James Baldwin

In one of the last few editions of The Atlantic, I was introduced to the author and activist, James Baldwin. While I am sure that I had never read any of his books, not seen him on TV, I was aware of the titles of a few of his books.

After reading the article, which was a summary of a debate from 1965 about race relations between Baldwin and William F Buckley, I searched the Chester County Library system and found "The Fire Next Time", and then when returning that book, borrowed "Go Tell It On The Mountain", the first written in 1963, the 2nd in 1953.

First, I am a bit surprised that I was never asked to read one his books in high school or college, especially given that I attended high school from 1972 to 1976, a very volatile time in race relations in America. 

While Baldwin championed equal rights to blacks (the wording of the day), he did not embrace the philosophy of integration when that concept meant becoming white, as opposed to being treated equally. And he certainly did not advocate pretending that systemic racism, as well as slavery, had not done irreparable harm to the Black community. 

Nor did he easily forgive white people for actively or passively supporting the systems that treated people of color less equally, even as less than human.

A number of characters in his books expressed this most clearly, with little reluctance to emphasize the evil that had been done to Black men and women, and, even further, to consider white people, not only hypocrites for their alleged belief in those wonderful words "all men are created equal", but even evil. 

After reading both books in the last few weeks, I can easily imagine them being banned (as they are in a number of places) as he does not hide his contempt for white people, nor sugar coat the violence and cruelty that was the plight of those of his race, both on the plantations, and in the streets of the south.

While he doesn't describe the actual scene, a young Black woman is taken into the woods by a number of white men who violently take her virginity. She is forever changed, not just by the horrific act, but by how she is treated by her own community afterwards. The simple fact that her attackers are never prosecuted, not even indicted, is bad enough, but that her own people treat her as damaged goods adds insult to injury.  

I don't know if Baldwin mellowed in his opinions of race relations in America in his later years. I would like to think that he would have been extremely proud of America, and even white people, had he been alive when Obama was elected to be president, twice.

But perhaps it is best that he is not alive now, with the horrible backsliding that is occurring under the Trump Administration. I can imagine his outrage and anger at the president when he makes statements suggesting that slavery was not so bad, or that perhaps the Smithsonian should not be so harsh in its presentation of this topic. 

I would think that he may have thought that, despite the glaring statistics, still, concerning incarceration rates for young Black men who commit the same crimes as their white counterparts, but are jailed many times more, there had been progress since the days of the Tulsa Massacre, and the mean treatment of African American veterans who, after returning from war and conflict, were still treated with disdain and outright viciousness. 

Whether he would have been surprised at the popularity of Trump's open racism or vindicated that he was right all along, it is impossible to know.

Finally, I was struck by Baldwin's depiction of church, belief in Jesus, and the importance of prayer as depicted in many of his characters. On one hand, he also portrayed a sense of futility to pray for justice, and for eternal happiness with God. 

For instance, that same woman whom I described above represents total commitment to the belief in an afterlife with a merciful God, and the saving grace of Jesus, who suffered even worse tribulations during his life.  

So, while Baldwin conveyed a cynicism in longing for peace and tranquility and fair treatment in the next life, knowing that it would never happen in reality, he also described events and characters that seem able to survive earthly life only because they dream of that everlasting peace after their current life ends. 

I've posted a few times under the title Race Relations. In the following post, as Obama's 2nd term was ending, and the popularity of Trump was building, I was still hopeful that, the backlash that was infecting America after having elected our first African American president, would be temporary. And may even lead to another leap forward once it had passed. Sadly, we seem to have fallen even further behind, and, if there is a leap forward in our near future, I can't see it.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2016/07/black-and-white.html

In this next short post, I discuss an edition of the National Geographic about race and ethnicity. In reading it again today, I enjoyed my comment that if we could only alter our perception of skin color to reflect the understanding that such a trait is in response to environmental influences, not as a reflection of some type of scarlet letter usage by the Creator to label some of us. That we are all black, just some a little lighter, or conversely, we are all white, just some a little darker. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2018/03/race-and-ethnicity.html

This next post was written a few weeks after the the murder of George Floyd inspired protests around the country. In that post, I included a link to, and the actual story called The Switch Back, which was my version of what would happen if a certain percentage of influential and powerful people on Earth woke up in a body which presented as a different gender and race, than what they had before.

