Bulletin
N° 922
“Life of Brian”
1979
by Monty Python
1979
(1:33:43)
&
"Caesar’s Messiah :
The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus"
with
Joseph Atwill
2019
(1:23:10)
&
For a critique of Atwill thesis, see Columbia University Professor Richard Carrier’s
scathing
2013 review, “Atwill’s Cranked-up Jesus”.
Subject: Ideological Wars between Empire and Revolt: reformatting the human mind and programming ‘new’ systems of belief in arcane ideologies and the politics of alienation.
September 9, 2020
Grenoble, France
Dear Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,
Joseph Atwill’s radical attempt to demystify the arcane origins of early Christian ideology employs a close “intertextual reading” of the first four books of the New Testament (written approximately between 69 and 96 A.D.) and comparing them with the only surviving ‘history’ of Judea in this eta, Wars of the Jews, a piece of carefully orchestrated Imperial Roman propaganda completed by the Jewish convert to empire, Flavius Josephus, in 75 A.D. Atwill’s analytical treatise of nearly 400-pages includes descriptions of ‘falsified’ historical events at the time of Jesus Christ, which have colored the intellectual origins of the Judeo-Christian tradition for the past 2000 years. He then proceeds to submit the ideas found in the Gospels to rational examination, using methods of literary criticism, in order to discover the true architects of this eschatology found in the books of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. With considerable logical rigor the author claims to have discovered the motivations that inspired this literary construction in the Greek language during the second half of the first century A.D.
This controversial study, Caesar’s Messiah, The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus (2006, 2011), is intended to present a challenge to modern-day Christian civilization, a challenge which cannot be ignored. The ancient history of the ideological constructs and revelations exposed by Atwill in this analysis of literary structure will have a shattering effect on anyone open-minded enough to read the book from beginning to end. This first-century ideological engineering, Atwill tells us, was fraught with cynicism and ill-will on the part of Roman officials, and the evidence he has meticulously laid out in support of his argument speaks to a sophisticated and cruel ruling-class stratagem of political co-optation and cultural imperialism (a strategy known today as “the manufacturing of consent”).
Atwill himself is an autodidact, an armature historian, whose enthusiastic determination to state the truth leads to occasional repetitions. Nevertheless, this book, in my opinion, stands as a serious secular challenge to the canon of Judeo-Christian tradition. The author’s early education began in Japan, where he attended St. Mary’s Military Academy, the only English-speaking school in the country, which was established in the 18th century and was run by the Jesuit Order. Later he pursued a career in computer technology and software development, working with the renowned computer program pioneer, David Ferguson. He retired early from this business success, selling his company shares to investors, and devoting himself fulltime to his first passion, biblical scholarship.
At the end of his book, in the Author’s Statement, Atwill explains his state of mind as he pursued this radical investigation:
Though I had drifted away from the Catholic faith, my
study of Christianity never stopped. Over the course of my life I had
read hundreds of books relating to the historical Jesus and early Christianity,
but none of them left me feeling that I really knew anything about how the
religion began or its founder.
The fact I found the most perplexing was that at the exact time the
followers of Jesus were purportedly organizing themselves into a religion that
urged its members to ‘turn the other cheek,’ another Judean sect was waging a
religious war against the Romans. This group looked to a Messiah, but one who
would lead them militarily. It seemed implausible to me that two diametrically
opposed forms of messianic Judaism could have emerged from Judea at the same
time. So I began to study the Dead Sea Scrolls. I was hoping to learn
something of Christian origins in the 2,000-year-old documents found at Qumran.
To assist in my understanding of them, I also began studying the history of the
era.(pp.411-412)
Atwill introduces his book with “A Historical Overview”.
In the popular mind,
and in the minds of most scholars, the origin of Christianity is clear: The
religion began as a movement of the lower-class followers of a radical Jewish
teacher during the first century C.E. For a number of reasons, however, I did
not share this certainty. There were many gods worshiped during Jesus' era that
are now seen as fictitious, and no archeological evidence of his existence has
ever been found. What contributed most to my skepticism was that at the exact
time when the followers of Jesus were purportedly organizing themselves into a
religion that urged its members to "turn the other cheek" and to
"give to Caesar what is Caesar's," another Judean sect was waging a
religious war against the Romans. This sect, the Sicarii,
also believed in the coming of a Messiah, but not one who advocated peace. They
sought a Messiah who would lead them militarily. It seemed implausible that two
diametrically opposite forms of messianic Judaism would have emerged from Judea
at the same time.
This is why the Dead Sea Scrolls were of such interest to me, and
I began what turned into a decade-long study of them. Like so many others, I was
hoping to learn something of Christianity's origins in the 2,000-year-old
documents found at Qumran.
I also began studying the other two major works from this era, the New
Testament and War of the Jews by Flavius Josephus, an adopted member
of the imperial family; I hoped to determine how the Scrolls related to them.
While reading these two works side by side, I noticed a connection between
them. Certain events from the ministry of Jesus seem to closely parallel
episodes from the military campaign of the Roman emperor Titus Flavius as he
attempted to gain control of the rebellious Jews in Judea. My efforts to
understand this relationship led me to uncover the amazing secret that is the
subject of this book: This imperial family, the Flavians,
created Christianity, and, even more incredibly, they incorporated a skillful
satire of the Jews in the Gospels and War of the Jews to inform posterity of
this fact.
The Flavian dynasty lasted from 69 to 96 C.E.,
the period when most scholars believe the Gospels were written. It consisted of
three Caesars: Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian. Flavius
Josephus, the adopted member of the family who wrote War of the Jews, was their
official historian. The satire they created is difficult to see. If it were
otherwise, it would not have remained unnoticed for two millennia. However, as
readers may judge for themselves, the path that the Flavians
left for us is a clear one. All that is really needed to walk down it is an
open mind. But why then has the satirical relationship between Jesus and Titus
not been noticed before? This question is especially apt in light of the fact
that the works that reveal their satire—the New Testament and the histories of
Josephus—are perhaps the most scrutinized books in literature.
One part of the explanation is clear. Viewing the Gospels as satire—that
is, as a literary composition (as opposed to a history) in which human folly is
held up to ridicule—requires the reader to contradict a deeply ingrained
belief. Once Jesus was universally established as a world-historical
individual, any other possibility became, evidentially, invisible. The more we
believed in Jesus as a world-historical figure, the less we were able to
understand him in any other way.
Moreover, the satirical level of the Gospels has not been discovered
because it was designed to be difficult to see. The Flavian
Caesars wanted more than just to transform messianic Judaism. They wanted
Christianity to flourish and become widely held, even world-wide, before the
Gospels’ satirical level was discovered. Why did they wish this? Because they
wanted legacy and they needed to fool the world to prove to posterity how
clever they were. Though on their surface the Gospels appear to be religious
literature, which many believe were written by the Jewish followers of a
messianic leader, they actually stem from the overwrought vanity of Roman
Caesars, desiring the populace to worship them as gods.
To understand the historical
conditions that caused the Flavians to create
Christianity, one needs to understand the political conditions that the family
faced in Judea in 74 C.E., following their defeat of the Sicarii,
a movement of messianic Jews. But to understand this requires looking back even
further in time.
The process that ultimately led to
the Flavians' control over Judea was part of a
broader and longer struggle, that between Judaism and Hellenism. Judaism, which
was based upon monotheism and faith, was simply incompatible with Hellenism,
the Greek culture that promoted polytheism and rationalism. Hellenism spread
into Judea after Alexander the Great conquered the area, in 333 B.C.E.
Alexander and his successors established cities throughout their empire to act
as centers of commerce and administration. They set up more than 30 Greek
cities within Judea itself. The people of Judea, in spite of their historical
resistance to outside influences, began to incorporate certain traits of the
Greek ruling class into their culture. Many Semites found it desirable, if not
necessary, to speak Greek. Wealthy Jews sought a Greek education for their
young men. Gymnasia introduced Jewish students to Greek myths, sports, music,
and arts.
The Seleucids, descendants of Seleucus, the
commander of Alexander's elite guard, gained control over the region from the Ptolemies, the descendants of another of Alexander's
generals, in 200 B.C.E. When Antiochus IV (or as he preferred, Epiphanes—that is, god manifest) became the Seleucid ruler
in 169 B.C.E., he began Judea's nightmare.
Antiochus was openly contemptuous of Judaism and wanted to modernize
Jewish religion and culture. He installed high priests who were supportive of
his policies. When a rebellion against Hellenization
broke out, in 168 B.C.E., Antiochus ordered his army to attack Jerusalem.
Second Maccabees records the number of Jews slain in
the battle as 40,000, with another 40,000 taken captive and enslaved.
Antiochus emptied the temple of its treasury, violated the holy of
holies, and intensified his policy of Hellenization.
He ordered the observances of the Hebrew cult be replaced with Hellenistic
worship. He banned circumcision and sacrifice, instituted a monthly observance
of his birthday, and placed a statue of Zeus on the Temple Mount.
In 167 B.C.E., the Maccabees, a family of
religiously zealous Jews, led a revolution against Antiochus' imposition of
Hellenistic customs and religions. They sought to restore to power the religion
that they believed was mandated by God in his holy land. The Maccabees compelled the inhabitants of the cities they
conquered to convert to Judaism. Males either permitted themselves to be
circumcised or were slain. After a 20-year struggle, the Maccabees
eventually prevailed against the Seleucids. To quote 1 Maccabees:"the yoke of the Gentiles was removed from
Israel" (13:41).
Though the Maccabees went on to rule Israel
for more than 100 years, their kingdom was never secure. The Seleucid threat to
the region was replaced by an even greater one from Rome. Roman expansionism
and Hellenistic culture constantly threatened to engulf the religious state
that the Maccabees had established. In 65 B.C.E., a
civil war broke out between two Maccabean rivals for
the throne. It was at this time that Antipater the Edomite,
the wily father of Herod, appeared on the scene. Antipater helped bring about a
Roman intervention in the civil war, and when Pompey sent his legate Scaurus into Judea with a Roman army, it marked the
beginning of the end of the Maccabean religious
state.
