The Roman takes a different view. "My Alexandrian friend, in Rome we have heard these stories about Jews. One must of course be repelled by their rebellious actions. But after all,, the revolt has now been crushed and their city captured. With us they have always made good neighbors and citizens. None of the Jews in Rome wanted any part of this uprising-this bar Cochba was nothing to them. You know, the Jews have really made quite an impression in Rome. Many of our people are attracted to their cult and choose to take up this and or that Jewish custom. Some have even embraced the cult completely. They are converts in the highest circles--one or two even in the emperor's family, or so,But the emperor doesn't approve one bit. I can tell you. Several prominent individuals have paid with their lives. It's caused quite a sensation. There's no objection to Jews following their own customs, you understand, but the emperor wouldn't hear of it for Romans. I am sure I don't know what to think. The Jews' monotheism and unshakeable loyalty to their god, the great antiquity of their scriptures- you can't fault them there. And you know some of their customs are really not unlike our own. But the others are really quite peculiar--I'm referring to circumcision, of course. I just can't help wondering what will happen to Rome itself if the Jews continue to make such inroads. I'm not all that pious myself, actually, but I simply can't imagine rome without the Roman gods and rituals."
Up to this point, a fifth man has listened in silence. Now he is moved to speak. He identifies himself as both a Jew and a Christian, throwing the others into a state of confusion compounded by the fact that all present. know him as the son of a local pagan family. "Look here," he begins, "there's no doubt at all about who Jesus is. In addition to his miracles and resurrection, who ca fail to be convinced by the extraordinary number of prophecies that have found their fulfillment in him? The number of of correspondences is simply staggering. You Jews must be blind not to see them. And now you have made the matters worse for yourselves by ruling out your synagogues those of us who follow God's chosen messiah. But as for you, sir, who call yourself a 'Christian,' whence is this absurd notion that you represent the true Israel? Why, you reject the very things that have always defined what it means to be a Jew. How can you deny the Mosaic covenant and yet claim to be Israel? And as the crowning absurdity you brand us as heretics! The very words of Jesus condemn you: "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them...Whoever then relaxes one of the least in the kingdom of heaven!' I know that you call upon the great apostle Paul as witness for your position. And paul has indeed written that Christ is the end of the law. many of those who believed as I do have repudiated Paul as an apostate from the law then urged the other Jews to apostatize as well. but as the apostle Peter has rightly said, some things in Paul's writings are very difficult to understand. I wonder if we really understand Paul's teaching."...

The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attitudes Toward Judaism in Pagan and Christian Antiquity
by John G Gager, Oxford University Press, New York Oxford 1985

...and I am Sid Harth

INTRODUCTION

Let us imagine a conversation involving a Jew, a Christian and two Gentiles, one a Roman and the other a Greek from Alexandria. The time is 138 CE., the Romans have just decisively crushed the final Jewish revolt in Palestine, a revolt inspired by messianic hopes surrounding its leader, Bar Cochba.
"This Jesus whom you worship," says the Jew. "how can we take your claims about him seriously? Equal to God? A crucified messiah? Your own writings tell the truth about him--a man of dubious parentage, untutored in traditions of fathers, a violator of the Sabbath, and a friend of tax collectors and prostitutes. Where does his authority come from, this man you proclaim the chosen one of God? Why, your gentile converts not only fail to observe the commandments but are forbidden to do so! And in support of your claims you offer the most ridiculous and implausible interpretations of scripture imaginable."
" The Jews are rebellious and a stiff-necked people," the Christian retorts, "The Pharises and Sadducees have led you away from the paths of righteousness. You killed the ancient prophet sent to you by God and now you have killed Jesus, whom god has made Lord and Christ for all nations. You have closed your ears to his call to repentance. If you were not deaf and blind to the truth you would know that everything that has happened is in accordance with the law and the prophets. Now God has abandoned you, and your city lies in ruins. The old covenant and commandments are no more. God has established a new covenant for a new people. We are the new Israel. The promises are ours. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the the forgiveness of your sins."
The Greek now joins in. "What foolishness! All this nonsense about messiahs, divine covenants with the Jews, and commandments! I say, a plague on all religious fanatics! The Jewish writings are nothing but a collection of foolish myths and degrading stories about the deity, most of which were pilfered from the ancients in any case.
Let us consider for a moment the Jewish contribution to civilization. Your founder was a charlatan and magician, and his followers a motley and infected rabble of runaway slaves. Throughout history you have been subject to other nations. Today you live in our cities but refuse to worship our gods or honor our customs. It is no surprise that you should be rebellious people--you despise the rest of mankind. But you Christians are worse, if anything. Your gospels are hopeless tangle of wild exaggerations and blatant contradictions. You have thrown away the one thing that gives respectability to the Jews--their ancient customs. Silly and useless as they are, at least they are ancient. In rejecting even these, You Christians leave yourselves with nothing at all.

The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Attituds Toward Judaism in pagan and Christian Antiquity
by John G Gager, Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford 1985

...and I am Sid Harth

Dad I love you, get it right. OK?
Zero in math, how low can you go?
Depends, give me some dough, I show you.
Take it or leave it, find a job.
Why should I? Life is so short!

Happy Father's Day, Yall! Wish I had one.

...and I am Sid Harth

Of Immigration Reforms, Heritage Hound Dogs and I

...and I am Sid Harth @elcidharth
http://elcidharth.com

As such, the so called cybersecurity, is something like a boogeyman. That being said, I vanish.

Private Sector-1 Public Privacy-0 http://elcidharth.com

You have done a great job, J J Goldberg.