And, after nine months in that scenario with all the changes that would begin to occur if suddenly the world was run by black women, what would happen when they were all switched back.  

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-ongoing-protests.html 

The last linked post is just about three years old, and is a reflection on the replacement theory rhetoric that was prevalent then. Sadly, very sadly, it appears that the current administration is implementing policies that seek to rectify the inevitable changes in demographics that are in process in America.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/replacement-theory.html 

Finally, and only somewhat related, I encountered a post from 2017 when updating the font on recent posts "hit" by a reader.  It reminded me of the conversations I have been having about my current lack of  optimism and how that is common as people age, so it should not be a surprise that America itself is neck deep in nostalgia and the good old days. Hence, the popularity of make America great again.

The post describes the efforts to document opinions as to when times were better, generally always times when people were children. As if our parents, any parents, told their kids about their financial troubles, or exposed them to the sometimes cruelty of reality.

Which of course, provides an explanation for why so many children today suffer depression and anxiety, as that technological wonder called the cell phone provides information on a daily basis about the truly horrible things occurring in the world, from the slow starvation of the Palestinians to the daily bombings in Ukraine to the under the radar conflicts on the African continent that produces so much death and poverty. 

Where people of my age who grew up in the 60's and 70's, a time marked by much civil unrest, were insulated, for the most part from the brutality of what was happening, today's kids see it scrolling across their phones as it happens.

Not to mention, reading the works of James Baldwin, who detailed the horrors of the "good old days" but whose words did not penetrate the everyday white household, culminating in a swath of my contemporaries thinking those times were, not just the best days of their lives (which should be true when we are children), but the best days for America. 

And so we blithely accept prisons for people who have risked life and limb to come to America for opportunity and freedom, thinking that such cruelty will bring back those better days. 

No wonder Trump and his ilk want to remove all mention of the atrocities committed against indigenous people, minorities, women. By whitewashing history (strange, that word, whitewash), it makes it easier to commit those same atrocities again, just with different victims. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2017/05/nostalgia.html 

Ernest Hemingway

In the July/August Smithsonian, there was an article called "Exploring Hemingway's Pamplona", in which the author went to the famous town for its annual running of the bulls and corresponding fiesta, with a nod to Hemingway's visits, where he stayed, where he ate and partied, all of which inspired the iconic author to write "The Sun Also Rises."

After reading the article, I decided to read the book, now just one year shy of 100 years since its publication. 

While I am sure that I have read a Hemingway novel at some time in high school, certainly "The Old Man and The Sea" and perhaps "A Farewell to Arms", I can't say I am familiar with his writing, could not summarize any of his books other than the generic info anyone might know about his individual works. As for "The Sun..." I am sure I never read it before, so, to be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect, especially considering the almost century that has passed since its creation.

I have read an author who purports to document the "Lost Generation" as those who fought and lived through WW1 are often referred as, although Vera Brittain, while documenting the same disillusionment, same deep sense of loss associated with that horrible war, expressed it in a very different way than Hemingway. Perhaps it was a gender difference, although "The Sun..." does feature a woman character not unlike the men depicted by Hemingway.

Here are links to the two posts that resulted from reading books by Vera Brittain, a woman born six years before Hemingway, and who also based her books on her experiences before and after WW1. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2022/02/testament-of-youth.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-testament-of-friendship.html 

While I enjoyed "The Sun...", I was startled by the language used by Hemingway, especially his references to the few black people he encounters or knows of. One particular scene when describing a famous black boxer of the time to whom he refers as a nigger is said very casually, as was common at the time. 

One could say that it marks an evolution in tolerance for descriptions of people in a wholly negative light. Except that we now have a president who uses terms to denigrate people all the time, even while sitting in the Oval Office. While there may now be certain words that can't be used to describe other races or nationalities, there is also a sort of renaissance occurring which is bringing back prejudices against those now demonized by the orange king, perhaps not through direct use of those derogatory terms, but just as dangerous, through the open hostility towards people deemed inferior, or disposable. 

