85-year-old pontiff claims in the book ‘Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives’, published on Wednesday.

WTF? Why is “mistake” in sneer quotes? And why “claims”? And why–citing the sub-title of the article, “The entire Christian calendar is based on a miscalculation… “–try to cast doubts about the “entire Christian calendar”?

It’s all about the Hivemind’s anti-Christian narrative, folks. File the information somewhere for a trivia game and move along. Nothing to see here (unless you are a history buff).

BTW, again: “Little Monk Dennis'” placement of the birth year of Jesus is an anomaly. Very, very few authorities, from the early church Fathers on, before and after Lil Denny, agreed with his placement, and by far the majority have come down on a placement anywhere from 4-6 B.C., by Lil Denny reckoning. So, for darned near a couple of millenia, any literate person knew what is being trumpeted in the article as “news”. Only incurious subliterates will find this to be news.

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The Petraeus Affair(s?)

I’ve not written anything here until now, though I have responded very, very briefly to email and to comments in other fora about what is now almost a capitalized event: The Petraeus Affair.

Look,

    1. Petraeus’ sexual liaison with Broadwell demonstrates a fundamental character flaw that should have been uncovered years ago: a lack of honor, demonstrated by his voiding of his marriage vows.

    2. If the “nookie calls” began while he was still in military service–as yet not actually determined–it was a criminal offense under the UMCJ.

    3. Regardless, his actions while serving in a sensitive security post were malfeasance in office. Any patzer in the security field is aware of the dangers of a “honeypot” and Petraeus was no patzer. “Unprofessional”? No, incompetent, and possibly criminally so.

If he can repair his relationship with his family, it will only be due to his family’s generosity, because nothing he can do would earn forgiveness.

BTW, for those slamming Holly Petraeus: grow up. My wife’s [an indeterminate age, but one almost indistinguishable from Holly Petraeus’ age *cough*]. She doesn’t look like she did in her 20s. Doesn’t matter. And, frankly, that sort of thing doesn’t really matter to any real man. Age happens. Grow up and deal with it.

But that leads to a more fundamental issue: the steady, inexorable destruction of honor and decency in our society, of which the general acceptance of infidelity and divorce are but one example. One hears the mantra, “50% of marriages end in divorce” all the time as though that were some sort of excuse for a false oath, a dishonorable statement of commitment. It’s also a lie, using a partial truth. Think: how many people do you know who have been divorced? How many of those have been divorced more than once? Besides, the 50% number is a chimera. The best surveys on the issue are all over the map, coming up with figures between 11% and 34% of marriages that HAVE ended in divorce.

But the meme is there and used constantly as an excuse for people being unfaithful… and as a way to lower expectations, erode commitment. But it’s just one of many excuses the termites of society put forth to excuse unfaithfulness. Go ahead. Pause a moment and come up with your own list of excuses for a married person having an “affair” or pursuing a divorce.

Now, I’m not asserting there are not legitimate grounds for divorce–there are (physical abuse, unfaithfulness*, desertion just about complete the list**). But there are NO excuses for being unfaithful to one’s wedding vows, one’s spouse that I will ever accept. Period.

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