Alonso Duralde dishes: with a few COMMENTS here too:
''In the early 1990s, I accepted an invitation from a friend to go see the national touring company of “Les Misérables,” even though it was being mounted at Dallas’ Music Hall at Fair Park (before its eventual renovation, the venue was acoustically iffy at best) and despite my trepidation over the then-popular “Miserable Cats of the Opera” mega-musicals.
And while the show is not without its gimmickry and manipulation, I found it genuinely moving and exhilarating, with the showstopping 11 o'clock number “Bring Him Home” (which had been played to death in the constant TV ads for the production) giving me chills.
I mention this only to fend off complaints that I have no soul or no affinity for the material at hand, because it is my duty to inform you that “Les Misérables,” the movie, is a catastrophe of epic proportions.
Director Tom Hooper (“The King’s Speech”) piles one terrible decision upon another, with the result being a movie so overbearingly maudlin and distorted that it’s one of 2012’s most excruciating film experiences.
Mistake number one comes in the way he shoots what’s happening -- it’s one thing to give us singing prisoners and gendarmes and prostitutes and soldiers and revolutionaries with the accommodating distance of the stage, but to have these same entities with the camera going right up their nose just accentuates the bizarre counter-intuitiveness of having these characters singing virtually every word of dialogue.
(There are, in fact, three basic camera positions in the film: Too Close, Rapid-Fire Figure 8 Around the Action, and Helicopter View of 19th Century Paris.)
By now, you know the tale: Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, is paroled from his sentence of hard labor, even though brutal prison guard Javert (Russell Crowe) is convinced that Valjean will inevitably return to crime. The desperate Valjean steals from a kindly priest, and when the priest tells the authorities the silver had been a gift, the newly redeemed Valjean attempts to rebuild his life.
Under a new identity, he becomes a mayor and the owner of a rosary factory, but a visit by an unsuspecting Javert distracts Valjean while poor Fantine (Anne Hathaway) is fired under false pretenses. Too late to save the woman, who turns to prostitution and hair-selling to support her daughter, Valjean vows to raise the child, Cosette (Isabelle Allen, then Amanda Seyfried) as his own.
And then there’s the second French revolution, and Cosette falls in love with rich student/slumming revolutionary Marius (Eddie Redmayne), and Javert still hovers in the background, obsessed with bringing Valjean to what the officer believes is justice. One of the nefarious powers of “Les Misérables” the movie is its ability to reduce Victor Hugo’s novel, considered one of the great achievements in world literature, to a hacky melodrama that even a young D.W. Griffith might have found overly precious.
Oh, the performances: Jackman and Hathaway are both playing to the back balcony, rather than to the camera lens that’s just inches away.
Even his “Bring Him Home” paled next to the version performed by that
actor who came to Dallas 20 years ago, raising nary a hair on the back
of my neck.
Hathaway, meanwhile, takes every opportunity to suck all the oxygen
out of “I Dreamed a Dream,” the number that is this show’s “And I Am
Telling You I’m Not Going.” Earlier in the film, Fantine sells some of
her back teeth to a shady dentist who promises to leave her “enough to
bite.” Clearly, he also left her enough to gnash. It’s a ghastly,
eyelid-fluttering, self-serving, sympathy-begging performance; Oscar
voters are guaranteed to eat it up.
And then there’s poor Russell Crowe, who’s had success as a vocalist
with his bands 30 Odd Foot of Grunts and the Ordinary Fear of God, but
singing in a bar band and belting quasi-operatic Broadway songs are two
very different things. He’s giving it his all but falling short
throughout; you can tell from the strain that he’s singing on his
tippytoes.
The one performer who stands out is Sasha Baron Cohen, who cuts
through the rest of the film’s noble masochism with the grungily cynical
“Master of the House.” (Helena Bonham Carter is lazily cast as the
innkeeper’s shrewish wife.) But even Baron Cohen wears a bit thin by the
fourth reprise or so.
Admittedly, I sat in the screening room surrounded by people who were
sniffling if not outright bawling, so this movie’s clearly working for
someone. And to some extent, I empathize: I’m always left a soppy wreck
by Claude Lelouch’s 1995 version, in which Jean-Paul Belmondo plays both
Valjean and a truck driver transporting Jews out of France during World
War II.
For me, though, this was the kind of movie where I started rooting
for the French soldiers only because every time they shot someone, that
meant one less singer on screen.
Making the transition from stage to screen is always a complicated
proposition at best. Of late, many directors have taken the attitude
that everyone singing number is a music video and they seem compelled to
pack as much cutting and camera movement into one scene as the deft
hands of their computer editors can arrange. If you look at the best of
the filmed musicals, it's very clear to most of their directors that the
song is about the performer, not the editing or "mess-en-scene" (sic).