How else can one explain casual statements that perhaps 2 million Palestinians should be moved out of the Gaza strip, or that the war criminal Putin should be allowed to retain the land he took by force, regardless of the hundreds of thousands of lives, on both sides, that have been lost due to his illegal war.

Of course, Hemingway represented the rough and tough American, in both his writing and his persona. Yet he also suffered all types of mental and physical issues, some brought on by his drinking and lifestyle, others from the real injuries he survived in WW1, and the battlefield horrors he witnessed as a soldier and reporter.

Some say that when his ability to write about those experiences began to fade, he was unable to go on without his main defense mechanism, hence his suicide just weeks before his 62nd birthday.

I probably won't pursue reading anymore of Hemingway's books. While "The Sun..." does present a softer side of Jake Barnes, the character said to be based on Hemingway himself, he does not represent a set of traits I aspire to, nor wish my son to resemble. 

At the same time, though, I can relate to the hopelessness that permeates the characters, and the book itself, as I have often stated in my recent posts how the optimism which marked the overall attitude of my blog has dissipated, immensely.

When I see the man in the White House using his position, and the power of the federal government to extort money from universities, from law firms, from the CEO's of some of the most successful and important industries of our country, I can understand the malaise that some of the lost generation felt as they experienced everything they had trusted in and depended upon for meaning and structure come tumbling down around them in the form of a destructive, aimless war, followed by a decade of excess and gilded waste.

It seems today that the electorate is fine with any atrocity, any prejudice, any horrendous act against children born to the wrong parents, as long as their 401K's continue to grow.

I was asked by someone recently what the Dems could do to counter the GOP onslaught against democracy being carried out in Texas, and to counter Trump's use of the military in blue state cities to squash our first amendment freedoms. 

Sadly, my response is that we need an economic collapse because it is only money that Americans care about. Should inflation surge again due to the Administrations chaotic, nonsensical tariff policies, should the job market continue to flounder, should stocks take a tumble as big business realizes that Trump is all about himself, not America, then, if their are free elections in 2026 and/or 2028, perhaps small d democracy will gain a foothold again, and the Dems will get a chance to govern with an eye towards the working class. 

Of course, we can only hope that they will actually govern as such, this time. 

As for now, the decline continues. 

  

Elaine Pagels

As I mentioned before, I discovered Elaine Pagels through a book review in the May edition of The Atlantic. I already discussed the first book of hers that I read, The Gnostic Gospels. Here is a link to that post.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2025/07/gnostic-gospels.html

I just finished reading another book, the one which was specifically reviewed in that Atlantic article, called "Miracles and Wonder" with a subtitle of "The Historical Mystery of Jesus", published just this year.

Where to begin.

The best thing I can do is to recommend that if you are a Christian who is interested in understanding the beginnings of the movement that has grown from a smattering of apostles and acolytes to one which continues to spread throughout the globe, continues to inspire people to seek God, truth, morality, and which counts over 2 billion adherents worldwide, in various permutations, read this book.

Short of that, a few things stand out for me. In no particular order

Pagels refers to brothers of Jesus, not in the way that bros refer to their friends, but actual brothers who were born from the marriage of Mary and Joseph. Perhaps this is more commonly accepted than I knew before reading the book, but I was never asked to memorize Jesus's brothers during my Catholic school upbringing, never remember any teacher, nun or lay person, discussing in any way that Mary had other children, yet Pagels mentions it numerous times in her book as fact, without any attempt to justify such a claim. 

As to why my Catholic training never mentions these siblings, I can only postulate that the desire to present Mary as a virgin, extended to the rest of her life, for no real obvious reason. 

Pagels discusses the necessity of the virgin birth story, in light of the fact that Judea, at the time, was rife with activity against Roman Rule, and that, as is true today, Roman soldiers were often deployed into regions of unrest whereupon they killed without requiring guilt or proof and raped with impunity. 

Does Pagels believe that Mary was a victim of such an event, thereby inspiring the story that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth? No, but she does cite accusations at the time against Jesus and his questionable birth story. Remember, the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written decades after the crucifixion of Christ, at a time when acknowledging an association, let alone worship of Jesus placed one's life in danger. To deflect an obvious criticism, that Mary was not married making Jesus illegitimate, a story intimating divine intervention can be effective when cementing the believers faith. 