For the next 30 years (65-37 B.C.E.), Judea suffered through one war
after another. In 40 B.C.E., the last Maccabean
ruler, Mattathias Antigonus,
seized control of the country. By this time, however, the Herodian
family was firmly established as Rome's surrogate in the region and, with Roman
support, defeated Mattathias' army and gained control
of Judea.
After the destruction of the Maccabean state,
the Sicarii, a new movement against Roman and Herodian control, emerged. This was a movement of
lower-class Jews, originally called Zealots, who continued the Maccabees' religious struggle against the control of Judea
by outsiders and sought to restore "Eretz
Israel."
The efforts of the Sicarii reached a climax in
66 C.E. when they succeeded in driving the Roman forces from the country. The
Emperor Nero ordered Vespasian to enter Judea with a large army and end the
revolt. The violent struggle that ensued left the country devastated and
concluded when Rome captured Masada in 73 C.E.
In the midst of the Judean war, forces loyal to the Flavian
family in Rome revolted against the last of the Julio-Claudian
emperors, Vitellius, and seized the capital.
Vespasian returned to Rome to be proclaimed emperor, leaving his son Titus in
Judea to finish off the rebels.
Following the war, the Flavians shared control
over this region between Egypt and Syria with two families of powerful
Hellenized Jews: the Herods and the Alexanders. These three families shared a common financial
interest in preventing any future revolts. They also shared a long-standing and
intricate personal relationship that can be traced to the household of Antonia,
the mother of the Emperor Claudius. Antonia employed Julius Alexander Lysimarchus, the abalarch, or
ruler, of the Jews of Alexandria, as her financial steward in around 45 C.E.
Julius was the elder brother of the famous Jewish philosopher Philo Judeaus, the leading intellectual figure of Hellenistic
Judaism. Philo's writings attempted to merge Judaism with Platonic philosophy.
Scholars believe that his work provided the authors of the Gospels with some of
their religious and philosophical perspective.
Antonia's private secretary, Caenis, was also
the long-term mistress of Vespasian. Julius Alexander Lysimarchus
and Vespasian would therefore have known one another through their shared
connection with the household of Antonia.
Julius had two sons. The elder, Marcus, married Herod's niece Bernice as
a teenager, creating a bond between the Alexanders
and the Herods, the Roman-sponsored ruling family of
Judea. Marcus died young and Bernice eventually became the mistress of
Vespasian's son Titus. Bernice thereby connected the Flavians and the Alexanders, the
family of her first husband, to her family, the Herods.
Julius' younger son, Tiberius Alexander, was another important link
between the families. He inherited his father's entire estate after the death
of his brother Marcus, making him one of the richest men in the world. He
renounced Judaism and assisted the Flavians with
their war against the Jews, contributing both money and troops, as did the Herodian family. Tiberius was the first to publicly declare
his allegiance to Vespasian as emperor and thereby helped begin the Flavian dynasty. When Vespasian returned to Rome to assume
the mantle of emperor, he left Tiberius behind to assist his son Titus with the
destruction of Jerusalem.
Though the three families had been able to put down the revolt, they
still faced a potential threat. Many Jews continued to believe that God would
send a Messiah, a son of David, who would lead them against the enemies of
Judea. Flavius Josephus records that what had "most elevated" the Sicarii to fight against Rome was their belief that God
would send a Messiah to Israel who would lead his faithful to military victory.
Though the Flavians, Herods,
and Alexanders had ended the Jewish revolt, the
families had not destroyed the messianic religion of the Jewish rebels. The
families needed to find a way to prevent the Zealots from inspiring future
uprisings through their belief in a coming warrior Messiah.
Then someone from within this circle had an inspiration, one that
changed history. The way to tame messianic Judaism would be to simply transform
it into a religion that would cooperate with the Roman Empire. To achieve this
goal would require a new type of messianic literature. Thus, what we know as
the Christian Gospels were created.
In a convergence unique in history, the Flavians,
Herods, and Alexanders
brought together the elements necessary for the creation and implementation of
Christianity. They had the financial motivation to replace the militaristic
religion of the Sicarii, the expertise in Judaism and
philosophy necessary to create the Gospels, and the knowledge and bureaucracy
required to implement a religion (the Flavians
created and maintained a number of religions other than Christianity).
Moreover, these families were the absolute rulers over the territories where
the first Christian congregations began.
To produce the Gospels required a deep understanding of Judaic
literature. The Gospels would not simply replace the literature of the old
religion, but would be written in such a way as to demonstrate that Christianity
was the fulfillment of the prophecies of Judaism and had therefore grown
directly from it. To achieve these effects, the Flavian
intellectuals made use of a technique used throughout Judaic
literature—typology. In its most basic sense typology is simply the use of
prior events to provide form and context for subsequent ones. If one sits for a
painting, for example, he or she is the "type" of the painting, the
thing it was based upon.
Typology is used throughout Judaic literature as a way of transferring
information and meaning from one story to another. For example, the Book of
Esther uses type scenes from the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis, so
that the alert reader will understand that Esther and Mordecai are repeating
the role of Joseph as an agent of God.(pp.9-14)
The Dead Sea Schrolls
establish that Jews awaited the arrival of militant Messiah to lead then in
victory over their Roman rulers. Atwill points out that Romans had developed a religious ritual to overcome the
resistance of their enemies.
Romans developed a specific ritual for inducing the gods of their
enemies to defect to Rome. In this particular ritual, the devotio,
a Roman soldier sacrificed himself to all the gods, including those of the
enemy. In this way the Romans sought to neutralize the opponents’ divine
assistance.
Thus, when Rome went to war with the Zealots in Judea it had a long
tradition of absorbing the religions of its opponents. If Romans did invent
Christianity, it would have been yet another example of neutralizing an enemy's
religion by making it their own, rather than fighting against it. Rome would
simply have transformed the militant Judaism of first-century Judea into a
pacifist religion, to more easily absorb it into the empire.(p43)
. . .
In spite of these efforts, Rome's
normal policy of absorbing the gods of its provinces did not succeed in Judea.
Judaism would not permit its God to be just one among many,
and Rome was forced to battle one Jewish insurrection after another. Having
failed to control Judaism by naming its high priests, the imperial family would
next attempt to control the religion by rewriting its Torah. I believe they
took this step and created the Gospels to initiate a version of Judaism more
acceptable to the Empire, a religion that in- stead of waging war against its
enemies would "turn the other cheek." The theory of a Roman invention
of Christianity does not originate with this work. Bruno Bauer, a 19th-century
German scholar, believed that Christianity was Rome's attempt to create a mass
religion that encouraged slaves to accept their station in life. In our era,
Robert Eisenman concluded that the New Testament was
the literature of a Judaic messianic movement rewritten with a pro-Roman
perspective. This work, however, presents a completely new way of understanding
the New Testament.
I will show that the Gospels were
created to be understood on two levels. On its surface level they are, of
course, a description of the ministry of a miracle-working Messiah who rose
from the dead. However, the New Testament was also designed to be understood in
another way, which is as a satire of Titus Flavius' military campaign through
Judea. The proof of this is simply that Jesus and Titus share parallel
experiences at the same locations and in the same sequence. Those parallels are
both too exact and too complex to have occurred by chance. That this fact has
been overlooked for two millennia rep- resents a blind spot in scholarship as
large as it is long.
The Gospels were designed to become apparent as satire as soon as they
were read in conjunction with War of the Jews. In fact, the four Gospels and
War of the Jews were created as a unified piece of literature whose characters
and stories interact. Their interaction gives many of Jesus' sayings a comical
meaning and also creates a series of puzzles whose solutions reveal the real
identities of the New Testament's characters. Understanding the New Testament's
comic level reveals, for example, that the Apostles Simon and John were cruel
lampoons of Simon and John, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion.
Throughout this work I refer to Jesus' ministry as a satire of Titus'
military campaign. I do so because the ministry was based on the campaign and
was intended to be seen as humorous when viewed from that perspective. However,
the relationship between these two "ministries" was not simply
satirical. I shall show that Jesus' ministry was designed to prove that he was
the Malachi, or messenger, of the "true" Messiah—Titus Flavius.
. . .
To show that Jesus' ministry was
a forerunner of Titus' campaign the authors of the New Testament and War of the
Jews used typology, a technique that runs throughout Judaic literature. Key
incidents in Jesus' ministry were created to be seen as the "type,"
or prophetical basis, for events from Titus' campaign and thereby
"prove" that Jesus had been the Malachi of Titus.
I will also show that Josephus falsified the dates of events in War of
the Jews to create the impression that the prophecies of Daniel came to pass
during the war between the Romans and the Jews. This was done to provide
"proof for the New Testament's claim, on its surface level, that the
"son of God" foreseen by Daniel was Jesus.
The histories of Josephus and the New Testament are perhaps the most
scrutinized works in literature and 1 encourage skepticism of my claim to have
discovered a new, "true" way of understanding them. Throughout the
ages, the New Testament has been an intellectual kaleidoscope within which
fantastic prophecies and codes have often been "discovered."
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and I would not be
presenting this work if I could not meet that criterion.
However, it was the case that the Flavians
possessed both the motivation and the capacity to create a version of Judaism
aligned with their interests. Any honest seeker of Christianity's origin must,
therefore, at least consider the possibility that the Flavians
produced the Gospels. Further, the core of Jesus' prophecies—the Galilean villages
"laid low," Jerusalem encircled with a wall, the temple left with not
a single stone atop another, and the "wicked generation"
destroyed—all share one characteristic. Each is a military victory of the Flavian family. Thus, the oft-cited principle that history
is writ- ten by the victors suggests that that family should be the first group
we investigate.
