Matthew Henry John Bartlett

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Wednesday 27 June, 02007

Like fire in a blanket

by Matthew Bartlett @ 10:01 am

SubversNZ on a new Christian political party for NZ
Tom B on holes in WCC’s aspiration of carbon neutrality


Last night’s Angela Davis talk. The atmosphere was worshipful, ceremonial. I wondered what it would be like if Jesus turned up to give a lecture, maybe in the Hunter Chambers or the Town Hall. 200 people had been turned away at the door, even after an overflow room with a video link had been filled up. It was like she wasn’t there, like an icon of her was there instead. She said it herself in fact – many people when they meet her feel they’re encountering their youth. She was the instantiation of an idea, or a hope, or maybe a vibe. She could have said anything, we would have clapped and cheered. We weren’t there for her, we were there for us. Well they were: I didn’t really belong; I didn’t fight the good fight, I don’t believe. What she did say was more of less this: notes from this evening’s Angela Davis lecture [45K PDF]

6 responses to “Like fire in a blanket”

  1. Bel says:

    Wow. Awesome.
    Thanks so much for that, Bartlett.
    What was she like in person? as a speaker?

  2. Matthew says:

    Really good, really American, polished, attractive, gracious. Very on-message, so much so that sometimes I felt she was answering questions she’d rather people asked instead of the ones they actually did ask.

  3. dennis bartlett says:

    reads like a load of drivel

  4. Richard D. Bartlett says:

    Yeah Matt what a faggot!

  5. Ben Hoyt says:

    About the SubversNZ article: liked it. His overall point is a very good one: Know your roots, and know ’em well. Christians especially.

    But what I can’t understand — why does moral individualism follow from this? His for-instance is more or less “I’m straight, but it’s fine for everyone else to be gay.” Okay, maybe. However, what if he’d said “I’m an Anabaptist, so I personally believe that child abuse is evil, but it’s fine for everyone else to do as they like with their kids.” But his support of changing s59 shows he’s not a moral individualist on that point.

    My brain gets itchy when folks want to have it both ways like this.

  6. Hang on. Is Angela D. suggesting that the prison system is a product of America? Didn’t there be prisons in countries since like way back?

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