At one point, Pagels refers to this nascent movement as someone who lived in that time, whether Jewish or Roman or Pagan, might perceive it. As a cult. This really struck me in light of how we still look askance at the "cults" of today, how we worry when young people turn to non-traditional religions or religious beliefs, or even kidnap them from these groups so as to reprogram them to a more acceptable religious affiliation. 

One might say that it is true that every major religion of today, was at one time considered a cult, its leaders and followers heretics, blasphemous, etc. by the mainstream religions of the time. As I mention in the post about The Gnostic Gospels, even within the Christian communities in the first 300 years after Christ's death, there was debate among the followers, and rifts and disagreements about the meaning of the life of Christ. Cults within the cult, so to speak. 

At the end of the book, Pagels delves into how three particular films have presented different perspectives on Jesus and his life. One of them, a 2018 film called Mary Magdalene, features a disturbing scene in which Mary's family has decided that she is possessed by some sort of devil. Not because she is following Jesus, at that point she only has a cursory familiarity with his teachings, but because she refuses to marry the man that her father has chosen for her. In the scene, she is dunked repeatedly into the river, to drive out the demon, until she is practically drowned. 

Eventually, the family asks Jesus to "cure" her. He questions her, speaks with her, listens to her, and then tells her that there is no demon here. She decides to follow him, but when she tells her family of her decision, they double down on their belief that she is not well, their reactions ranging from anger at Jesus and his disciples, "what have you promised her?" "what have you done to her?" to outright shunning, her mother telling her that she won't be welcome back if she leaves with Jesus and his crew.

Again, remember, Jesus often told his followers that they must leave their families if they are to follow him, if they are to find the truth, find God, not unlike so many anguished families today who lament the lack of contact with their children who have joined a cult.

Such a fascinating perspective, at least for me, perhaps partially because I spent a few years seeking knowledge and attending talks and visiting ashrams which associated with Maharaji, now referred to as Prem Rawat. While I have often credited my mother as a moral example in my life, the time I spent listening to Maharaji also influenced my life, then and now.

Another major point of Pagels book is the perception that many of the apostles who accompanied Jesus during his time of teaching and healing, believed that when he referred to the new kingdom that was near, they believed that he meant soon, literally, in his lifetime and theirs. Again, in the Mary Magdalene film (I watched it after finishing the book), Judas is presented as a true believer in this concept. In fact, the movie suggests that he betrayed Jesus, not for money, but to force Jesus to show his true power. 

For Judas, the fact that Jesus could do all sorts of miracles, not the least of which was bringing a dead man back to life, meant that he could wave his hand and smite the Roman oppressors, that he could call on his angels to bring justice to their world, that he could truly make the last first, and the first last. In the movie, Judas hangs himself, as I was taught, but his death seems driven more by disappointment, perhaps even anger that he believed that the kingdom was at hand, so could not accept the death of his messiah.

Which brings us to the Resurrection. 

Again, Pagels discusses this as objectively as possible in an attempt to explain why such a miraculous event, rising from the dead, was important to the New Testament Gospel writers, as a way to attract new believers, as well as differentiate Jesus from the other teachers and prophets that existed at the time.  

Her analysis is not an attempt to cast doubt that Jesus rose from the dead but to explain why such a story would be helpful when expanding a new religion. During this chapter, she makes a number of references to how some of the disciples doubted the Resurrection, at first, and not just the well taught Doubting Thomas anecdote. Along with the movie, Mary Magdalene, both present accounts that cast Mary's encounter with the raised Jesus as being openly rejected by most of the apostles, specifically Peter. It is not until they have their own experience that they accept the Resurrection.

This reluctance to trust the word of a woman, is also reflected in a scene, in the movie (I can not confirm if it appears in any of the accepted Gospels, but does appear in the Gospel of Mary, one of those documents recovered from Nag Hammadi which I refer to in my previous post called The Gnostic Gospels). 

