Long-suffering readers know that I use the term 'art' in the Tolstoyan sense, not in the more conventional sense of 'that which is beautiful.' Tolstoy thought that art could be defined as words, images, or sounds that transfer emotions between people, regardless of whether these images are pretty or not.
Lately I have stumbled onto some Irony which is having quite an effect of me. Consider first the bluffmanship of the Trump administration in trying to get Iran to give Trump the excuse for starting a war with them. It is the oldest trick in the book: and one that makes a mockery of the idealism of the writers of the U.S. Constitution. Those poor naive fools thought that if people governed themselves, they would stay out of the wars that kings and emperors loved to start.
What matters most is that Israel wants the stupid goyim of the USA to fight and weaken their enemy, Iran. And that is where the irony kicks in.
Some people think that much of what we now consider Judaism was written into the Hebrew Bible after the Jews were released from Babylon to return to Judah. The Persians (aka, Iranians) released them, and ran Judah and Palestine as a colony, essentially. Familiarity with the Zoroastrian religions of the Persians had quite an effect on the Jewish elite of that period. Until then, they merely had the cult of a vengeful, murderous, tribal god, named 'YHWH.'
Maybe the synopsis above needs a lot of correction and addition. But the point is that I feel inspired to learn about the history of ancient Judah and Israel and the writing of the Old Testament. And it is a good thing, too. I have 'mined out' the French Revolution and World War I pretty good.
What a bizarre thing it is that the primitive cult of a rather unlikeable tribal god of some backwards tribes in ancient Palestine/Canaan would still have an effect on our modern world. It is outrageous that the world tolerates this.
But it isn't the bizarre-ness that is inspiring me to start studying this topic. It is the irony of the modern conflict of 'Israel' and 'Persia', despite the fact the ancient Persians were responsible for putting ancient Judah on the road to historical importance.
Lately I have stumbled onto some Irony which is having quite an effect of me. Consider first the bluffmanship of the Trump administration in trying to get Iran to give Trump the excuse for starting a war with them. It is the oldest trick in the book: and one that makes a mockery of the idealism of the writers of the U.S. Constitution. Those poor naive fools thought that if people governed themselves, they would stay out of the wars that kings and emperors loved to start.
What matters most is that Israel wants the stupid goyim of the USA to fight and weaken their enemy, Iran. And that is where the irony kicks in.
 |
| "I am that I am." |
 |
| "Behold." |
What a bizarre thing it is that the primitive cult of a rather unlikeable tribal god of some backwards tribes in ancient Palestine/Canaan would still have an effect on our modern world. It is outrageous that the world tolerates this.
But it isn't the bizarre-ness that is inspiring me to start studying this topic. It is the irony of the modern conflict of 'Israel' and 'Persia', despite the fact the ancient Persians were responsible for putting ancient Judah on the road to historical importance.
Comments