Wednesday, September 03, 2003
(8:22 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
First day of classes
Yesterday was my first day of classes, and I would have gladly posted this then if Blogger would have been working. I had "People and Faith of Israel I" (Old Testament) and "(De)construction of Homophobia" (which, despite its somewhat annoying title, should prove to be very interesting).
The homophobia class is an attempt to trace the genealogy of the moral opprobrium traditionally attached to homosexual practices, and by extension to the persons who participate in them or wish to participate in them. My professor, Ted Jennings' theory is that it is not the Judeo-Christian tradition that originated these taboos, but rather Plato, and that Christian thinkers began to incorporate them into their work when they were attempting to show the compatibility of Christianity with the philosophical tradition. His concern is that homophobia is part of a larger erotophobia, which leads most Christians of a certain age deeply conflicted about their sexuality and which leads some to think that they'd be better off dead or on the streets than homosexual. He also voiced an opinion that I had long held, without any real evidence to back it up -- the overwhelming emphasis on sexual sins, such that talk about sin is almost always talk about sex, leads to the denial by Christians of the original Christian concern for social and economic justice. The obsession with sexual morality, to the point of irrational prohibitions such as those against masturbation, keeps Christians from speaking and acting against the powers that be and against structures of violence and injustice. It seems to me that this class, as well as many others, about sex is ultimately an attempt to clear the ground for a more adequate and effective concept of sin, one that has transformative, rather than deformative, power.
The Old Testament class looks pretty straightforward and unremarkable, except that on the syllabus, the readings for a certain class will be, along with some textbooks, "Exodus, Numbers" or "Psalms." That's right -- the whole damn thing. The professor, Ken Stone, noted that most books of the Bible are not longer than a modern short story and that he is always amused when people who have gotten through advanced literature courses are shocked at having to read so much of the Bible. I think that will probably be good, since I haven't read much of the Bible in about a year. I do, however, have a pretty good memory.
Just a sidenote: I keep getting a lot of free samples in the mail, of a variety of products I have little or no use for. This is all very funny and cute, but if you're the person who's been doing this for the last two months or so, you could go ahead and stop if you wanted.