In that scene, Peter does not doubt Mary's word, but does demonstrate a lack of understanding about the message of Jesus. In the scene, Peter and Mary are traveling together, just the two of them, when they come upon a village with multiple people, men, women and children, who are dying, presumably due to the violence inflicted upon those not Roman during these times.

Mary stops to help them, to Peter's consternation, more concerned is he with his safety. Afterwards, after their intervention which saves a child, Peter admits to Mary that her actions more surely reflect the sermons of Jesus. Peter seems to start to realize the power, and danger, that living the life examples of his teacher can be, and tells Mary that her actions in helping the people they came across truly demonstrate her belief in Jesus, and his deficit in understanding His message.

The next to last chapter of the book, touches on the topic, when did Jesus become God. Here, Pagels points out that Matthew, Mark and Luke emphasized the good news of Jesus's message, whereas it was John who took the next step into proclaiming Jesus as God. It is not something I ever noticed when learning the catechism, but she points out numerous passages in all four Gospels which demonstrates how the four men interpreted similar events in a different light.

It is a point, as I mentioned in my other post, that is one of the reasons that I call myself a lapsed Catholic. I always thought that the message, the sermons, the example of his life, should be enough for us to know right from wrong. That, like many other advanced spiritual beings that have existed throughout history, we should adhere to the message without glorifying the messenger.

Similarly, although on the other side of the spectrum, we just witnessed the firing of a public servant whose job it is to report labor statistics, jobs created, unemployment, etc. When the report was published last week, the messenger was fired by a president who does not tolerate bad news when that news reflects poorly on himself. 

Sadly, once Trump places a Yes person in charge of that particular department, any future jobs report that features good news, will generate doubt on its veracity. And again, trust in the government will be compromised.

If we were to extrapolate this concept to include the possibility that other advanced spiritual humans have been born since Jesus of Nazareth, perhaps even in 1957, but since we have maintained the blinders that necessitate the belief that Jesus was the Son of God, who died for our sins so we can spend eternity with God, then we become oblivious to the possibility that someone with a similar message could be walking on Earth today, or be born tomorrow. 

Add to that possibility that such a person could have been six years ago in Gaza, or tomorrow in Sudan, and there is no chance that a new belief system, or even a revision, or extension of a current belief system, can be spread, and accepted in America, let alone across the globe.

Perhaps that should be my next story, God sends another Son to Earth to remind us of His love for us, His desire for us to share eternity with him, but that person ends up in an early grave, born to the wrong parents in the wrong country, or in a hospital for people considered insane.

Or maybe the better story line is that God so loves us, that She sends such a person on a yearly basis, born in various countries, sometimes male, sometimes female, perhaps even a gay person here and there, all to remind us of the message that is of the utmost importance. And, knowing that we are a rather stupid species, or perhaps, to give us a break, too concerned with institutions that give us comfort, allow us to abdicate our rational brain, and spiritual growth, to what we are told by those who claim a connection to the very God that prefers an individual relationship, not a watered down one filtered through the teachings of man made dogmas, messengers are sent, over and over again. 

Which of course, makes Jesus the one in ten thousand iterations of such interventions by the Creator whose teachings, and life, stuck, all the rest being tossed away without recognition. 

Now that is a Creator I can get behind. I just hope the patience and persistence behind such a plan will overcome humanity's infantile understanding of spirituality, and the actual point of our lives.

  

A Few Thoughts

I was going to add the following few thoughts to the beginning of my post on Elaine Pagels, but decided to let them stand alone. 

First, for those of you who have not heard, and I imagine it is an overwhelming majority, the EPA is poised to reverse its decision that the release and continued accumulation of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is dangerous, and needs to be addressed. 

This endangerment finding which occurred early in Obama's first term, was the result of a challenge to various EPA regulations that particularly targeted the transportation industry, such as tail pipe emissions and minimum gas mileage standards (CAFE). But also help limit the toxins that are emitted by power plants, especially coal burning ones. Those challenges eventually reached the Supreme Court which ruled that the EPA, in accordance with the Clean Air Act, could create those rules as long as there were scientific studies which proved the logic behind the standards. 

Now, however, the Trump Administration is using non-peer reviewed "studies" that emphasize the cost of these regulations without considering the savings, in lives and dollars, that those regulations have provided. 

