2/3/11 The theme of the unmasking of hypocrisy is seen in two different books I am reading, Darkness at Noon and The Invisible Man. In both the protagonist believes in the abstract ideals of the institution (the Communist Party or idealistic liberalism in America of the 1930s) but getting inside, finds that these ideals are a sham.

Like I said in my work journal, there not really being much of a community on FB, I might as well put these status updates and comments in my journal or the Drupal blog.

2/5/11 – Historians have often noted that without the Enlightenment political categories, it was very difficult to extract ideals of equality and human rights from traditional interpretations of the Bible. But as the modern era unfolded, women and African Americans, not formally schooled in those traditional readings of scripture, often rejected interpretations that denied them full participation in both church and society. When they sensed the call of God to do so, women like Maria Stewart willingly proclaimed a Jesus who would set free the captives of race, gender, and poverty, and she did so on the basis of their experience, the Bible, and Enlightenment political ideals.  Diana Butler Bass, ‘A People’s History of Christianity’ p 255.