Of FBI, Boston Marathon Bombings' Suspects and I http://elcidharth.com

NOTE: I dislike Jews, so sue me.

Mr President, to thine ownself be true
http://elcidharth.com/2013/03/25/10118/

...and I am Sid Harth @elcidharth

Is this obscene?

The controversial passages from The God of Small Things that the magistrate has taken cognisance of:

Ammu, naked now, crouched over Velutha, her mouth on his. He drew her hair around them like a tent. Like her children did, when they wanted to exclude the outside world. She slid further down, introducing herself to the rest of him. His neck. His nipples. His chocolate stomach. She sipped the last of the river from the hollow of his navel. She pressed the heat of his erection against her eyelids. She tasted him. She felt his belly tighten under her, hard as a board. She felt her wetness slipping on his skin. He took her nipple in his mouth and cradled her other breast in his calloused palm. Velvet gloved in sand paper.

Once he was inside her, fear was derailed and biology took over. The cost of living climbed to an unaffordable heights; though Baby Kochamma would say it was a small price to pay.

She lay against him, their bodies slick with sweat. She felt his body drop away from her. Her breath became more regular. She saw his eyes clear. He stroked her hair, sensing that the knot that had eased in him was still tight and quivering in her. Gently, he turned her over on her back. He wiped the sweat and grit from her with his wet cloth. He lay over her, careful not to put his weight on her. Small stones pressed into the skin of his forearms. He kissed her eyes. Her ears. Her breasts. Her belly. Her seven silver stretch marks from her twins. The line of down that led from her navel to her dark triangle, that told him where she wanted him to go. The inside of her legs, where skin was softest. The carpenter's hands lifted her hips and an untouchable tongue touched the inner-most part of her. Drank long and deep from the bowl of her.

Kind Courtesy: The God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, India Ink, 1997.
http://www.rediff.com/news/aug/07arun1.htm

...and I am Sid Harth @elcidharth

Arundhati Roy knows what it is to be a brave woman. In her own Christian community, she was held contemptible for telling the truth. Caste exploitation. Caste criminalization and caste system preserving (greater) Hindu society.
Here is a small article for your readers to enjoy:
Obscenity case slammed against Arundhati Roy
George Iype lately in Pathanamthitta

Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things has stirred up a raging debate on obscenity in her home state of Kerala, thanks to her description of a sexual encounter between the novel's Syrian Christian protagonist, Ammu, and a Hindu untouchable man, Velutha.

"Inside of the legs" and "dark triangle" are some of the erotic images with which Roy describes the sexual union between the upper caste Ammu and the low-caste Velutha in her internationally acclaimed bestseller.

But critics in the Syrian Christian community in Kerala find these descriptions "repulsive, demeaning and offensive to their sense of public decency."

Santheesh Chandra Babu As a result, Roy will appear before first class judicial Magistrate Santheesh Chandra Babu of central Kerala's Pathanamthitta district, on August 19 to defend her literary debut against charges of obscenity.

Sabu Thomas, the lawyer who has dragged Roy to court, says the sexual passages in the novel are an affront to Indian tradition, culture and morality. "Moreover, it deeply hurts the Syrian Christian community on whom is the novel based," Thomas told Rediff On The NeT.

Thomas, who has submitted the controversial, 'offensive pages' to the judge, says the sexual deeds described in the book will corrupt readers minds.

'The influence of the book on our contemporary society cannot be overlooked especially when much publicity has been given by the author through various interviews in the media,' the petition says, adding that Roy is 'inviting the public to read and enjoy obscenity' in her novel.

Quoting extensively from the novel, the petition says the novel was written to 'excite sexual desires and lascivious thoughts.'

Thomas also contends that the novel contains scenes of violence and a detailed description of a sexual assault on a young boy.

The God of Small Things deals with the upheaval in a feudal Syrian Christian household of central Kerala's Kottayam district. Therefore, conservative Christians in the state feel the sexual descriptions are an insult to the community.

"The novel is a fine literary work. But it has heavy sexual overtones that hurt our community's feelings," says Mathew Tharakan, a businessman in Kottayam. According to Tharakan, Roy has taken the liberty to write these offending passages "because she knows we are a very peaceful community who will not come out in the open on the issue."

Varghese Thuruthel, a rubber planter in the district, agrees. "Roy has added the obscene passages in her novel with a commercial motive. I find the sexual narrative repulsive." He wants the offending portion deleted from the book.

But Roy's mother, the wellknown Kottayam-based educationist Mary Roy, says the passages in the novel will not corrupt readers minds. "The novel became great not because of the tiny portion of sex scenes in it, but because of its superb portrayal of life," she told Rediff On The NeT.

Mary Roy believes her daughter is being dragged to court because the petitioner might be a rigid, closed person. "My daughter will win the case because, in India, a writer's freedom is much respected," she added.

...and I am Sid Harth @elcidharth

If I am not mistaken, conservative darling, candidate, Mitt Romney was roundly defeated. Unless nobody bothered to tell me. Mitt not only was not foreign policy expert but he almost, if not totally agreed with Barack Obama in his last chance to show his true grit, in the third and final public debate, supposedly to show whose foreign policy, people trusted.
Mitt Romney tried hard, what with his three nation, grandiose, well planned and researched trip. The fella couldn't even stick to his rehearsed script. Britts were so angry that apart from their stiff upper lip, professional diplomatic tradition, some very nasty comments landed on Mitt Romney's pitiful and jingoist face.
Time to wake up folks, Barack is in charge, like or not. Show some respect, he is gonna stay till yon conservative faces turn black and blue.
...and I am Sid Harth@elcidharth.com