This is why we should attempt to understand the Gospels as they would
have been understood by someone familiar with the conquest of Judea by Titus
Flavius, emperor of Rome. And with this perspective, a completely different
meaning of the Gospels becomes visible.
They proclaim the divinity of Caesar. (pp.44-46)
In chapter 2, titled “Fishers of Men: Men Who Were Caught Like Fish,” Atwill illustrates the power of “intertextual reading”.
To begin to explain the relationship
between Jesus' ministry and Titus' campaign that my analysis indicates is a
satire, I point to the following passages. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is
described at the onset of his ministry asking Simon and Andrew and the
"sons of Zeb'edee" to "follow me"
and to become "fishers of men."
From that time Jesus began to preach. "Repent," He said,
"for the Kingdom of the Heavens is now close at hand."
And walking along the shore of the Lake of Galilee He saw two
brothers—Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew- throwing a drag-net into
the Lake; for they were fishers.
And He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men."
Matt. 4:17-19
The same story is represented in the
Gospel of Luke as follows:
While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was
standing by the lake of Gennes'aret.
And so also were James and John, sons of Zeb'edee,
who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid;
henceforth you will be catching men."
Luke 5:1, 10
In another passage from the New Testament, Jesus foresees that cities on
Gennesareth Lake (better known as the Sea of Galilee)
will face tribulation for their wickedness.
Woe to you Chorazain!
Woe to you Bethsaida!And
you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
Matt. 11:23
In War of the Jews, Josephus describes a sea battle where the Romans caught
Jews like fish. The battle occurred at Gennesareth,
where Titus attacked a band of Jewish rebels led by a leader named Jesus.
This lake is called by the people of the country the Lake of Gennesareth . . . they had a great number of ships . . . and
they were so fitted up, that they might undertake a Sea- fight. But as the
Romans were building a wall about their camp, Jesus and his party . . . made a
sally upon the. . . . Sometimes the Romans leaped into their ships, with swords
in their hands, and slew them; but when some of them met the vessels, the
Romans caught them by the middle, and destroyed at once their ships and
themselves who were taken in them. And for such as were drowning in the sea, if
they lifted their heads up above the water, they were either killed by darts,
or caught by the vessels; but if, in the desperate case they were in, they
attempted to swim to their enemies, the Romans cut off either their heads or
their hands . . .
A first-century peasant who heard Jesus' doomsday prophecy, which
describes what would become of the inhabitants of the cities on Gennesareth Lake, and also heard the passage above from War
of the Jews, which describes their destruction, would have understood the
juxtaposition as evidence of Christ's divinity. What Jesus had prophesied,
Josephus recorded as having come to pass.
But an uneducated peasant could not have understood that there was
another "prophecy" that came to pass within the passages above. I am
referring to Christ's exhortation to become "fishers" or
"catchers" of men, while standing on the spot where Jews would be
caught like fish during the coming war with Rome.
However, any patricians who knew the details of the sea battle at Gennesareth would have seen the irony in a Messiah who was
named "Savior" inventing the phrase "fishers of men" while
standing on the beach where the Jews were caught like fish. The grim comedy is
self-evident.
These two "fulfilled" prophecies exemplify the two levels on
which the New Testament can be understood. Jesus' prophecy regarding the
destruction of Chorazain and Capernaum is completely
straightforward and meant to be understood literally.
The other "fulfilled" prophecy that of Jesus' prediction that
his followers would become fishers for men, is not so
straightforward. It could be understood only by someone who, like the residents
of the Flavian court, had knowledge of the details of
the sea battle between the Romans and the Jewish fishermen at Gennesareth. Only such individuals could have seen the
prophetic irony in Jesus using the expression while standing on the very beach
where the Jews would later be caught like fish.
If the authors of the Gospels were being less than transparent when they
referred to the Jewish rebels as fish, they were at least using a metaphor
common in the first century. For example, Rabban
(chief Rabbi) Gamaliel spoke of his disciples through
a parable in which they were compared to four different kinds of fish—an
unclean fish, a clean fish, a fish from the river Jordan, and a fish from the
sea. Roman authors also used the metaphor. Juvenal, a con- temporary Roman
poet, specifically compares fugitive slaves and informers to fish.
The structure of the comedy is important. Jesus speaks of "catching
men" in a seemingly symbolic sense. Josephus then records that Jesus was
indeed a "true" prophet. His vision of "catching men" at Gennesareth did come to pass, the joke being that it came
to pass literally, and not in the symbolic manner that Jesus seemed to have meant
with the phrase. This is the most common structure of the humor created by
reading the New Testament in conjunction with War of the Jews.
If the New Testament and War of the Jews engage in an interac- tive comedy regarding
"fishing" for men at Gennesareth, they also
work to create another "fish" joke. As mentioned above, in Matthew
11:23 Jesus predicted "woe" for "Chorazain."
Fishers of Men: Men Who Were Caught
Like Fish 41Scholars have always presumed that Jesus was referring to a
Galilean fishing village. Josephus, however, gave a different definition of the
word "Chorazain." The country also that
lies over against this lake hath the same name of Gennesareth
. . . Some have thought it to be a vein of the Nile, because it produces the Coracin fish as well as the lake does which is near to
Alexandria.
So, while at the Sea of Galilee Jesus predicted woe for the Chorazain, and said that henceforth his disciples would
follow him and become fishers for men. Titus' experience was strangely parallel
to Jesus' prophecies in that he literally brought woe for the Chorazainians and his soldiers literally followed him and
became "fishers of men." That is, they fished for the inhabitants of
the village named for the Coracin fish. If the irony
of juxtaposing the onset of Jesus' ministry and Titus' campaign was created
deliberately, it apparently stemmed from the fact that Titus saw the humor in
his "fishing" for the Chorazainians as they
attempted to swim to safety.
The previous examples, in and of themselves, are not convincing evidence
that there is a deliberate parallel between Jesus' ministry and Titus'
campaign. It is, after all, quite possible that it was just an unfortunate
coincidence that Jesus chose the beach at Gennesareth
as the spot where he described his future ministry as fishing for men. I
present this example of the two levels of interpretation that are possible
while reading the New Testament in conjunction with War of the Jews, because it
occurs near the beginning of both Jesus' and Titus' narratives. I show below
that the sequence of events that take place in the New Testament and War of the
Jews have a meaning not heretofore understood.
However, the parallels that exist between the experiences of Jesus and
Titus at Gennesareth are not limited to catching men.
The first part of Jesus' statement is "Follow me" and "Do not be
afraid." When one reads the passage from Josephus in which the Jews were
"caught" it is also recorded that the soldiers who did the
"catching" were told not to be afraid and indeed "followed"
someone. As the next excerpts show, the person being followed was Titus, who
told his troops not to be afraid.
"For you know very well that I go into danger first, and make the
first attack upon the enemy. Do not you therefore desert me, but persuade
yourselves that God will be assisting to my onset."42And now Titus made
his own horse march first against the enemy.
As soon as ever Titus had said this he leaped upon his horse and rode
apace down to the lake; by which lake he marched and entered the city the first
of them all, as did the others soon after him.
Thus, Josephus pointed out three times that Titus was the first into
battle. And again, the Roman soldiers who would do the "fishing"
literally followed Titus, creating another conceptual parallel with Jesus.
In fact, the New Testament passage above, in which Jesus asks his
disciples "follow me," and the passage from Josephus in which Titus
asks his troops to follow, so that they can become fishers of men, have a
number of other parallels.
Like Jesus, Titus had been sent by his father.
So he sent away his son Titus to Casarea, that
he might bring the army that lay there to Scythopolis.
While it is hardly unusual to follow a leader into battle or to have
been sent by one's father, Titus, again like Jesus at Gennesareth,
is in a sense beginning his ministry there. He states that the battle is to be
his "onset."
"Do not you therefore desert me, but persuade yourselves that God
will be assisting to my onset."
The Greek word that Josephus uses here, horme
means "onset" in English, that is, either an assault or a
starting point. From Titus' perspective the moment can be seen as a starting
point because it is his first battle in Galilee entirely under his command.
To summarize, though there were thousands of other possible locations,
both Jesus and Titus can be said to have had the onset of their narratives at Gennesareth, and in a manner that involved fishing for men—parallels
that are unusual enough to at least permit questioning whether they were the
product of coincidence. Further, the parallels are of the same nature as the
typological relationship shown above between Jesus and Moses. The connections
between Jesus and Titus are made up of parallel concepts, locations, and
sequences.
Moreover, these parallels must be viewed in conjunction with the
historical parallels between Jesus and Titus. Jesus predicted that a Son of Man
would come to Judea before the generation that crucified him had passed away,
encircle Jerusalem with a wall, and then destroy the temple, not leaving one
stone atop another. Titus was the only individual in history that could be said
to have fulfilled Jesus' prophecies concerning the Son of Man. He came to
Jerusalem before the generation that crucified Christ had passed away,
encircled Jerusalem with a wall, and had the temple demolished.
The overlaps between Jesus' prophecies and Titus' accomplishments make
the "fishers of men" parallel more difficult to accept as random. And
this is just the beginning of the uncanny parallels between the two men who
called themselves the "son of God" and whose "ministries"
began in Galilee and end in Jerusalem.(pp.47-51)
In “The Demons of Gadara,” chapter 4, Atwill discusses the terminology found both in official Roman “history,” War of the Jews and the New Testament. The Jewish rebels are described as being “infected” or possessed. The Roman “cure” for this contagious disease is death and the Jesus concurs in his doomsday prophecy against the wicked, a echo of his “Imperial masters”, the authors of the texts.
Josephus'
description of the manner in which John had spread his "infection" is
similar to Jesus' description of the "unclean spirits" who left one
man and infected many others.