Keep the camera focused on the person who is singing, don't cut too
often, and we get the emotion from the song, and even get to hear the
inner voice of the character as expressed in the words they're singing
and the expression on their face and look in their eyes. Singing is a
very intimate personal expression, especially in musicals, where it is a
quick look inside a character's thoughts, emotions, hopes and fears. To
rapid fire cut, like machine gun fire, can only kill this possibility.
And please don't get me started on editors who cannot even figure out
that we cut on the beats, or ends of a line, or even counter beat. So
many of today's editors seem to have no feel for music and how it
enhances the cuts and how the cuts enhance the music! While I have not
seen Les Miserables, I cannot comment on the film. But if it is as Mr.
Duralde states, I will be scraping my fingernails on an imagined
blackboard and silently screaming in the dark of the cinema when I see
the film on Christmas day.
I agree with this review whole-heartedly. This review echoes all my
thoughts and feelings of when I saw it a few weeks ago. I couldn't have
been more excited to see this film. I went in thinking that it would
blow me away and take all the statues it deserved...however I left the
theater feeling cheated, disappointed and all around annoyed with how
the film was executed. The only thing I don't agree with is Anne
Hathaway's performance, which was the only true emotional experience I
had during the film.
THANK YOU!!..This was probably one of the worse musical adaptaions done
for film.....YIKES!!!..I have GREAT RESPECT for the cast in most of
their moviJackman over-articulates, over-gesticulates and pretty much
over-everythings. Worse still are those moments where, rather than
singing all his dialogue, he has to transition from speech to song
within the same line. (“We’re leaving now, PACK YOUR THIIIIIIINGS!”)
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
“Hell is other people at breakfast”
The correct quote is “Hell is other people,” not “Hell is other people at breakfast.”
December 18, 2012 8:42 AM Subscribe
The best (and worst) media errors and corrections of 2012.
posted by Chrysostom (38 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
posted by Chrysostom (38 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
A friend posted this to Facebook last week (nyah, nyah), so I've already read through them all.
My initial favorite correction:
"In an April 30 “TV Club,” Julia Turner misstated when Sally Draper ate the fish in Mad Men. It was before she saw the blow job."
Is not entirely accurate, or at least not now (maybe the author wrote the correction in a huff and copy editors toned it down).
Actual (current) correction:
"Correction, April 30, 2012: This post originally said Sally ate the fish after witnessing the blow job. She ate the fish just before."
Anyway, to get all meta, I think the fluid nature of Web publishing (i.e. get it live, then copy edit it) makes exercises like this a bit trivial, or at least more trivial than they used to be. Good call on the error of the year, though.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:04 AM on December 18
My initial favorite correction:
"In an April 30 “TV Club,” Julia Turner misstated when Sally Draper ate the fish in Mad Men. It was before she saw the blow job."
Is not entirely accurate, or at least not now (maybe the author wrote the correction in a huff and copy editors toned it down).
Actual (current) correction:
"Correction, April 30, 2012: This post originally said Sally ate the fish after witnessing the blow job. She ate the fish just before."
Anyway, to get all meta, I think the fluid nature of Web publishing (i.e. get it live, then copy edit it) makes exercises like this a bit trivial, or at least more trivial than they used to be. Good call on the error of the year, though.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:04 AM on December 18
This post originally
referred to Jennifer Grey as “Ferris Bueller’s sister.” As commenters
have pointed out, her role alongside Swayze in Dirty Dancing is clearly
the more relevant.
PIFFLE
posted by DU at 9:05 AM on December 18 [13 favorites]
PIFFLE
posted by DU at 9:05 AM on December 18 [13 favorites]
Re: the last item, "Outfielder Sidney Fontenot," what? The dangling fragment is killing me!
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:07 AM on December 18
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:07 AM on December 18
How is that a production error?
Looks like a transcription error to me and then they included the last sentence in the correction to clear up what he meant.
posted by DU at 9:09 AM on December 18
Looks like a transcription error to me and then they included the last sentence in the correction to clear up what he meant.
posted by DU at 9:09 AM on December 18
I remember CNN cracking wise
about an instagram outage where (paraphrasing) people wouldn't be able
to document what sandwiches they were eating, and I thought, "Hey,
remember when Instagram fucked up the most important Supreme Court
decision of our lives?"
posted by boo_radley at 9:11 AM on December 18 [3 favorites]
posted by boo_radley at 9:11 AM on December 18 [3 favorites]
The production error is the missing period.
It’s not like 25 years ago. I was killing everybody. = 25 years ago I was killing everybody.
It’s not like 25 years ago I was killing everybody. = 25 years ago I wasn't killing everybody.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:12 AM on December 18 [2 favorites]
It’s not like 25 years ago. I was killing everybody. = 25 years ago I was killing everybody.
