A Fugitive Miscellany: atheism

Showing posts with label atheism. Show all posts

01 May 2010

Tomorrow, In A Year - The Knife, Mt. Sims and Planningtorock

I remember being disappointed. The Knife were planning something of a hiatus, and it was showing all indications of lasting a while. As it happened, the period of dearth I had dreaded didn't last too long: the Karin Dreijer part suddenly produced a 'Fever Ray' album out of nowhere, whilst Olof Dreijer produced the most interminably dreadful remix known to man and shoved it on the (can I be bothered to do the characters? no, fuckit) Year Zero Remixed album. (Trent and I still disagree on the whole Year Zero thing, but so far he's refusing to talk to me.)

Tomorrow - in a year, no less! - came out of months and months of hard work, I'm sure, but it sounds best if I say it came out of nowhere. Suddenly an email appears - The Knife are involved in an opera, along with a band I'd only heard of on a DJ Hell compilation which included the demurely-titled 'Hate Fuck'. Planningtorock remain a mystery, but one well worth exploring, assuming that their involvement with the CD goes beyond planning and extends into knob-twiddling and general electrical jiggery-pokery.

That's what this work is about, actually. The calls of birds, the movement of geological structures, the interaction of swarming shoals and endlessly calling birds, desperate for a mate; that's what it's all about. Inducing an analogue synthesizer to give birth to the mating call of a short-billed thrush, twisting it through a low-frequency oscillator to emulate its more evolved cousin, then mixing the two: this is what the album is about.

Darwin, his work, the justification for our existence - it's all brought into focus, as Karin manipulates her voice over the analogue workings of her brother, Mt. Sims and Planningtorock. Twisting and winding, the instrumentation tells a story, and the soaring, the twisting and the wailing, screeching synths all conspire to clarify the situation.

Let's be clear: if you don't get the idea, then from track one through to ten, you're listening to something you don't want to hear. It's not Lady Gaga. It's not Thelonious Monk accidentally playing what turn out to be the right notes. It's a synthetic representation of the evolutionary processes which form Darwin's theory, and it's perfection. What more can be said than that I listen to it for pleasure, and that those who inhabit the room with me do not? Does everyone believe that 'The Haywain' is the ultimate expression of art? Does everyone search for a new 'Mona Lisa'? Are Dali's massively-stilted elephants not a valid representation of art?

This work - Tomorrow, In A Year - is genius.

08 January 2010

The First Blast Of The Trumpet Against The Monstrous Regiment Of Women

"I affirm that to promote a woman to bear rule or empire above any realm, nation, or city, is repugnant to nature, contumely to God, and a thing most contrary to his revealed and approved ordinance..."

The First Blast Of The Trumpet Against The Monstrous Regiment Of Women is a treatise by the Protestant John Knox which, quite simply, warns of the inherent dangers of allowing women to take positions of authority. It is, undoubtedly, Knox's most famous work, though its message is outdated and seems almost naïve. Indeed, the text is now more valued as an example of post-medieval misogyny rather than a definitive warning of the evils of feminine power.

The treatise itself is wordy, obsessive about minutiae and filled with an array of scriptural, historical and religious quotes, all of which are used to espouse Knox's main point: 'I am assured that God has revealed to some in this our age, that it is more than a monster in nature that a woman shall reign and have empire above man'. The abundance of alternate sources he quotes does little aside from show the long and drawn out history of opposition to the rule of women. Ultimately, the whole work comes across as the fervent ravings of a madman, though in truth Knox was merely recording the general attitude of the time.

The treatise itself begins with a preface, in which Knox outlines the religious background to his viewpoint. It moves on, albeit at a snail's pace, to sound the first blast, aimed (according to Knox's title) at 'women degenerate'. The empire of women is, he tells us, degenerate to nature, contrary to the revealed will of God. What's more, it is subversive of good order, equity and justice. Expecting trouble, Knox then answers some common objections bandied by less-clear thinkers. This section is almost as long as the first sections combined, and is followed by a conclusion. The contents of his conclusion will come as no surprise, and it ends, quite simply, with 'Praise God, ye that fear him.' It appears there can be, at least in Knox's mind, no possible argument against the divine truth of his words.

Knox's work was published in Geneva in 1558, and was initially an anonymous publication. The 'first blast' was to be followed by two more works, and Knox intended to reveal his identity on the publication of the triumphant third blast. His two sequels remained unwritten, however, although a short summary of his intended subject matter was later published.

The full text is available at http://www.swrb.ab.ca/newslett/actualNLs/firblast.htm

The First Blast Of The Trumpet Against The Monstrous Regiment Of Women is, of course, the inspiration for Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Monstrous Regiment. (Well, the inspiration for the title, at least, although you can see the thematic links...)

30 December 2009

Are You Hoping For A Miracle?

The miraculous is all around us.