"Now as it is in a human body, if the
principal part be inflamed, all the members are subject to the same
distemper."
This similarity is especially clear when
one considers that in first-century Judea "demons" were considered to
be responsible for fevers and other illnesses. The Dead Sea Scrolls actually
describe a "fever demon."63 When Josephus uses "infection"
as an analogy for the Sicarii's activity he is
practically likening them to demons.
I therefore decided to review the New
Testament and War of the Jews for examples to support the premise that the New
Testament lampoons the Sicarii as "demons."
During this analysis it became clear that Jesus and Josephus each referred to
the same "wicked generation," the generation that crucified Christ
and then rebelled against Rome, as having been infected by "demons."
In the following passage, for example,
Jesus specifically foresees that "unclean spirits," or demons, would
possess this "wicked generation." Notice that Jesus makes the point
that one "unclean spirit" can infect many, which parallels Josephus'
description of the wickedness passing from "one head" to many. Jesus
also states that the unclean spirits pass through "waterless places."
Which can be seen as a satirical way of stating that demons
cannot pass through water, thereby linking the passage to what puzzled me
regarding the fate of the two thousand demons. The idea that demons are
unable to pass through water runs through both the New Testament and the works
of Josephus.
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a
man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, but he finds none.
“Then he says, ‘I will return to my house
from which I came.’ And when he comes he finds it empty, swept, and put in
order.
“Then he goes and brings with him seven
other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the
last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So shall it be also with
this evil generation.”
Jesus' linking of the "evil
generation" to demonically possessed men who infected others mirrors my
interpretation of the New Tes-tament's Gadara
passage, wherein 1 concluded that the "Sicarii"
were demons who infected others with their
"wickedness." When Jesus referred to a "wicked generation"
he appears to have been referring to the Sicarii, who
rebelled against Rome. This proposition is especially clear in light of the
fact that to Jews of this era a "generation" was forty years, which
was the exact time span between Jesus' resurrection and the final destruction
of the Sicarii at Masada.
The understanding that a
"generation" lasted forty years comes from the Pentateuch.
And
the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the
wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the
sight of the Lord was consumed.
Many Christians currently hold a different
position regarding Jesus' doomsday prophecies, believing that they do not refer
to the generation of Jews that lived during his lifetime. Instead, they believe
that Jesus was speaking about some unspecified time still in the future. I feel
that this "futurist" understanding is incorrect and has the effect of
obfuscating Jesus' words, thereby making it difficult to understand the meaning
they conveyed in the first century. No real understanding of the New Testament
is possible without knowing what Jesus meant when he used the word
"generation."
The Greek word in the New Testament that
has been translated as "generation" is genea.
Early in the 20th century some Christian scholars began to posit that Jesus'
use of this word was meant to indicate not the "generation" of Jews
alive during his lifetime, but rather the entire "race" of Jews,
which would not pass away "with- out all these things having first taken
place."
It is easy to understand their desire for
such a definition. If Jesus is referring to those Jews alive during his
lifetime then his "Second Coming" must have occurred in 70 A.D. Such
an understanding leaves Christianity in an awkward position. This is because if
Jesus' "Second Coming" had occurred during the war between the Romans
and the Jews, why was it Titus and not Jesus who demolished the temple and
destroyed the "wicked generation"?
The Christian theologian C. I. Scofield recognized this dilemma and in his Bible reference
switched the definition of the word genea to that of genos, an entirely different word meaning "race."
However, scholars showed that the New Testament's use of genea
could only be referring to the Jews of Jesus' lifetime and not to the entire
Jewish race, thereby debunking Scofield's position.
The understanding that Jesus was
specifically referring to the generation of Jews alive at the time he spoke the
words was certainly the understanding held during the Middle Ages. For example,
the following notes were found written alongside Matthew 24:34 in a Bible dated
1599.
"This age: the word generation or age
is here being used for the men of this age."
We
are on solid ground in understanding that Jesus was referring solely to the
generation of Jews who were alive during the 40 years between his ministry and
the destruction of Jerusalem. However, if this is correct, then Jesus and
Josephus were referring to the same group as the "wicked generation."
Notice in the following passages how similar Jesus' and
Josephus' understanding was regarding "demons," the "wicked
generation," and the Sicarii.
From Josephus:
. . .
had the Romans made any longer delay in coming against these villains, the city
would either have been swallowed up by the ground opening upon them, or been
over- flowed by water, or else been destroyed by such thunder as the country of
Sodom perished by, for it had brought forth a generation of men much more atheistical than were those that suffered such.
. . . And truly so it happened, that
though the slayers left off at the evening, yet did the fire greatly prevail in
the night; and as all was burning, came that eighth day of the month Gorpieus [Elul] upon Jerusalem,
a city that had
been liable to so many miseries during this siege, that, had it always enjoyed
as much happiness from its first foundation, it would certainly have been the
envy of the world. Nor did it on any other account so much deserve these sore
misfortunes, as by producing such a generation of men as were the occasions of
this its overthrow.
From
the New Testament:
"Wicked and
faithless generation!" He replied, "They clamor for a sign,
but none shall be given to them except the sign of the Prophet Jonah."
Matt. 12:39.
Then he goes and brings back with him
seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they come in and dwell there;
and in the end that man's condition becomes worse than it was at first. So will
it be also with the present wicked generation.
Matt. 12:45.46
"0 unbelieving and
perverse generation!" replied Jesus; "How long shall I be with you?
How long shall I endure you?"
Matt. 17:16
I tell you in solemn
truth that all these things will come upon the present generation.
Matt. 23:36
I tell you in solemn truth that the
present generation will certainly not pass away without all these things having
first taken place.
Matt. 24:34
Somehow,
the three-way connection between the "wicked generation," Jesus'
"demons," and Josephus' "Sicarii"
has not attracted much attention from scholars. For example, the Hebrew scholar
Joseph Klausner completely missed the connection. He
wrote:
At that time even educated
people and those who had imbibed of the Greek culture such as Josephus, such
nerve cases and cases of insanity as cases of "possession" by some
devil or evil or unclean spirit, and believed in cures and that certain men
could perform miracles.
In
fact, Josephus did not believe that demons were "nerve cases" and
gave a precise definition as to what they were. He stated that demons were the
spirits of the wicked.
Demons
. . . are no other than the spirits of the wicked.
This definition indicates that Josephus
saw the Sicarii as "demons" in that he
constantly describes the rebels as "wicked." Josephus also links the Sicarii with "demons" in another way. He
describes the Sicarii as moving "with a
demoniacal fury" as they went to kill their families at the end of the
siege of Masada. Like Jesus, Josephus makes it clear who the "wicked"
are. They are the generation of Jews that rebelled against Rome.
That neither did any other city ever suffer such
miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness
than this was, from the beginning of the world.
Thus, Jesus and Josephus share a narrow
understanding and express it with the same vocabulary: that the generation of
Jews who lived between 33 C.E. and 73 C.E. were "wicked" because they
had been "infected" by a demonic spirit. This shared understanding is
suspicious. Jesus could only view the "wickedness" of this generation
by looking into the future, and yet he not only held the same opinion of the
generation as Josephus, he used the same words in describing it.
Returning to the version of the story of
the demoniac of Gadara found in Matthew, where Jesus meets two demons, in War
of the Jews we learn that were two "tyrants" or leaders of the Jewish
rebellion, John, described above, and a Simon. Since my analysis suggests that
the New Testament is satirizing John in the version that describes a single
demon of Gadara, it seemed logical to ask whether the version describing two
demoniacs was satirizing both leaders of the Jewish rebellion, John and Simon.
Experimenting with this premise I noticed
that at the conclusion of the siege of Jerusalem in War of the Jews Simon and
John both take refuge in subterranean caverns beneath Jerusalem. Eventually they
are forced by starvation to come out of these "tombs" and surrender
to the Romans. This event struck me as a parallel to the description of the
demon-possessed men "coming out of the tombs" in the New Testament.
The passage in War of the Jews that
describes these caverns con- firms that they are indeed "tombs."
…
the Romans slew some of them, some they carried captives, and others they made
a search for under ground, and when they found where
they were, they broke up the ground and slew all they met with.
There were also found slain there above
two thousand persons, partly by their own hands, and partly by one another, but
chiefly destroyed by the famine;
but then the ill
savor of the dead bodies was most offensive to those that lighted upon them,
insomuch that some were obliged to get away immediately...
As I have mentioned, the demon-possessed
man at Gadara is described as "cutting himself with stones." Cutting
oneself with "stones" is, of course, unusual—a stone is not a tool
someone would normally use to cut with. What is the author of this passage
actually referring to? 1 realized that if the demoniacs of Gadara are intended
to satirize the rebel leaders, then there was a comic answer to this question.
The phrase in the New Testament where the
demoniac is "in the tombs . . . cutting himself with stones" shares a
comic relationship with the passage in War of the Jews that describes the
"tombs" that John and Simon take refuge in. The joke comes from the
unanswered question in Mark 5:5. This question being, what does one call
someone who cuts himself with stones? In a passage in War of the Jews relating
to the rebel leader's hiding in the "tombs" we learn the absurdly
obvious answer. Someone who cuts himself with stones is, of course, called a
"stone-cutter."
This Simon, during the siege of Jerusalem,
was in the upper city; but when the Roman army was gotten within the walls, and
were laying the city waste, he then took the most faithful of his friends with
him, and among them some that were stonecutters, with those iron tools which
belonged to their occupation.
The version of the Gadara encounter in
Matthew does not describe the fate of either of its two demon-possessed men.
However, if the demoniacs were spoofs of the leaders of the Jewish rebellion,
then the version in Mark, which describes only one possessed man, must tell the
fate of John.
I reached this conclusion because the
passage concludes with the statement "Him that was possessed with the devil,
and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind, and began to
publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him."