It’s not like 25 years ago I was killing everybody. = 25 years ago I wasn't killing everybody.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:12 AM on December 18 [2 favorites]
The CNN anchors calling the wrong guy at 6am was amusing. They seem pretty loopy.
posted by zarq at 9:14 AM on December 18
posted by zarq at 9:14 AM on December 18
Talking about performing
in the musical “The Who’s Tommy,” the actor and singer Michael Cerveris
said, “I couldn’t sing it all when I got the job.” An article on Mr.
Cerveris in the latest Friday Journal incorrectly quoted him as saying,
“I couldn’t sing at all when I got the job.”
I can't breathe, somebody help me stop laughing, I need to be able to function again sometime today!
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 9:26 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
I can't breathe, somebody help me stop laughing, I need to be able to function again sometime today!
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 9:26 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
Hilarious: ABC Denver reportedly misnames Petraeus biography "All Up In My Snatch."
posted by Daddy-O at 9:30 AM on December 18 [4 favorites]
posted by Daddy-O at 9:30 AM on December 18 [4 favorites]
I heard this on the radio. I'm really puzzled why this one from the NYT didn't make the list (at least as a runner-up):
An earlier version of this article misidentified the beverage that Ahmed Abu Khattala was drinking at the hotel. It was a strawberry frappe, not mango juice, which is what he had ordered.
posted by AwkwardPause at 9:32 AM on December 18 [2 favorites]
An earlier version of this article misidentified the beverage that Ahmed Abu Khattala was drinking at the hotel. It was a strawberry frappe, not mango juice, which is what he had ordered.
posted by AwkwardPause at 9:32 AM on December 18 [2 favorites]
Though it's only a consumer blog, this correction by The Wirecutter is a model for how to do it right.
posted by fairmettle at 9:32 AM on December 18 [2 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 9:32 AM on December 18 [2 favorites]
The correct quote is “Hell is other people,” not “Hell is other people at breakfast.”
Well, there's correct as in accurate, and correct as in true. GOOGLE: 'Jonathan Rauch + Dan Bloom + Sartre".....
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:36 AM on December 18 [13 favorites]
François Mitterrand, the
former French president, is reported to have said that Margaret Thatcher
had the mouth of Marilyn Monroe and the eyes of Caligula — not Stalin,
as reported in an earlier version of this article.
Well. OK then. That's .... very slightly less bizarre, I guess? Maybe?
posted by The Bellman at 9:39 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
Well. OK then. That's .... very slightly less bizarre, I guess? Maybe?
posted by The Bellman at 9:39 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
my favorite:
I misspoke this evening on the Special Report panel. I suggested that Godzilla was less destructive than King Kong. And everyone knows that it’s the other way around. I apologize for any offense to the Kong family or to Godzilla’s fans — or victims.
posted by notme at 9:39 AM on December 18
I misspoke this evening on the Special Report panel. I suggested that Godzilla was less destructive than King Kong. And everyone knows that it’s the other way around. I apologize for any offense to the Kong family or to Godzilla’s fans — or victims.
posted by notme at 9:39 AM on December 18
This one made me chuckle:
Slate: In a March 2 “Future Tense” blog post, Torie Bosch misspelled the science fiction award won by writer Bruce Sterling. It is of course the Hugo Award, not the Huge Award.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 9:42 AM on December 18 [2 favorites]
Slate: In a March 2 “Future Tense” blog post, Torie Bosch misspelled the science fiction award won by writer Bruce Sterling. It is of course the Hugo Award, not the Huge Award.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 9:42 AM on December 18 [2 favorites]
"A column by Glenn Garvin
on Dec. 20 stated that the National Science Foundation “funded a study
on Jell-O wrestling at the South Pole.” That is incorrect. The event
took place during off-duty hours without NSF permission and did not
involve taxpayer funds."
Ace. Jell-O wrestling. A new Winter Olympics sport is born.
posted by marienbad at 9:44 AM on December 18
Ace. Jell-O wrestling. A new Winter Olympics sport is born.
posted by marienbad at 9:44 AM on December 18
This one from 2008 is still my all-time favorite:
In the June 20 “Culturebox,” Jonah Weiner stated that Lil Wayne was the first hip-hop artist to fantasize about eating his competition. Other rappers have contemplated consuming their rivals.posted by mcmile at 9:50 AM on December 18 [5 favorites]
I forgive CNN for their fuck up on the health care mandate story only because it made this happen.
posted by eyeballkid at 9:53 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
posted by eyeballkid at 9:53 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
"Margaret Thatcher had the mouth of Marilyn Monroe and the eyes of Caligula"
Shurely there must be thousands of people who look like that? Anyone seen any?
posted by marienbad at 9:54 AM on December 18
Shurely there must be thousands of people who look like that? Anyone seen any?
posted by marienbad at 9:54 AM on December 18
I think the top award should
have gone to TAL for their Apple factory story recovery and how they
turned the whole thing around into a good bit of journalism.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 9:59 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
posted by Old'n'Busted at 9:59 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
Missed the best one.
