by Brian Bergen-Aurand To censor comes from the Sanskrit śamsati, with its references to “recites, praises,” and śasa “song of praise.” To censor something is to praise it, to recite its praises as a thing worthy for its affect and effect. To censor is to give credence to the idea that things, ideas, books, and … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Religion
Democracy, Borrowing, Lending, and Sharing (part 1)
by Brian Bergen-Aurand If God had wanted it, he would have made you a single community, but he wanted, the Koran tells us [5:48], to test you through the gift of difference. ~Mustapha Chérif, Islam and the West I believe that what distinguishes the idea of democracy from all other ideas of political regimes—monarchy, aristocracy, … Continue reading
It’s Philip and Bartholomew: On Religion, The State, and Same-Sex Unions
by Brian Bergen-Aurand O Lord our God, who made humankind in thine image and likeness and gave it power over all flesh everlasting, and who now has approved thy saints and apostles Philip and Bartholomew becoming partners, not bound together by nature, but in the unity of the holy spirit and in the mode of … Continue reading
Inquiring about Jay Rosenblatt
–חשמל [chashmal] (from Hebrew, “speaking silence”) Born in New York in 1955, Jay Rosenblatt (often in collaboration with Caveh Zahedi, Stephanie Rapp, Dina Ciraulo, Jennifer Frame, or his daughter Ella Rosenblatt) has been making short collage and diary films since 1980, has taught film and video production at various schools in the San Francisco Bay area … Continue reading
Foreign Influence 