If the New Testament was lampooning Simon
and John, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion, then the individual who was
restored to his "right mind" and who went to Decapolis could only
have been John. This is because Josephus records that, after being captured,
John was given life imprisonment while Simon was taken to Rome and executed.
Following this logic, it could only have been John, then, who "began to
publish in Decapolis."
So my musings raised the question of
whether John the Zealot, leader of the Jewish rebellion, had assisted the
Romans in creating Christian literature while he was imprisoned in Decapolis.
And further, I wondered exactly what literature this individual could have
helped the Romans create? The only known Christian literature from this era is
the New Testament itself. There was, of course, someone named "John"
who wrote a Gospel.
While the premise that the Apostle John was a
lampoon of the John who was the leader of the rebellion was based at this point
in my analysis as much on imagination as evidence, it was consistent with the
style of black humor I felt was in play within the passages analyzed
previously. Of course, if the Apostle John is a lampoon of the rebel John, then
it would follow that the Apostle Simon is also a lampoon of the other rebel
leader, Simon.
Since my analysis of the New Testament's
Gadara passages suggest that the Sicarii were
lampooned as demons in the New Testament, I first attempted to determine if
there were other New Testament passages concerning demons that might support
the proposition regarding the relationship between rebel leaders John and Simon
and the two Apostles. During this search I noticed the following passage from
the Gospel of John, which states that the Apostle Judas was the "son of
Simon the Iscariot."
"Did
not I choose you—the Twelve?" said Jesus, "and even of you one is a
devil."
He
alluded to Judas, the son of Simon the Iscariot. For he it was who, though one of the Twelve, was
afterwards to betray Him.
John 6:71-72
Scholars
have commented on the possibility that "Iscariot," the last name of
Judas, is somehow related to "Sicarii," the
word Josephus uses to describe the messianic rebels. As Robert Eisenman notes, the only difference between the two Greek
words the switching of the iota, or "I," with the sigma, or
"s." I concur, and will show below that it is simply one of the many
puns that the author(s) of Josephus and the New Testament use in challenging
the reader to discover that the two works describe the same characters.(pp.77-84)
Atwill goes on to insist that the Roman authorship is deliberately obfuscated by frequently changing the names of important actors that appear in the Gospel in order to conceal the dark satire from the uninitiated public. After citing a such a passage from the Gospel of John, he writes,
[N]otice that the [Roman] author does not call the Apostle
John by his name but rather as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’, and as the
individual who had said at the Last Supper, ‘Lord, who is it that is going to
betray you?’ Later in the chapter the author identifies this disciple with yet
another epithet when he states, "This is the disciple who testifies of
these things, and wrote these things"—even here not referring to John by
name but requiring the reader to determine it by knowing the name of the author
of the Gospel. The author's use of epithets here, instead of simply referring
to the disciple as "John," seems clearly an attempt to keep the
parallel conclusion of Jesus' and Titus' "ministries" from being too
easily seen. The author also has Jesus call Simon by his nickname, "Peter,"
for the same reason.
The same technique is used throughout the
New Testament and War of the Jews. To learn the name of an unnamed
character, the reader must be able to recall details from another, related
passage. In effect, the New Testament is designed as a sort of an intelligence
test whose true meaning can be understood only by those possessing sufficient
memory, logic, and humor.
For clarification, I present the following
table showing the parallels between the ends of Jesus' ministry and Titus'
campaign:
1)Characters are named Simon and John
2)Both sets of characters are judged
3)Both sides of the parallel occur at the
conclusion of a "campaign"
4)In each, Simon goes to a martyr's death
after being placed in bonds and taken someplace he does not wish to go
5)In each, John is spared
6)In each, Simon "follows"
Further, the two events continue the theme
of a prophecy made in one work being fulfilled in the other. In other words,
what Jesus predicts, Josephus records as having "come to pass."
This group of parallels seems too complex
to have occurred by chance and provides direct support for my premise that the
Apostles Simon and John were lampoons of the leaders of the Jewish rebellion,
as well as my suspicion that the "Son of Man," whose coming the New Testament
predicts will bring destruction to Jerusalem, is Titus.
I then realized the larger implications of
what I had discovered. The reader will recall the parallel beginnings to the
"ministries" of Titus and Jesus; that is, both were
"followed" by "fishers of men." The conclusions of Titus'
and Jesus' stints in Judea are also conceptually parallel. When I looked at the
relative placements of the Gadara and the "son of Mary whose flesh was
eaten" parallels, I found that those too occurred in the same sequence.
Thus, the New Testament satires of events from War of the Jews were not
haphazardly sequenced, as I had originally assumed, but were put in the same
sequence as the events they satirized. In other words, the entire outline of
Jesus' ministry, as recorded within the New Testament, was designed to prophecy
Titus' campaign through Judea.(p.88-90)
. . .
Further, knowing that the rebel leaders
were transformed into the Christian Apostles clarifies the intent the Romans
had for their religion. The Romans wished to not merely destroy the militant
brand of messianic Judaism that spawned the rebellion but to rewrite its
history in such a way as to make both its Messiah and its leaders become the
"founders" of Christianity. In this manner, the Romans intended to
make the history of the Sicarii movement disappear by
having its beliefs and key figures become the "history" of their new
religion.
We are also able to understand the plight
of John, the leader who was imprisoned by the Romans and was satirized as the
Apostle John and the demoniac of Gadara. Both Josephus and the authors of the
New Testament often made reference to the fact that they wrote the truth. I
believe that they were sincere in this claim but 1required the reader to
understand the code that they wrote the truth in. Therefore, I believe that
John, after coming out of the "tombs," and coming to his "right
mind," did cooperate with the Romans and "publish" Christian
literature at Decapolis.
The ending of the Gospel of John specifically
identifies the "John" whom Jesus spared as its author. Understanding
that the Apostle "John" and the demoniac of Gadara were both lampoons
of John, along with Simon a leader of the Jewish rebellion, enabled me to see
the real meaning of the following statement concerning the demoniac of Gadara:
And he departed, and
began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all
men did marvel.
The
passage indicates that John, a leader of the rebellion, was taken to Decapolis,
where he provided the Romans with details of the messianic movement that were
used in creating the New Testament. John was used by the Romans to help create
the literature that poisoned the future of his own people. The Romans then
"recorded" their use of John, anticipating that those in the future
who would learn the truth regarding Christianity's origin would appreciate such
irony.
This is the disciple who is bearing
witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his
testimony is true.
This "conversion" by the rebel
leader John to Christianity, also explains the two Simons' different surnames.
The Simon who is condemned at the end of the New Testament is called
"Simon bar Jonas," while the Simon who is condemned at the conclusion
of Titus' campaign is named "Simon bar Gioras."
Jonas is simply the Hebrew for John—once again the name-switching
technique—indicating that Simon was the son of John. Gioras,
means "the convert" in Hebrew, thus, the rebel Simon's full name was
"Simon the son of the convert," a satirical synonym for "Simon,
the son of John" because John had become a "convert" to the new
religion.
The fact that John was Simon's father
also fulfills another "innocuous" prophecy found within the New
Testament:
From
now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two
against three.
They will be divided, father against son,
son against father.
Josephus records that at the beginning of
the siege of Jerusalem Simon and John waged a violent struggle for control of
the city, both against one another and against the leader of yet another
faction, named Eleazar.War of the Jews contains a clear theme regarding the
Jews destroying themselves that I shall go into more depth elsewhere.
I conclude this chapter by pointing out
that throughout Christianity's history,
Jesus' words have been interpreted as the very essence of love. My analysis
indicates that this is, at times, a com- plete
misunderstanding, albeit one that was deliberately brought about. The
"Jesus" who is speaking to Simon in John 21 did not have love in his
heart.
What was in his heart can be known by
rereading the passage with the understanding that Jesus was describing what
Titus would do to Simon, the captured leader of the Jewish rebellion. When
these words are read as an address to a man who would be taken to Rome and
tortured to death, what was in Jesus' heart is truly revealed. As John the
Baptist states, Jesus did not come to baptize with water but with fire.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were
young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old,
you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where
you do not wish to go.”
(This he said to show by what death he was
to glorify God.) And after this he said to him, "Follow me."
John 21:1819
(pp.101-103)
In
chapter 5, Atwill illustrates in detail for more than
50 pages the techniques used by the Roman editors to assure that their ingenious
designs at ideological engineering
would be recognized as satire only by the intellectual elite within the Roman
ruling class for whom intertextual reading was a common practice. At the
end of this chapter, titled “Flavian Signature,” Atwill summarizes his findings as follows:
In
conclusion, the Sequence of parallels proves a deliberate design. While unusual
parallels occur in literature, those that are accidental will not occur in the
same sequence because they are, by definition, subject to the rules of
probability concerning random events. Many of the parallels are self-evident,
as they are either literally the same event or too close conceptually to be
disputed. Simply the fact that the sequence of these parallels occur in the
same order, proves that one set of stories was dependent upon the other. In my
opinion, these self-evident parallels include [among others]: 1) ‘Fishing of
men’ at the Sea of Galilee, 11) ‘Binding and loosening’, 13) ‘On to Jerusalem –
messengers are sent ahead’, 28) ‘The triumphal entrance into Jerusalem and the
stones that cried out’, 29) ‘Jerusalem encircled with a wall’, 31) ‘The
Abomination of Desolation’, and 34) ‘Simon’s fate’, from the list above.
Moreover, Jesus refers to a ‘son of man’
that will come before the generation he speaks to passes away – in other words
within forty years firm 30-33 CE. Jesus ‘predicted’ that when the ‘Son of Man’
made his visitation, Galilee would be destroyed, Jerusalem encircled with a
wall, and the Temple razed. There is only one person in history who
accomplished these events, and he did it precisely within the given time frame
– Titus Flavius, A Caesar whose court historians
maintained he was the Christ. The fact that the campaign of this singular
individual also had a singular parallelism to Jesus’ ministry cannot have been
accidental.(p.156)
Atwill acknowledges
that mathematics in the Roman period was primitive. Gambling, however, was a
common practice and calculating probabilities was an almost daily experience
for many in Roman society.
