Posts
What to do with Judas Iscariot?
A question was posed on the Catholic Converts Facebook group this morning that I help moderate. This is the question: Where would we be without Judas? Someone had to betray Jesus, and He knew it. Do you think that Judas was motivated by greed, fear, or something, perhaps unknowingly, more divine? We still use Judas as a metaphor for betrayal, but I wonder, since his treachery was prophesied, and in fact necessary for the fulfilment of prophesy, perhaps he deserves some slack...?And, frankly, it boils down to "only God knows the heart." What to make of Judas Iscariot is indeed a question theologians have debated for centuries. It is always very interesting to see how various Christian groups and the Church interpret Judas at different points in history. There is certainly a large strain one can find in Europe where Judas is depicted as the stereotyped "dirty Jew." Hitler was not above using that image of Judas in anti-Jewish propaganda in his rise to power. B...
What to Make of Bill Cosby
I honestly do not know what to make of all the accusations being hurled at Bill Cosby by women who claim he sexually assaulted them. On the one hand, I guess I do not want to believe that it is true, as I grew up with Cliff Huxtable and the Cosby Show and his hysterical "Noah" routine from way back. I got to hear him live doing stand up comedy some years back, and I remember him meticulously stating in his routine about being a clean comedian and family values and all that. He seemed sincere about it. These accusations just seem to have materialized out of nowhere and seem to go against the very grain of everything the man has taught or portrayed in the last 30+ years. Now, looking at it objectively, I can see how such a persona could have been the perfect cover for a perpetrator of this type. "Hey, it's Bill Cosby; Bill Cosby wouldn't be doing things like this." I guess that is why I do not want to believe it. Cosby seemed like one of the good guys that t...