Corrections: November 30, 2012. An article on Thursday about efforts by the hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen to defend his firm, SAC Capital Advisors, against a government inquiry into insider trading misstated the size of Mr. Cohen’s house in Greenwich, Conn. It is 35,000 square feet, not 14,000.
The best part is you know his assistant called up the NYT spitting fire.
posted by JPD at 10:08 AM on December 18 [3 favorites]
Corrections: November 30, 2012. An article on Thursday about efforts by the hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen to defend his firm, SAC Capital Advisors, against a government inquiry into insider trading misstated the size of Mr. Cohen’s house in Greenwich, Conn. It is 35,000 square feet, not 14,000.
The best part is you know his assistant called up the NYT spitting fire.
posted by JPD at 10:08 AM on December 18 [3 favorites]
It would seem journalistic errors are likely to get worse. NPR ran a story this morning about how almost every outlet covering the tragedy in CT got so many facts wrong.
posted by Toekneesan at 10:11 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
posted by Toekneesan at 10:11 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
It would seem
journalistic errors are likely to get worse. NPR ran a story this
morning about how almost every outlet covering the tragedy in CT got so
many facts wrong.
You can have news that's quick, or news that's correct. You just can't have both.
posted by tommasz at 10:12 AM on December 18 [9 favorites]
You can have news that's quick, or news that's correct. You just can't have both.
posted by tommasz at 10:12 AM on December 18 [9 favorites]
^ And therein lies the problem with the 24 hour "news" cycle.
posted by brand-gnu at 10:16 AM on December 18
posted by brand-gnu at 10:16 AM on December 18
NPR ran a story this morning about how almost every outlet covering the tragedy in CT got so many facts wrong.
Page views will always be more important than actual factual information.
posted by elizardbits at 10:19 AM on December 18 [3 favorites]
Page views will always be more important than actual factual information.
posted by elizardbits at 10:19 AM on December 18 [3 favorites]
GOOD THING WE DONT LIVEBLOG HERE AMIRITE
posted by skrozidile at 10:20 AM on December 18
posted by skrozidile at 10:20 AM on December 18
GOOD THING WE DONT LIVEBLOG HERE AMIRITE
Well, not until slightly later in the day.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:29 AM on December 18
Well, not until slightly later in the day.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:29 AM on December 18
Please, I beg of whoever reads the original linked article, click through to the Atlantic Wire story about the worst typos. If you haven't seen their #15 typo, you haven't lived.
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:33 AM on December 18 [6 favorites]
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:33 AM on December 18 [6 favorites]
Potomac Avenue: “How is that a production error?”
Er – the only difference between the two is a period. Doesn't it seem like a period could be a production error? Although I guess it could also be an error in interpretation of sources on the reporter's part. Still quite plausible as an error, though, isn't it?
posted by koeselitz at 10:46 AM on December 18
Er – the only difference between the two is a period. Doesn't it seem like a period could be a production error? Although I guess it could also be an error in interpretation of sources on the reporter's part. Still quite plausible as an error, though, isn't it?
posted by koeselitz at 10:46 AM on December 18
CTRL+F "Neil Armstrong" WHAT?!
This was by far the best media error that was not listed: Neil Armstrong/Neil Young mix up
posted by ghostbikes at 11:14 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
This was by far the best media error that was not listed: Neil Armstrong/Neil Young mix up
posted by ghostbikes at 11:14 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
That Supreme Court debacle
was glorious because it made the conservative suffering so much sweeter.
I remember seeing first the elation then the devastation. Their tears
were so sweet.
Is there a German word for "joy at the suffering of others that should be shameful but isn't because fuck those assholes"?
posted by Sangermaine at 11:48 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
Is there a German word for "joy at the suffering of others that should be shameful but isn't because fuck those assholes"?
posted by Sangermaine at 11:48 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]
Jysufringbecausfukthasasshoolz, I think. But I've been wrong before.
posted by stet at 12:02 PM on December 18
posted by stet at 12:02 PM on December 18
“It’s not like 25 years ago. I was killing everybody.” In fact, he said: “It’s not like 25 years ago I was killing everybody."