Also,
the pastoral metaphor of “pruning” and “grafting” from ordinary gardening
practices is used to describe this politics
of cooptation. By shaping spiritual
growth and mixing different genres of thought, a sort of cross-pollination
might occur that would secure the exclusive class interests of the rulers while
ensnaring the “scum and slaves” of Imperial Roman society in an endless web of
self-defeat.
In
Chapter 6, the author expands on his discovery of the satiric nature of this
ideological structure created by a sector of the Imperial Roman elite for their
own purposes.
In Hebrew literature, these typological
relationships are a source of open-ended speculation and debate. To Romans this
perhaps seemed part of the barbarous mysticism that provoked the Jewish Zealots
to revolt. So they ‘improved’ the nature of their parallels in the New
Testament, from the open-ended types found within the Hebrew canon to ones that
were very precise in their logical and chronological relationships, and in the
identities that they reveal.
The authors of the Gospels were very aware
of the typology in Hebraic literature and were, in effect, showing that they
were able to produce irony in the authors’ requiring the Gospels and Wars of
the Jews to be read in the manner of Judaic literature in order to learn
that they had created a false Judaism.(p.168)
.
. .
At the time the New Testament was being
created, the events of 30 C.E. were more than 40 years past and of little or no
importance to its authors. Their focus was solely on Titus’ triumph in the
recently completed war against the Jews. The ‘Savior’ they created was a Roman
fantasy, a literary figure they used to ‘prophetically’ chasten the ‘wicked
generation’ and to set up their satire regarding the Messiah that Titus had
‘pruned’ – Eleazar. If there had been a messianic
leader named Jesus who ran afoul of the Roman authorities around 30 C.E., all
that is visible of him in the New Testament is his name.(p.186)
The 21 + items below are a selection of articles and essays that illustrate the power of ideology to structure our perceptions and understanding. It well behooves all of us to develop an understanding of the interests that lay at the origins “our” ideologies, to examine the class relationships in which we find ourselves entangled, and to question the logic of the ideas we hold most dear.
Francis Feeley
___
Professeur honoraire de l'Université Grenoble-Alpes
Ancien Directeur de
Researches
Université de Paris-Nanterre
Director of The Center for the Advanced Study
of American Institutions and Social Movements
(CEIMSA-in-Exile)
The University of California-San Diego
http://www.ceimsa.org
a.
Religions Reflect Social Divisions of Their Time
& Place
with Ridhard Wolff
(7:35)
+
The
Assassination of Julius Caesar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IO_Ldn2H4o
with Michael Parenti
(1:15:50)
+
The Face of
Imperialism
Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKhRE61VE0E
with Michael Parenti
(37:35)
Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ7bVhJ0-n0
with Michael Parenti
(28:26)
+
Noam Chomsky on “Religion, Consciousness, Black
Lives Matter #BLM, and Education”
(1:03:57)
+
How To Read The News
https://hive.blog/news/@corbettreport/how-to-read-the-news
by James Corbett
corbettreport.com
September 05, 2020
It's not the most original observation you'll read this week, but it's one of the most important: the news lies to you by omission.
Shocked? I thought not. But let's really interrogate what this means.
===========
b.
175 Years in a U.S. Prison?
Extradition Trial of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Begins in London
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/9/9/julian_assange_extradition_hearing_jennifer_robinson
with Jennifer Robinson
(20:33)
+
Chomsky, Ellsberg, Walker on
“The Julian Assange Case”
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/09/05/watch-chomsky-ellsberg-walker-on-the-julian-assange-case/
(1:02:29)
+
Julian Assange warned by judge after outburst during extradition
trial
by Ben Quinn
+
Julian Assange: Future Generations of Journalists Will Not Forgive
Us if We Do Not Fight Extradition
by
Peter Osborne
+
DAY TWO OF ASSANGE HEARING: US Tries to Narrow its
Espionage Charge to Only Naming Informants; Defense Witness Crumbles Under
Cross Examination
+
The working
class must demand an end to the show trial of Julian Assange
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/08/pers-s08.html
by Thomass Scripps
+
Assange extradition hearing resumes: “The Future of a Free
Press is on Trial”
with Anya Parampil
(24:08)
+
Julian Assange Show Trial
Resumes:
Why the U.S. Government Wants Him Silenced
by
Ron Ridenour
+
The U.S. Is Determined
to Make Julian Assange Pay for Exposing the Cruelty
of Its War on Iraq
by Prof.
Vijay Prashad
September
07, 2020
+
Assange Update:
Protestors and Speakers Gather Outside The Old Bailey
to Support WikiLeaks Founder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR1CpOdEU1E&feature=youtu.be
(10:35)
&
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRa0dO60xEg
(2:45)
+
Richard Gage Delivers Updates on 9/11 Truth
https://www.corbettreport.com/interview-1573-richard-gage-delivers-updates-on-9-11-truth/
with
James Corbett
(video, 38.12)
===========
c.
David Graeber,
1961–2020
The New York Review of Books
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/09/05/david-graeber-1961-2020/
by Astra Taylor
+
Against Rentier
Capitalism: David Graeber, Michael Hudson & Guy
Standing”
(1:31:07)
+
Watch 3 x 3 #13: David Graeber – “Corona & Bullshit Jobs”
(6:13)
+
Kevin Zeese (1955 - 2020)
“Rest in Power”
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/07/rest-power-kevin-zeese-1955-2020
by
Margaret Flowers
===========
d.
Father Teresa doing REALLY well by "doing
good": Bill/Melinda's $43 million beachfront getaway near San Diego
+
The Fatal
Attraction of Techno-Fascism
https://off-guardian.org/2020/08/26/the-fatal-attraction-of-techo-fascism/
by Mark Petrakis
“Those who are serious in ridiculous matters will be
ridiculous in serious matters.”
-- Cato the Elder
+
Bill Gates warns viral outbreak likely 'every 20
years or so'
by Rosie Perper
+
Notre Dame de COVID...prie
pour nous.
https://mobile.twitter.com/ArchbishopMark/status/1297811615820075008
from ArchbishopMark
+
Covid Strengthens
Ruling Class Grip on the U.S. - System Update
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGplYzKYgyQ
(1:21:38)
with
Lee Fang
As the coronavirus
pandemic engulfs the U.S., Intercept reporter and guest host Lee Fang
investigates who are the real winners and losers of the government response to
the crisis.
+
Bats, Gene Editing and Bioweapons:
Recent DARPA Experiments Raise Concerns Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
by
Whitney Webb
DARPA recently spent millions on research involving
bats and coronaviruses, as well as gene editing “bioweapons” prior to the recent coronavirus
outbreak. Now, “strategic
allies” of the agency have been chosen to develop a genetic material-based
vaccine to halt the potential epidemic.
+
Is the UN Preparing for the “Second Covid Lockdown”? Oppressive Measures Worldwide, Obedience
and Acceptance…
https://www.globalresearch.ca/is-un-preparing-next-lockdown/5722203
by Peter
Koenig
We
know by now that nothing of this, face masks, social distancing, quarantine,
lockdown, vaccination, or any other repressive measure have anything to do with
covid. They are means and instruments for the New
World Order (NWO) to “train” the population for total obedience and control by
an invisible super power.
+
The 1% blunder: How a simple but fatal math mistake
by US Covid-19 experts caused the world to panic and order lockdowns
RT Op-ed
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/500000-covid19-math-mistake-panic/
by Malcolm Kendrick
How a simple but fatal math mistake by US Covid-19
experts caused the world to panic and order lockdowns
+
How News of a Cure for Cancer Got Lost in Our Nightly
Political Theater
https://www.mintpressnews.com/news-potential-cure-cancer-got-lost-nightly-news/270806/
by
Lee Camp
===========
e.
“Repent—The End Is at Hand”
https://lawliberty.org/repent-the-end-is-at-hand/
+
The Rise of Authoritarianism: From Parasite Stress
Theory to Lockstep
by Derrick Broze
+
“Collective
Narcissism” and the “Dark Triad”: Those Who Protest against the “Official”
Covid-19 Narrative are Categorized as “Psychopaths”.
Is It A Witch Hunt?
by
Prof Michel Chossudovsky
+
How Corporate Tyranny Works
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/08/25/chris-hedges-how-corporate-tyranny-works/
by
Chris Hedges
+
From: Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Saturday, September 05, 2020
Subject: [MCM] The fascism—real fascism—that "our free press" is NOT
reporting: Masked cops brutalizing peaceful protesters in Berlin, Melbourne
This is what's now happening to those who dare protest
the COVID rules—
peaceful protesters blacked out,
and/or slandered as "far right," by the
NYTimes and all
the other Western media.
Notice how the Melbourne cops force masks on the
unruly:
Totalitarianism is upon us, and it has nothing to do with
Trump, other than
the fact that "our free
press" is overblowing his "fascism"
to distract us from
what's really coming down, all
over.
MCM
+
People's Convention 2020
with
Chris hedges
(9:35)
===========
f.
Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr. Speaks at Berlin Rally for Freedom and Peace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brykgEnjJF8
August 29, 2020
(13:01)
+
Lockdown
Uprisings, Canada Reset, News Updates
with
James Corbett
(19:15)
+
(censored
by You Tube)
Dr Vernon
Coleman - 29th August 2020 London Rally Speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cc-N8bkaYs&app=desktop
with
Dr. Vernon Coleman
(available on
Bitchute)
“Dr
Vernon Coleman - 29th August 2020 London Rally Speech (again, removed from
YouTube)”
https://www.bitchute.com/video/XrQ0uj1GNXI2/
(6:03)
+
From: Mark Crispin Miller
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2020
Subject: [MCM] "The left" is not part of the solution, but part---a
BIG part---of the problem.
