I was in that twilight state between being asleep and being awake when the idea came to me: What if, with the hanging of Saddam, we had witnessed the birth of yet another religion? I mean, who knows what crazy interpretation may be put upon events, especially events in the Middle East, when viewed a thousand years hence. My intention is to get a head start on the process.
Consider the possible parallels with the birth of Christianity. Instead of the Romans and Pontius Pilate, we have the Americans and Bush. Instead of the Jewish rabbis being the secondary villains of the in the Christian piece, we have the Shiite ayatollahs! “The Iraqis seemed quite frustrated, saying, ‘Who is going to execute him, anyway, you or us?’ The Americans replied by saying that obviously, it was the Iraqis who would carry out the hanging. So the Iraqis said, ‘This is our problem and we will handle the consequences. If there is any damage done, it is we who will be damaged, not you.’ ”
To this, the Iraqis added what has often been their trump card in tricky political situations: they telephoned officials of the marjaiya, the supreme religious body in Iraqi Shiism, composed of ayatollahs in the holy city of Najaf. The ayatollahs approved. Mr. Maliki, at a few minutes before midnight on Friday, then signed a letter to the justice minister, “to carry out the hanging until death.” (NYTimes, Jan. 1/07)
No scourging at the pillar this time but rather the mocking at the gallows!! Christ rising from the dead? We got a dead Saddam talking: At the burial, several mourners threw themselves on the closed casket. One, a young man convulsed with sobs, cried: “He has not died. I can hear him speaking to me.” (NYTimes, Jan. 1/07)
What a sweet start to the New Year!
jwm
Consider the possible parallels with the birth of Christianity. Instead of the Romans and Pontius Pilate, we have the Americans and Bush. Instead of the Jewish rabbis being the secondary villains of the in the Christian piece, we have the Shiite ayatollahs! “The Iraqis seemed quite frustrated, saying, ‘Who is going to execute him, anyway, you or us?’ The Americans replied by saying that obviously, it was the Iraqis who would carry out the hanging. So the Iraqis said, ‘This is our problem and we will handle the consequences. If there is any damage done, it is we who will be damaged, not you.’ ”
To this, the Iraqis added what has often been their trump card in tricky political situations: they telephoned officials of the marjaiya, the supreme religious body in Iraqi Shiism, composed of ayatollahs in the holy city of Najaf. The ayatollahs approved. Mr. Maliki, at a few minutes before midnight on Friday, then signed a letter to the justice minister, “to carry out the hanging until death.” (NYTimes, Jan. 1/07)
No scourging at the pillar this time but rather the mocking at the gallows!! Christ rising from the dead? We got a dead Saddam talking: At the burial, several mourners threw themselves on the closed casket. One, a young man convulsed with sobs, cried: “He has not died. I can hear him speaking to me.” (NYTimes, Jan. 1/07)
What a sweet start to the New Year!
jwm