Good illustration of the importance of punctuation.
posted by eye of newt at 12:06 PM on December 18 [2 favorites]
Good illustration of the importance of punctuation.
posted by eye of newt at 12:06 PM on December 18 [2 favorites]
My favorite Slate correction(s) actually come at the bottom of a recent article on whisk(e)y. The corrections are almost longer than the article. You can just hear the whiskey experts seething as you read the lengthy list of errors.
posted by librarylis at 6:09 PM on December 18
posted by librarylis at 6:09 PM on December 18
Davis is recovering from a herniated dick.
That was a hard--and flagrant--foul.
posted by riverlife at 12:55 AM on December 19
That was a hard--and flagrant--foul.
posted by riverlife at 12:55 AM on December 19
A Sir Lankan Christian and a Jew walk into a bar ;..;.
Dear Brother, ........writes a very nice and good man from Sri Lankan heritage who now lives in Hong Kong with his British-born Caucasian wife and their two adopted daughters from mainland communist China:....
Your letter criticizing the Christian church as a whole and its theology indicates that you have never been in a church. It's all in your head. In our church here in Hong Kong, we take the children to the synagogue to teach them the magic of Jewish mysticism. Some of us learn to read and write Hebrew, because of our reverence for Hebrew culture. Our church is not unusual.
My challenge to you: go to any mainstream church in Hong Kong or Taiwan. You'll be surprised to find that the pastor doesn't once blame "the Jews" for "killing Jesus".
How can I guarantee this? Because it is fundamental Christianity: "WE killed Jesus: WE hammered in the nails. WE were blind to his message. He died for US."
We never blame the Jews! The BIBLE never blames the Jews. We never say the Jews will not go to heaven because they do not accept Jesus as their savior. We love the Jews and we accept that fully as they are and we do not require that they convert to Christianity to becme whole or saved.
Jews are saved in their own way, as are Hindus and Buddhists and Moslems. Christianity is just one religion among many, and in NO WAY is our way the only way to heaven or grace or salvation or redemption, depsite what the Bible in some chaoterrs and verse teaches. The New Testament Bible is wrong about those things;. God lives ijn many mansions and Jesus is NOT the ONLY way to grace and salvaftion. I believe that.
Cheers,
A CHRISTIAN FRIEND whose father was a member of the Subud Community: RE
But there was one other element in his writing that
influenced the others and bound them into a voice with its own
distinction - his deep spirituality, springing from his membership of
the Subud Community. He talked more about religion than
anyone else I know, and it influenced his entire approach to work and
life. But his son became a Christian. But he carried it lightly and with joy. It was integral to his
thought, his behaviour and to his outlook. He travelled voraciously,
he linked people and ideas, and he did so without thought of private
aggrandisement or personal vanity. He was warm, he was loving, and he
was funny. That was why he could be so deeply serious as well.
History
Bapak Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo
Pak Subuh explained (in talks to Subud members given beginning in the
1940s) that during 1925 he was taking a late-night walk when he had an
unexpected and unusual experience. He said he found himself enveloped
in a brilliant light, and looked up to see what seemed like the sun
falling directly onto his body, and he thought that he was having a
heart attack. He said he went directly home, lay down on his bed, and
prepared to die with the feeling that maybe it was his time, and that
he could not fight it, so he surrendered himself to God.
According to the story, however, instead of dying he was moved from
within to stand up and perform movements similar to his normal Muslim
prayer routine. It seemed that he was not moving through his own
volition; but was being guided by what he interpreted as the power of
God. This same kind of experience reportedly happened to him for a few
hours each night over a period of about 1000 days during which he
slept little but was able to continue working full-time. He said he
experienced a kind of 'inner teaching' whereby he was given to
understand a variety of things spontaneously.
As these experiences proceeded, Pak Subuh explained, he gained
spontaneous insight into people and situations that he did not possess
before. Around 1933, as he reported, he received that if other people
were physically near him while he was in a state of 'latihan', then
the experience would begin in them also. While still in his early
thirties, Pak Subuh's reputation as someone with spiritual insight
apparently grew, and people went to him to be 'opened'. They in turn
could open others, and this is how Subud eventually spread around the
world.\
Husein Rofé in 1955 in Hong Kong
In Jakarta, Husein Rofé, an English linguist who had been living in
Indonesia since 1950, met Pak Subuh. Rofé had been searching for a
spiritual path and became the first non-Indonesian to be opened. Subud
moved outside of Indonesia when Rofé attended a religious congress in
Japan in 1954. Subud first spread internationally into Japan, followed
by Hong Kong and Cyprus. In 1957, Rofé (who was then in London)
suggested that Pak Subuh visit Britain. Pak Subuh accepted the
invitation and visited the home of John G. Bennett in Coombe Springs.
It was at this time that many UK followers of G. I. Gurdjieff were
initiated into Subud (including Bennett himself, though he later left
the group). Over the next 14 months Pak Subuh visited many countries
before returning to Indonesia.