And the problem isn't Trump's comic-book "fascism," but TOTALITARIANISM, under cover of "biosecurity."
It's practically here, regardless of what Trump may say or do; and it WILL be here if and when he's gone, or if he stays, unless we stop it---which will be all the harder to achieve, because the US "left" is A-OK with it.
The Reaction of the
Left to Lockdown
https://off-guardian.org/2020/08/15/the-reaction-of-the-left-to-lockdown/
by Darren Allen
In April I wrote a
postscript to my
critique of the ‘unofficial left’ (David Graeber,
Noam Chomsky, Media Lens, etc.) criticising their
non-response to the already highly suspicious coronavirus
narrative. Things have moved on — now into the past tense — so here is the same
summary, now updated and revised.
+
HCQ: A Bitter
Pill for Pharmaceutical Corporations to Swallow
HCQ advocacy group provides much useful information
Hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19 Fact
Sheet
===========
g.
The Brothers
Grim: Bill and Mike’s Pandemic Panopticon
https://wrenchinthegears.com/2020/05/17/the-brothers-grim-bill-and-mikes-pandemic-panopticon/
Wrench in the
Gears A Skeptical Parent's Thoughts on Digital
Curriculum
+
Let's not forget, Bill Gates hasn't
always been the good guy….
by John Naughton
+
Fauci's First Fraud Exposed!
https://www.bitchute.com/video/MQjWT6SUM4XB/
(1:33:50)
+
The Seven-Step Path from
Pandemic to Totalitarianism There are just seven steps from pandemic
declaration to permanent totalitarianism – and many jurisdictions are about to
start Step 5
https://off-guardian.org/2020/04/23/the-seven-step-path-from-pandemic-to-totalitarianism/
by Rosemary Frei
As if it was planned in advance, billions of people around
the globe are being forced step by rapid step into a radically different way of
life, one that involves far less personal, physical and financial freedom and
agency.
Here is the template for rolling this out . . . .
===========
h.
Lancet Study Finds US Has, By Far, The World’s Most Overpriced Medical Care
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/lancet-study-finds-us-has-far-worlds-most-overpriced-medical-care
by
Tyler Durden
+
The opioid crisis is 'a
unique product' of U.S. health care, paper argues
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/opioid-crisis-health-care-system-165837992.html
by
Adriana Belmonte
+
Meet the IDF-Linked Cybersecurity
Group “Protecting” US Hospitals 'Pro Bono'
by
Whitney Webb
+
Humor
NEW REVELATIONS
ON THE COVID DEATH COUNT
https://www.bitchute.com/video/bU7b0jmIoUwG/
with
JP
(4:37)
+
Cartoons Archive - MintPress
News
https://www.mintpressnews.com/so-it-goes/
===========
i.
Israel bombs Gaza every day since UAE normalization
announced
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/08/26/israel-bombs-gaza-every-day-since-uae-normalization-announced/
by
Anya Parampil
+
Israel’s List of Officials Who Might Be Arrested if
They Travel Abroad
by Dana Farraj and Asem Khalil
+
This is the bogus anti-Semitism report that sank
Jeremy Corbyn
https://electronicintifada.net/content/bogus-anti-semitism-report-sank-jeremy-corbyn/31026
by Asa Winstanley
+
Exposing the shocking and continuing alliance
between Zionism and anti-Semitism
https://thegrayzone.com/2017/11/26/zionism-anti-semitism-alliance-israel-joseph-massad/
by Max Blumenthal
+
Malnutrition stalks Gaza
https://electronicintifada.net/content/malnutrition-stalks-gaza/31086
by Isra Saleh
el-Namey
+
Repressing Palestinians is in Israel's DNA
https://electronicintifada.net/content/repressing-palestinians-israels-dna/30851
by
Rod Such
+
Palestine in Pictures: August 2020
https://electronicintifada.net/content/palestine-pictures-august-2020/31111
+
Israel attack kills dozens of Syrian soldiers and “Iranian
militia operatives.” But who's counting?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55539.htm
by Gideon Levy
+
After Beirut blast, Israel revives tales of Hezbollah
ammonium nitrate terror plots
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/08/26/beirut-blast-israel-hezbollah-ammonium-nitrate-terror-plots/
by Gareth Porter
===========
j.
“The Global War on Terrorism” is Fake. Al Qaeda is
“Made in America”
by Prof
Michel Chossudovsky
+
2020 Election
Chaos Being Used To Set Stage For
“The Final Technocratic Push”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SU7VuX-Ip8
with
Whitney Webb
(1:05:47)
+
A discussion with Whitney Webb about her recent article,
“Bipartisan” Washington Insiders Reveal Their Plan for Chaos if Trump Wins the
Election”
https://unlimitedhangout.com/2020/09/...
by
Whitney Webb
+
"Conventional Wisdom"
with
Thomas Frank
(31:37)
+
Will Hillary and the Dems
get the civil war they are trying to provoke?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55517.htm
by
The Saker
+
Is America A Failed State?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55521.htm
by
Noam Chomsky
===========
k.
De: "Bernie Sanders" <info@berniesanders.com>
Objet: Joe Biden
Date: 31 août 2020
À: "elisabeth chamorand"
<elisabeth-chamorand@wanadoo.fr>
Répondre à: info@berniesanders.com
Dear
Friends,
Yes.
These are crazy times. We're dealing with a pandemic, an economic meltdown, the
struggle for racial justice and we're seeing the destruction caused by climate
change in Iowa, California, Louisiana and Texas.
But,
in the midst of all of this, we have got to remain focused, focused, focused. In 65 days the most important election in modern
American history will be taking place and we have got to defeat Donald Trump.
We have got to defeat him not only because he is a pathological liar, because
he rejects science and because he is a racist and a xenophobe. We have got to
defeat him because he is undermining American democracy and is rapidly moving
this country into an authoritarian type of society, something we may never
recover from.
In
terms of defeating Trump, one of the issues that has
not gotten the attention that it deserves is the real contrast that exists
between Trump's economic agenda and the economic proposals being supported by
Joe Biden. At a time when our country is struggling with the worst economic
meltdown since the great depression, this is an issue of enormous consequence
for tens of millions of working class families.
Let
me be clear. Biden's economic agenda is not mine and does not go as far as I, and many of you, wish it would. But, on the other hand,
at a time of massive and growing income and wealth inequality there is no
question but that his proposals are strong and will go a long, long way toward
improving life for working families.
Yesterday,
I made an important speech about this issue on our social media channels. Let me
summarize here what I said about Joe's plans for the economy.
Minimum Wage
When Joe Biden is president, he will increase the
federal minimum wage from a starvation wage of $7.25 an hour to a living wage
of $15 an hour. And let’s be clear: When we increase that minimum wage to $15
an hour we will be raising the wages of more than 40 million workers.
Unions
Joe Biden also knows that if we are going to expand the middle class in this
country, we must make it easier for workers to join unions, engage in collective
bargaining and end the heavy-handed corporate tactics that make it hard for
workers to unionize in America.
Infrastructure
And here's something else that Joe Biden understands.
And that is that, in the midst of the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes,
we need to create millions of good-paying jobs through a massive investment in
rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure — our roads, bridges, sidewalks,
schools, water systems and affordable housing.
Paid Family and Medical Leave
Like most of us, Joe Biden is embarrassed that the United States is the only
major nation on earth not to guarantee paid medical and family leave. That’s
why Joe has proposed at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for
working families.
Childcare
And when we talk about babies and young children, we
all know that our current childcare system is totally inadequate. Our children
and their parents deserve high-quality, reliable and affordable childcare.
That’s why Joe has proposed universal pre-K education for every 3- and
4-year-old in the country.
Colleges
And when we talk about making sure that we have the best educated workforce in
the world, Joe understands that we need to make public colleges, universities
and trade schools tuition-free for working families.
Prescription Drugs
As some of you may recall, last year I traveled to Canada with a group of
diabetics to buy insulin, a life and death drug for more than 30 million
Americans. And here's what we found. You can buy insulin in Canada, a few miles
from our border, for 1/10th the price that it is sold here. No. You didn't
mishear me. The same product, made by the same company, is sold for 1/10th the
price that it's sold here. But it's not just Canada and it’s not just insulin.
While the drug companies, through their collusion, price fixing and greed, make
obscene profits, we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription
drugs. Joe Biden understands that we must take on the pharmaceutical industry
and significantly lower drug prices in this country.
Health Care
As many of you know the United States is the only
major country not to guarantee health care for all people. Meanwhile, despite
paying almost twice as much per capita for health care as the people of other
countries, over 90 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured and over
half a million Americans go bankrupt because they cannot afford to pay their
medical bills.
While
Joe and I disagree on the best path to get to universal coverage, his proposal
will greatly expand access to health care and make it more affordable for tens
of millions across this country.
My
friends, of course many of us wish our campaign would have won the Democratic
primary. But now our first priority must be to defeat Donald Trump, the most
dangerous president in modern American history.
Then,
on Day 1 of the Biden administration, we will mobilize the working families of
this country to demand a government that represents all of us and not just the
few.
So
I am asking you today to do something important — because Donald Trump and the
Republican Party would love nothing more than to divide our supporters up as
people start to vote. And the truth is, the corporate
media would love nothing more than to write stories about how we are not united
in the fight to beat Trump.
So
I am asking:
We
live in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, but that reality
means very little because almost all of that wealth is controlled by a tiny
handful of individuals.
This
November we take the first step to turn that around and to create a government
that works for all of us, and not just the 1 percent.
In
solidarity,
Bernie
Sanders
Donald
Trump and the Republican Party would love nothing more than to divide us up
this November, pitting our supporters against Joe Biden. But we cannot let
them. We have to send a message that we are united in the fight to beat Trump.