What is spectacularly stupid about such a rollback, is the obvious facts on the ground; more billion dollar environmental events, more extreme weather, more push back from Mother Nature against our arrogance.

For some more info, here is a link to an article about this travesty. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epa-revoke-endangerment-finding-regulating-greenhouse-gases/  

Also, a link to a post I wrote in 2014 when I naively thought that, at the time, science was being attacked. I say naively now, because compared to items like the above, the events which triggered that post ten years ago are very small in comparison. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2014/03/science-fiction-and-fact.html 

Suffice it to say that actions like the rescinding of the endangerment finding is not only backward science, even if we assume that those advocating for it are only the stooges of the fossil fuel industry, but anti-science when it becomes clear that the "costs" that might be saved when this ruling is repealed (savings for business) will be outweighed by twice even thrice in costs that will be realized by the public in terms of increased medical ailments (and bills to pay for care), not to mention the additional damage and deaths that climate change, now exacerbated rather than addressed, will create.

I would call it immensely short sighted, if I didn't think it actually reflected rich interests stealing even more money from the rest of us, while causing illness and death, all supported by Trump and his fellow billionaires, and the spineless public servants who roam the halls of Congress pretending to care about their constituents.

Second, I just want to send a personal message to Ghislaine Maxwell. Ghislaine, I know you would prefer not to spend the next 20 years in prison, but be careful with whom you make a deal to get out, or to earn a pardon. Certainly, you have a treasure trove of information concerning who spent time on the Island, who ran in Jeffrey's circle most frequently, who had the weirdest sexual peccadilloes, and that such information will never be worth more or provide as much leverage as now.

In fact, you don't even have to be all that honest, just reveal what you are asked to reveal. After all, morals have never been a problem for you. 

But remember, once you make a deal with the devil, in this case the Trump Administration, they will own you, and while you may be pardoned or released early or just sent to a prison with more freedoms, you will forever have to remain on guard to not say the wrong thing (like the actual truth) to the wrong person at the wrong time.

Also, and I can't emphasize this enough, as long as you possess knowledge regarding Trump's relationship with Epstein, you are at risk for a similar ending that befell your ex-boss. I just hope you have some insurance squirreled away in an off-shore account that can't be easily traced to you, because any leverage you think you hold in your memories, won't be worth a penny if you can't expose the truth, dead or alive. 

Be careful, not because I don't think you are scum for all the pain you helped inflict on all the young women who you trafficked for the rich and slimy, but because I would like to think that karma is real, and that the men behind the horrors might someday be held accountable. 

Lastly, I read an interesting article this morning somewhat related to my initial topic, the decline/attacks against science, but from the perspective that this administration's multi-pronged attack on the institutions that represent knowledge and technological progress may result in America no longer being the country where scientists flock for advanced training and opportunities for cutting edge research in those areas that will drive the future of our planet.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2025/07/science-empire-america-decline/683711/?utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20250731&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=The+Atlantic+Daily 

In a nutshell, the article recounts the decline, throughout history of some of the most advanced nations, scientifically speaking, and how those countries lost their superiority. 

And how, right now, to satisfy his warped opinion of how we should think, and who should be allowed to come to America to study, learn, and share their knowledge, Trump is causing the most intelligent and forward thinking people in the world to rethink their desire to come here while emboldening other countries, European as well as Canada and China, to welcome those same scientists with open arms, and research dollars.

Additionally, by ranting against the higher education institutions like Harvard and Columbia who seek the most brilliant minds in the world, regardless of country of origin or political opinions, he closes the door on those immigrants. Remember, if not for the prejudiced attacks, and outright violence, against the Jews by the Third Reich, the development of our space program, not to mention the creation of the atomic bomb, might not have happened had Hitler and his Aryan acolytes not chased the smartest people out of Germany.

Finally, by slashing the budgets for the NSA, NIH, and other such organizations that fund medical research, Trump is delaying, even cancelling the work of people who one day may have found cures for Alzheimers, Parkinson's cancer, etc, all in the name of some idiotic obsession with rooting out woke doctrine.

And so the decline continues.