Your letter criticizing the Christian church as a whole and its theology indicates that you have never been in a church. It's all in your head. In our church here in Hong Kong, we take the children to the synagogue to teach them the magic of Jewish mysticism. Some of us learn to read and write Hebrew, because of our reverence for Hebrew culture. Our church is not unusual.
My challenge to you: go to any mainstream church in Hong Kong or Taiwan. You'll be surprised to find that the pastor doesn't once blame "the Jews" for "killing Jesus".
How can I guarantee this? Because it is fundamental Christianity: "WE killed Jesus: WE hammered in the nails. WE were blind to his message. He died for US."
We never blame the Jews! The BIBLE never blames the Jews. We never say the Jews will not go to heaven because they do not accept Jesus as their savior. We love the Jews and we accept that fully as they are and we do not require that they convert to Christianity to becme whole or saved.
Jews are saved in their own way, as are Hindus and Buddhists and Moslems. Christianity is just one religion among many, and in NO WAY is our way the only way to heaven or grace or salvation or redemption, depsite what the Bible in some chaoterrs and verse teaches. The New Testament Bible is wrong about those things;. God lives ijn many mansions and Jesus is NOT the ONLY way to grace and salvaftion. I believe that.
Cheers,
A CHRISTIAN FRIEND whose father was a member of the Subud Community: RE
But there was one other element in his writing that
influenced the others and bound them into a voice with its own
distinction - his deep spirituality, springing from his membership of
the Subud Community. He talked more about religion than
anyone else I know, and it influenced his entire approach to work and
life. But his son became a Christian. But he carried it lightly and with joy. It was integral to his
thought, his behaviour and to his outlook. He travelled voraciously,
he linked people and ideas, and he did so without thought of private
aggrandisement or personal vanity. He was warm, he was loving, and he
was funny. That was why he could be so deeply serious as well.
History
Bapak Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo
Pak Subuh explained (in talks to Subud members given beginning in the
1940s) that during 1925 he was taking a late-night walk when he had an
unexpected and unusual experience. He said he found himself enveloped
in a brilliant light, and looked up to see what seemed like the sun
falling directly onto his body, and he thought that he was having a
heart attack. He said he went directly home, lay down on his bed, and
prepared to die with the feeling that maybe it was his time, and that
he could not fight it, so he surrendered himself to God.
According to the story, however, instead of dying he was moved from
within to stand up and perform movements similar to his normal Muslim
prayer routine. It seemed that he was not moving through his own
volition; but was being guided by what he interpreted as the power of
God. This same kind of experience reportedly happened to him for a few
hours each night over a period of about 1000 days during which he
slept little but was able to continue working full-time. He said he
experienced a kind of 'inner teaching' whereby he was given to
understand a variety of things spontaneously.
As these experiences proceeded, Pak Subuh explained, he gained
spontaneous insight into people and situations that he did not possess
before. Around 1933, as he reported, he received that if other people
were physically near him while he was in a state of 'latihan', then
the experience would begin in them also. While still in his early
thirties, Pak Subuh's reputation as someone with spiritual insight
apparently grew, and people went to him to be 'opened'. They in turn
could open others, and this is how Subud eventually spread around the
world.\
Husein Rofé in 1955 in Hong Kong
In Jakarta, Husein Rofé, an English linguist who had been living in
Indonesia since 1950, met Pak Subuh. Rofé had been searching for a
spiritual path and became the first non-Indonesian to be opened. Subud
moved outside of Indonesia when Rofé attended a religious congress in
Japan in 1954. Subud first spread internationally into Japan, followed
by Hong Kong and Cyprus. In 1957, Rofé (who was then in London)
suggested that Pak Subuh visit Britain. Pak Subuh accepted the
invitation and visited the home of John G. Bennett in Coombe Springs.
It was at this time that many UK followers of G. I. Gurdjieff were
initiated into Subud (including Bennett himself, though he later left
the group). Over the next 14 months Pak Subuh visited many countries
before returning to Indonesia.
Quit using ‘loss’ when referring to death, says Sue Wintz
Quit using ‘loss’ when referring to death
People pose and pay their silent respects at a makeshift superstitious shrine to some insane supernatural god to the poor victims of an elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 17, 2012. (AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., has left all of us wondering how to respond in dealing with our own emotions, reaching out to those who are grieving, and explaining to the children in our lives what happened. There is a wealth of information and advice being presented on news stations, in articles, and across the internet.
The death of any loved one is difficult. The death of a child is excruciating. How do we respond and provide support to someone whose child has died? What can we say, and what can we do?
The first step is to remove the word “loss” from our vocabulary. As a bereaved parent myself, I hate that word. For those of us whose child has died, it can be a slap in the face to use the word “loss” to refer to what we are experiencing. I didn’t lose my child like I’d lose my cell phone or keys. I know exactly where my 17-year-old daughter died as the result of the reckless choice made by a speeding adult who ran a red light right before Christmas in 2003.
