It gets so old—your universal declarations, your philosophies, your ideologies, your heightened sensibilities, your values, your propaganda, your Kool-Aid. Your gods. Hearing Fr. Paul teach, it hit me like a ton of your rubble. When people hear the words of the biblical Prophet, they can’t help but respond by preaching their civilization. It’s an obvious,…
Category: Tarazi Tuesdays
You Become What You Accept
Every immigrant, every minority, and every colonized person living under a human boot faces the same dilemma: how to live without imitating or accepting the ways of the human gods that impose their glory. “We have,” a wise poet once said, “on this earth what makes life worth living.” Scripture, Fr. Paul has explained many…
Against Consensus
There is nothing like a cup of Turkish Coffee. That’s not an opinion. It’s an observation of fact. The local Starbucks does not serve Turkish Coffee. That’s why I never buy Starbucks for Fr. Paul before his lectures. Why would I? Why would anyone who cares about anything important, meaning Scripture, do something so foolish?…
The Bible is Making Fun of You
The Bible, Fr. Paul explains, is a holy joke. That’s a big relief. Even hopeful. Looking around, I see that the current state of affairs is an unholy joke. Truly, if the Scriptural God is not laughing at us, mocking us, and ultimately—as Fr. Paul explains—entrapping us, he is not God. He can’t be. What…
A Maskil
Code Pink! Code Pink! People are running around with blinders on! It appears they’ve been reading English translations of the Septuagint! Half keep referring to something called the Books of the Kingdoms, which do not appear in the Bible; the other half are enamored with some goofy Greek nonsense called “philosophical questioning.” One of them…
Lie to Yourself, Please
Scripture unmasks your illusions. Religion, family, friends, ideas, institutions, nations, individuals, “isms” of every school—all your human ideals and beliefs are a lie. Unfortunately, you can’t sleep around with your lies and remain faithful to the Master. You do, in fact, have to make a choice. Note my use of the word “fact.” So, please,…
Facts Not Narratives
This week, a few listeners reached out to wish me well on my sabbatical or to ask what I plan to do with my free time. First, please be assured that I will not be eating ice cream. Second, as my oldest Palestinian cousin Tina said while doing manual labor at St. Elizabeth, “I’ll sleep…
In Time and Out of Time
This week, Fr. Paul refers to the Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy, noting a disciple’s duty to take every single opportunity at every moment to channel the content of Scripture at every turn, in time and out of time, using every chance afforded to share what you received, not from the teacher, but directly from…
Poor Josiah
This week, Fr. Paul notes the function of the two versions of the Ten Commandments in Exodus and Numbers and the futility of the so-called “Deuteronomic Reform.” (Episode 313)
The Anti-Kingly Stance
This week, Fr. Paul highlights several key features—not only of the Book of Numbers—but also of the Pentateuch. Most notably, he points out that in all five books, God is never referred to as the “King of Israel.” This fact, he explains, is the main bone of contention in the confrontation between the people and…