28th May, 2009: Claire Allen, aged 36, is about to feed her son a slice of Marmite on toast when she notices Jesus watching her from the underside of the yellow plastic lid. Her husband, Gareth, cannot believe his eyes, but finds a camera to capture this defining moment. Her three sons agree that they can see a face, and one goes so far as to claim 'it looks like God'. Claire likes to think it's 'Jesus looking out for us'.

23rd July, 2008: Birnin Kebbi, whilst consuming fried beef, spots the name of Allah inscribed in the unpalatable curves of a piece of gristle. The restaurateur, upon further searching, discovers three more pieces of similar meat, each containing the holy message. A vet explains that the appearance defies scientific explanation, while visiting Islamic scholars claim 'it was a sign to show that Islam is the only true religion for mankind'.

31st January, 2006: A customer of Walker Aquatics in the UK town of Rawtenstall discovers a fish with markings which spell Allah in Arabic. It is believed the reverse side contains the word Mohammed. The customer offers ten pounds for the fish, and purchases a seven hundred pound tank in which to keep it. Shop owner, Tony Walker expects there to be more interest in the fish.

Christmas Day, 2005: The 'Nun Bun', a flaky pastry in the shape of Catholic nun Mother Teresa is stolen from a bakers shop in Nashville, Tennessee. It was originally discovered in 1996, varnished and placed in a glass case for safety.

April 21, 2005: Flowers and candles begin to pile up at a motorway underpass in Chicago, where a stain on the wall forms the face of the Virgin Mary. While city spokesman Mike Claffey said the image was likely to be caused by salt, he reassured onlookers that they had no plans to clean the site. Raven Leroux, 57, told AFP news agency that it was the first time he had felt something so deeply in his heart. "There is something in the air... her energy is here."

November 17th, 2004: Diana Duyser, 52, of Hollywood, places a half-eaten slice of cheese toast containing the image of the Virgin Mary on eBay with a starting bid of three thousand dollars. Mrs Duyser wants all potential bidders to know that 'this item is not intended for consumption'. It eventually fetches twenty-eight thousand pounds.

November 2nd, 2004: Thousands of people converge on the Catholic Church in Ghana's capital city after the image of Jesus Christ appears on rough marble stones within a small grotto on the church grounds. Some worshippers claim it is a sign that the world will end within the year. One woman pauses from her Hail Marys to explain why Jesus has chosen to appear at Dansoman: it is an unassuming place, and therefore in tune with his teachings about modesty and humility.

17th June, 2003: Catholic worshippers swamp a US hospital after a leaking chemical deposit inside a sealed window forms an image of the Virgin Mary. The hospital asks pilgrims to limit their visiting hours to between 1730 and 1830 as the crowds are making hospital work difficult. Bouquets are placed beneath the window, and one mother is observed to bring her son, who uses a wheelchair, to touch the wall with his legs. The hospital is keen to point out that it does not consider the flood of visitors to be a 'nuisance'.

November 16th, 2002: Shella Anthony discovers a chapati into which is burned the image of the face of Christ. The chapati is housed in a glass case, and pilgrims travel from nearby villages to offer prayers. Father Jacob George, of the Renewal Retreat Centre, is convinced it is a miracle, and is prepared to say so.

October 11th, 2000: The combined effects of a street lamp, wooden fence and tree cause the image of Christ to be projected in a miraculous vision which brings an influx of visitors to South Australian town Port Germaine. Father Arno Vermeeren of the local Catholic diocese admits he needs convincing the apparition is the result of any supernatural power. Peter Moore, of the district council, is more mercenary in his approach: It is yet another reason to come to Port Germein, he said.

September 6th, 2000: Christians converge on the town of Assiut after the Virgin Mary repeatedly appears with outstretched hands, accompanied by a large number of pigeons and the smell of burning incence. Additionally, Father Mina Hanna claims to have seen a large, white, brightly-lit pigeon appearing and disappearing. He announces the sightings as a blessing for Assiut, and extols the manner in which the visions have served to bring both Christians and Muslims closer together.

September 9th, 1999: While preparing a meal for her family, Shabana Hussain slices a tomato in two and finds bismillah traced out in the veins of one half. The other half of the vegetable reads la illaha illala: There is no God but Allah. The Imam from the local mosque confirms that the tomato contains the scriptures, and it is suggested that the tomato may act as a holy panacea for the ill.

May 28th, 1898: Amateur photographer Secondo Pia took a picture of the cloth believed to have enclosed Jesus' body after his crucifixion. The negative of his image, taken from the display of the shroud in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, showed a startling representation of a male figure, and Pia was immediately accused of forgery and not vindicated until 1931. His discovery has never been officially endorsed by the Catholic church, though in 1958 Pope Pius XII approved the image as the holy face of Jesus.

The miraculous is all around us: all we have to do is sew our eyes tightly closed and swear blind we can see it too.

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