So stop referring to death as a “loss.” Euphemisms – using words that sound nicer - aren’t helpful to parents who are trying to absorb the fact that their child has died. While it may feel more comfortable to those of us who are trying to provide support, remember that bereaved parents are not at all comfortable with the reality they are facing.
The use of the word “loss” is also problematic when trying to explain death to a child. Depending on their developmental stage, children may easily more confused by the use of the word. If one is referring to Grandma’s death as a “loss,” the child may literally wonder why someone doesn’t go and find Grandma. Instead, become familiar with the ways in which children best understand death, for example with the materials provided by the Hospice of Southeastern Connecticut and use them as a guideline for your conversations with children and teenagers.
Find meaning is another matter. We know – or at least we should know by now – that clichés do not bring comfort when a grieving parent or family member is in the midst of their sadness and trauma. Don’t use meaningless statements that are intended to explain what happened: “God needed another flower in heaven’s garden,” “It was their time,” “The Lord gave you a gift for a little while” or a multitude of other trite sayings are simply not helpful and often cause more pain than comfort.
What does bring grieving parents and families comfort after the inconsolable death of a child is simply a quiet presence that acknowledges the powerful emotions including sadness, anger, hopelessness, and feeling out of control because one’s world has changed forever. Provide a listening presence, don’t judge the emotions, and offer to do the ordinary things - laundry, answering the phone, cleaning the bathroom, filling the car with gas – that grief makes impossible to do.
Embracing your own spirituality or religious practices, without imposing them on the grieving person can also be helpful. Our family deeply appreciated knowing that prayers were being offered, candles were being lit, and donations were being made to the scholarship fund in our daughter’s memory. What we didn’t find helpful were the persons who told us that they were praying for our daughter’s soul as if it was somehow damaged, or those who wanted to tell us what their understanding was of God’s will for her death. Grieving parents and families may come to a place where they want to have the conversation about why and attempt to find meaning, but the first days and weeks are typically not the time. And when they do, it is essential that the delicate conversation be done with a religious leader or professional chaplain who is trained in responding to grief and trauma.
When faced with tragedies, particularly those that involve the death of a child, all of us want to respond to provide care and support. It’s important that we do. Let’s do it with sensitivity and compassion.
The Rev. Sue Wintz, a board certified chaplain, is managing editor of the online professional chaplaincy journal PlainViews®, a publication of HealthCare Chaplaincy where she is also a consultant for chaplaincy practice.
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* Graham: Why the shock and awe?
* Huckabee: Sandy Hook shooting not surprising after God ‘removed from our schools’
* Pace: Comfort the grieving
* Stanley: In tragedy we grieve; in God, we hope
* Quinn: Where was God?
* Kaur: Journey from Oak Creek to Newtown
* Hirschfield: In wake of Newtown massacre, love more important than explanations
* Thistlethwaite:God weeps: 27 children, staff killed in Conn. school shooting
* Md. pastors were searching for solutions even before mass shooting
* Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting shocks a nation
The
madman did not create little angels in heaven with his bullets and his
guns - he took the only life these children would ever know. They are
dead and in caskets not somewhere over the rainbow. Someday humans will
realize that consiousness does not survive death and that will make our
only life that much more precious. A god didn't call them home - a
mentally ill person killed them.
Thank you for your very thoughtful piece.
We live in a culture that just cannot accept the nature cycle of life and death, whether it happens naturally or from a horrible tragedy such as you suffered, and now the Newtown families suffer, and we collectively suffer.
I would add this to your helpful comments: write a note in which you relate how much the person meant to you, or a funny or endearing story that eases the grief. Most of these notes will be saved and read later on when the lonely days begin. Be generous with your words and thoughts. They may be all there is to hold on to in the moment.
Again, thank you for your helpful and thoughtful piece.
We live in a culture that just cannot accept the nature cycle of life and death, whether it happens naturally or from a horrible tragedy such as you suffered, and now the Newtown families suffer, and we collectively suffer.
I would add this to your helpful comments: write a note in which you relate how much the person meant to you, or a funny or endearing story that eases the grief. Most of these notes will be saved and read later on when the lonely days begin. Be generous with your words and thoughts. They may be all there is to hold on to in the moment.
Again, thank you for your helpful and thoughtful piece.
Another favorite is, "They're in a better place now."
No, they're dead. Because that is how reality is. Everything dies and nothing ever comes back. The skin of our planet is covered in 3.5 billion years worth of corpses.
No, they're dead. Because that is how reality is. Everything dies and nothing ever comes back. The skin of our planet is covered in 3.5 billion years worth of corpses.