So please, add your name if you agree:
Add your name to say you’re
committed to voting to defeat Donald Trump this November.
+
Biden To Flint — "F*ck You"
with Michael Moore
and Melissa Mays
(1:08:02)
+
From: Robert Reich
[mailto:moveon-help@list.moveon.org]
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2020
1:09 AM
To: Francis Feeley
Subject: This is terrifying
When
Donald Trump got onto the stage to accept the Republican nomination for
president last week, he goaded his supporters into chanting "12 more
years," not "four more years." And they did.
It
tops off a profoundly frightening month in which Trumpsaid
he could postpone the election, threatened to send police to polling stations,
sent secret federal agents into cities to attack peaceful protesters, and tried
to sabotage the post office to suppress the vote.
This
election is about democracy versus authoritarianism. The stakes have never been
higher.
And
that's why I'm writing to you today.
MoveOn's team just
updated me on their plans to turn out "high-potential voters"—young
people, people of color, and first-time voters—in 10 battleground states, and
I'm so impressed by how innovative, data-driven, and strategic it is. It's
ambitious, bold, and meets the moment.
But
MoveOn needs to raise $500,000 this week—and every
week until Election Day—to pull off their plans, turn out voters, and ensure
that each and every ballot is counted. And MoveOn is
counting on tens of thousands of small donations from members like you to make
it possible.
If you're able, will you chip in $3 a week? (MoveOn will bill your weekly donation to your credit card once
a month starting today and will contact you shortly after the election to see
if you want to modify or cancel your weekly donation.)
No,
I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.
If
you think Trump is on the ropes and will surely lose in November, think again.
Our
side has limits because we believe in democracy. Trump has no limits because he
doesn't.
Trump
will do anything to be re-elected.
Which is why we need to go all-in,
starting right now, with voter education, mobilization, and turnout. And here's what
impresses me about MoveOn's plan—and why I'm writing
to you today: The scale and sophistication of their plan are needed to fight
Trump's corruption, lies, and cheating.
The
bottom line: MoveOn is on track to recruit and
organize more than 1 million volunteers to turn out people they personally
know. Yes, 1 million.
But none of it will happen without support from
members like you. Will you chip in $3 a week? (MoveOn
will bill your weekly donation to your credit card once a month starting today
and will contact you shortly after the election to see if you want to modify or
cancel your weekly donation.)
No,
I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.
Here's
some of what MoveOn has planned:
Running an innovative friend-to-friend voter
mobilization program called "Vote Tripling." Recent studies have
shown that one of the most effective ways to turn out voters is if their
friends and family encourage them to vote. So MoveOn
is asking its members to take Vote Tripling pledges: pledges to reach out to
three friends, help them make a plan to vote, and
ensure they vote in the fall.
Flexing their analytical muscles to identify and
inspire "high-potential voters." MoveOn's
research shows that there are millions of voters across the 10 battleground
states who are progressive but often stay home on
Election Day: young voters, new citizens, voters of color, low-income voters,
and others who are often ignored by campaigns. MoveOn's
crack analytics team is building algorithms to identify these voters so they
can target them with authentic, inspiring content to encourage them to vote. If
only a fraction of them cast a ballot, it will make all the difference.
Fighting back
against GOP voter suppression and online disinformation. Just like 2016,
white supremacists, far-right extremists, and foreign actors are going all-in
to spread disinformation online to suppress voter turnout. But unlike 2016,
we're ready to fight back. MoveOn has hired a team of
researchers and digital sleuths who are tracking disinformation networks,
exposing them, and demanding that social media companies like Facebook take them down so they can't do any more harm.
This
is the work we need to do. And MoveOn has the plan to
do it. But it's going to take each and every one of us to dig deep and chip in
financially to make sure that on November 3 we put an end to the Trump
presidency once and for all.
Join me, please, and chip in $3 a week to fund this
critical work for as long as it takes. (MoveOn will
bill your weekly donation to your credit card once a month starting today and
will contact you shortly after the election to see if you want to modify or
cancel your weekly donation.)
No,
I'm sorry, I can't chip in weekly.
Thanks
for all you do.
–Robert
Reich
Sources:
1.
"'Outright Lies': Voting Misinformation Flourishes on Facebook,"
ProPublica, July 16, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/142120?t=8&akid=272612%2E41365366%2EkqBT8o
2.
"Disinformation campaign stokes fears about mail voting, using LeBron James image and boosted by Trump-aligned
group," The Washington Post, August 20, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/142121?t=10&akid=272612%2E41365366%2EkqBT8o
3.
"Sensitive to claims of bias, Facebook relaxed
misinformation rules for conservative pages," NBC News, August 7, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/142122?t=12&akid=272612%2E41365366%2EkqBT8o
4.
Ibid.
5.
Ibid.
6.
"Poll: More Than Half Of Young People Lack Resources To
Vote By Mail," NPR, July 30, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/141675?t=14&akid=272612%2E41365366%2EkqBT8o
+
American Recessional
What has happened to America is a
tragedy
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55508.htm
by Paul Edwards
+
"The Era of American Democracy
Will Be Over"
with Michael Moore and David
Plouffe
(1:36:21)
===========
l.
You Can Have Peace
Or The US Empire. You Can’t Have Both
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55530.htm
by Caitlin
Johnstone
+
The Real Causes
of World War II
Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Lievywdoo
with Michael Parenti
(15:00)
&
Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDmovEja_f0
with Michael Parenti
(10:12)
+
Mussolini: From Socialism to Fascism
with
Richard Wolff
(9:56)
+
“The Road to
Fascism”
with
Richard Wolff
(7:35)
+
How the left is beating fascism!
(Satire)
+
BLM protester shot in face by Pennsylvania man
during march from Milwaukee to D.C.
with
video by Jen Hayden
(28:56)
===========
m.
Biden Offers Nothing But
More War, Austerity and White Supremacy – Without Trump
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55510.htm
by
Glen Ford
+
We're weakened by neoliberal economic policies
with
Roger Waters
(24:00)
+
Teaching of history as indoctrination
https://www.rt.com/shows/on-contact/498758-teaching-history-indoctrination-loewen/
with
Chris Hedges
(27:32)
===========
n.
Democrats are Officially Republicans
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/55511.htm
by Margaret Kimberley
+
“Why We Must Break Away From Two Party System”
with
Chris Hedges
(13:35)
+
The Birth of the
Cashless Society
https://hive.blog/economy/@corbettreport/the-birth-of-the-cashless-society
by
James Corbett
+
Noam Chomsky: “Trump is WORSE Than Hitler”
(30:15)
===========
o.
“When Systems Implode”
with Richard Wolff
(9:22)
+
Global Capitalism, “World Government” and the Corona
Crisis
https://www.globalresearch.ca/global-capitalism-world-government-and-the-corona-crisis/5712312
by Prof
Michel Chossudovsky
The
COVID-19 crisis is marked by a public health “emergency” under WHO
auspices which is being used as a pretext and a justification to
triggering a Worldwide process of economic, social and
political restructuring. Social engineering is being applied. Governments
are pressured into extending the lockdown, despite its devastating economic and
social consequences.
===========
p.
"Economic Update: China: Capitalist, Socialist
or What?”
with Richard Wolff
(29:25)
+
“Capitalism's
Biggest Bubble Is About To POP!”
with Richard Wolff
(9:07)
===========
q.
(censored
by The Hill)
Cornel West on the forthcoming ‘People's Convention’
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/513983-cornell-west-on-the-peoples-convention
(https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/513983-cornell-west-on-the-peoples-convention)
&
https://www.reddit.com/r/leftist/comments/ijkqqj/cornel_west_on_the_forthcoming_peoples_convention/
&
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbJHkpVY-BI
with Cornel West
(13:21)
+
Ranked: The World's Richest Families in 2020
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-worlds-richest-families-2020/
by
Carmen Ang
+
“The Four Reasons Capitalism Is Imploding”
with
Richard Wolff
(6:43)
+
“Capitalism
isn't working. Here's an alternative.”
by Yanis Varoufakis
+
The Declining
Empire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euDYgYDXJHg&feature=youtu.be
with
Richard Wolff and Chris Hedges
(29:10)
===========
r.
Greece Gives Birth to Another
Virulent Neo-Nazi Party — Is the U.S. Ambassador One of Its Proud Godfathers?
by Andrew Lee
+
Huge Intelligence Agency Scandal Rocks Denmark and
Puts its “Deep State” on Trial
by Ron
Ridenour
+
French reporter who joined police exposes racism and
violence
by
Kim Willsher
+
“Gene-Edited” Future Justified By COVID-19 &
France Admits Athletes Infected At Wuhan Military Games
with
Ryan Cristián
(audio, 2h00)
+
France Again Being Forced To Stimulate Is Bad News
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/france-again-being-forced-stimulate-bad-news
by Tyler Durden
===========
s.
Meet the “Violet” Successors to the White Helmets’
Syria Propaganda Throne - unlimitedhangout.com
by
Vanessa Beeley
+
Crushing US sanctions devastate Syria's people and
post-war reconstruction
by
Aaron Maté
+
How the US helped push
Lebanon to the brink of collapse, and now threatens more sanctions
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/08/13/us-lebanon-sanctions-regime-change/
by Ben Norton
===========
t.
Lawsuit against Trudeau Government: Constitutional
Lawyer Rocco Galati and the Lies and Crimes of the COVID Operation
https://www.globalresearch.ca/rocco-galati-lies-crimes-covid-operation/5719222
by Rocco
Galati and Mark Taliano
+
Rebel News
interview with lawyer Rocco Galati
(better
download it)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y0qU-p0xQU
(50:07)
===========
u.
From: World BEYOND War [mailto:info@worldbeyondwar.org]
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2020
Subject: We Are Many
|
