Extrapolation on my part?

I was watching Forrest Gump tonight. Of course, I had the Bible on my brain. Turn, Turn, Turn is on the soundtrack. Repetition is a huge component of the screenplay. Lieutenant Dan and Forrest engage in theodicy discussion. There's a female character who does lots of questionable things. People die  There's an unjust war.

About halfway through the movie (just about the time the hookers make fun of Lieutenant Dan for falling out of his wheelchair), I started thinking about Isaac and lacuna. I know we're supposed to be shifting to New Testament, but I took New Testament last year. I like Matthew and Luke.  I don't like Mark or John. Acts is okay, but I really don't care for the Epistles (Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon isn't too bad, Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and Jude). Revelation is just cool.

Anyhoo, Isaac. There isn't much in Genesis about Isaac. I have a theory about this: Isaac was so traumatized by his near-death experience when Abraham almost sacrificed him, that he, well, he became a little addled. Kind of like Forrest Gump. If there is any truth the stories of the patriarchs, maybe the reason there isn't much information about Isaac is because he was a little slow and people didn't like talking about him. But I think there could be a compelling story to be made surrounding Isaac. Like Thomas Mann did with Joseph and His Brothers, maybe the screenwriters were kind of filling in the gaps of the story of Isaac; that is, I think Forrest Gump might be an adaptation of the story of Isaac. If Isaac were a little slow, I imagine he would be like Forrest. Rebbecca could be like Jenny. Isaac may have had trouble making friends, but he had good, true friends like Bubba and Lieutenant Dan. I bet Isaac was a super sweet, generous, and genuinely kind person. Isaac getting fooled by his own family members is kind of like how people threw rocks at or took advantage of Forrest. Anyway, now Joseph and His Brothers is on my summer reading list.

Oh, theodicy.

In an earlier post, I alluded to the question of theodicy, or the question of God's justice, or why bad things happen to good people. In class, we talked about why innocents are taken away. When people were sharing their personal stories, I couldn't help but think of something that recently happened to a friend of mine in high school. JD and I were in cheer and stunt together; he graduated a year ahead of me. After he graduated, he enlisted and has been in Iraq and Afghanistan. About two weeks ago, he stepped on a land mine and lost both of his legs and an arm. But he's okay otherwise...if you can call that okay. JD has two facebook pages so people can stay updated on his condition. Both of them center on prayer or something. People are thanking God he's still alive, but he'll never walk again. In fact, there's still a chance he could die of infection. His family says he's in 'good spirits.' What does that even mean? He lost 3 of his 4 limbs. Sure, amazing things are done with prosthetics nowadays but JD will be in a wheelchair for a damn long time. JD has a wife and a kid. What if the government doesn't provide him with enough financial aid to help them survive? What kind of justice is that, God?

Theodicy is a touchy subject. CS Lewis probed it in Mere Christianity. I dislike listening to Christians butcher the question by giving some sort of apophatic line of reasoning..."God is ineffable. His ways are too mysterious for mere mortals to understand." That kind of statement doesn't really leave much room for debate, but it's not an answer I can accept. A benevolent God would never let a baby die, an omniscient God would know it's about to happen, and an all-powerful God could stop it. If these are all true statements, then why do innocent babies (and people in general) suffer and die all the time?

Sue Sylvester, Byron, and Wilson the Volleyball

So, I finished the minor prophets a while ago, but when Dr. Sexson mentioned correlations between Bible stories and modern day fictions, I thought back to the Book of Jonah. Jonah, of Jonah and the Whale fame, goes to Nineveh to tell people God is going to smite them after being coughed up by the whale. Jonah gets butt hurt when God doesn't go all brimstone on their asses and then he somehow ends up in the desert and God gives him a plant. Jonah really loves this plant and then God just takes it away. This scene reminded me of two instances:

1) During Castaway, Tom Hanks really loves Wilson the Volleyball. They're best friends on the island. Then, when Tom Hanks makes a raft and oars away from the island, Wilson becomes dislodged from his perch on the raft and floats away. Tom Hanks' character is absolutely distraught. WILLSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!

2) I love the television series Glee. For those of you who don't watch, Sue Sylvester is the cheerleading coach who incessantly picks on Will Shuster, the Glee advisor. In once instance of verbal abuse, Sue tells Will that she is going to bring him a cat from the shelter with whom he'll fall in love. Then, one night, she'll enter him home and punch him in the face. Sue Sylvester is analogous to the Old Testament God, smiting people for no good reason. With lines like 'I don't trust a man with curly hair', 'Sneaky Gays', and moments like this, it's a little obvious the writers of Glee modeled Sue after the asshat that is the Old Testament God.

On another note, the Bible seems to be filled with Byronic heroes. Romantic literature is far and away my favorite genre and Wuthering Heights and North and South are at the top of my Desert Island List. While reading the Bible, I noticed that I saw shadows of some of my favorite Romantic heroes in biblical characters. For those of you reading who don't know what a Byronic hero is, here's the Wikipedia entry. I can't help but think that Lord Byron, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and other writers have somehow inspired by characters like Abraham, Jacob, Lot, Job, and even the representation of God.

Zionism, Covenant, Women, and Property Ownership

I still find the parallel between the covenant God made with Abraham (if Abraham devotes himself to Yahweh, He will grant Abraham His land and progeny) and the laws and language regarding women's bodies quite striking. Israel as a metaphor for woman or feminine sexuality is kind of a terrifying notion. Israel is the most contested swatch of land in, well, all of history. It's been warred over, torn apart by violence, conquered at least 36 times, settled, and claimed. In the Bible, Israel is always referred to in the feminine and it always belongs to someone, either God or the ancient Israelites. Several many passages in the Bible indicate that people viewed women's bodies in a similar fashion: as something to be tamed.

I'm just wondering if Zionists, who believe in the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign, Jewish homeland, feel similarly. Common sense and rationality is telling me, "No, Trish, people don't actually feel this way." But I can't help but think that modern instances of misogyny are fueled indirectly by examples set in the Bible of women not having agency over their own bodies and by the gendered language set forth throughout biblical passages.