I
appreciate the information offered here. Most of us do not know what to
say or do to help someone who is grieving. "Presence" is so important.
It was for me after my Mother died. People were present. It was a
sharing of grief. I appreciated that so much. Thank you for the article.
Having someone use the word loss rather then death or murder is so far off the radar. This is the kind of article, that is an attempt to soften the reality of the nightmare by creating a silly side issue to focus on because the reality is so ugly. No one using the word "Loss" is suggesting that a child can get lost like some keys.
Jeremiah 31:15-17 AND NEWTOWN
-
Jeremiah 31:15-17?
thats noT appropriate for this tragedy IN NEWTOWN. IN THE BIBLE They were weeping for their children because of the CALAMITY the suffered having lost God’s favor, (thus His protection).
Granted some might argue that because people have “taken prayer out of schools” then it is appropriate.
Again, IT IS NOT.
The Jews were Gods covenant people (at that time) and suffered because of their blatant disobedience despite Gods warning. The Jews have since lost that privileged position after rejecting the Messiah.
Why did this happen?
1 John 5:19
Thats why!
Then while youre at it. Read James 1:13.
You’re welcome.
AND THIS JUST IN:
...' In our
church IN HONG KONG, we take the children to the synagogue to teach them the magic of
Jewish mysticism. Some of us learn to read and write Hebrew, because of
our reverence for Hebrew culture. Our church is not unusual.
..... go to any mainstream church in Hong Kong or Taiwan. You'll be surprised to find that the pastor doesn't once blame "the Jews" for "killing Jesus".
How can I guarantee this? Because it is fundamental Christianity: "WE killed Jesus: WE hammered in the nails. WE were blind to his message. He died for US."
How can ANYONE not know this???
..... go to any mainstream church in Hong Kong or Taiwan. You'll be surprised to find that the pastor doesn't once blame "the Jews" for "killing Jesus".
How can I guarantee this? Because it is fundamental Christianity: "WE killed Jesus: WE hammered in the nails. WE were blind to his message. He died for US."
How can ANYONE not know this???
Noah Pozner, RIP
6-year-old Noah Pozner was the youngest of Newtown shooting victims, was raised in Jewish family
A child who was raised in a Jewish family was identified as the youngest of the 26 victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn.Noah Pozner, a first-grader like all of the children killed at the school on Friday, had turned 6 on Nov. 20. He was laid to eternal rest on Monday.
It was reported that Noah's twin sister also is a student at Sandy Hook but survived the shooting.
RabbE Saul Praver of Temple Adath Israel in Newtown told NPR radio Weekend Edition host Scott Simon -- who adopted two MAINLAND CHINESE GIRLS -- that he spent Friday, which he termed "the day from hell," consoling Noah's mother, who is a member of the synagogue.
"I told the mother who was grieving...... that I personally believe in the eternity of the soul,....... and I believe that she will see her son again," Praver said, although this is NOT a mainstream Jewish belief. SHE will NOT see her son AGAIN. "Other than that theological comment......, the rest of it was getting her to think about taking a breath and not trying to plan the rest of her life out right now....... because she says, 'What am I going to do without my baby?' "
Praver was among the clergy, social workers and psychologists who arrived at a firehouse near the school where many of the victims and their families congregated after the shooting. On Saturday morning, Adath Israel held a community prayer service.
In response to the question of why such tragedies happen, Praver replied, "I don't know the answer to that. I never try to present a theological answer to that. I think what's more important is to have compassion, humanity and hold someone's hand and hug them and cry with them."
Praver, who ended his NPR interview with a plea for listeners to pray for the families affected, also said that another friend of the congregation was killed. WHO?
Newtown Theodicy, Westboro Picket and WHY WHY WHY?
Newtown Theodicy OR the idiocy of all theology! Sigh.
We are still living in Newtown today.
“Why? Why does God allow evil?” asks Cathy Lynn Grossman -- who is maybe Jewish -- asks in USA Today, and reminds us of ways people have answered this question.
Connecticut’s poet laureate ponders on the subject in “This is The Greatest Mystery.”
The estranged son of the family that heads the Westboro Baptist Church has condemned his family’s plans to picket the funerals of the victims of the Newtown elementary school massacre.
WTF? WHAT THE FUCK?
In the pews of Newtown churches this past Sunday, overwhelming anguish, and glimmers of hope.
The Rev. Sue Wintz hopes that as we talk about death, we lose the word “loss.”
Calls in the wake of Friday’s massacre to stem access to and the proliferation of guns have galvanized gun control advocates, our own Adelle Banks reports.
Atheists have organized to help pay for the funerals of the children killed in Newtown, and for counseling for survivors. “Show the country that atheists care . . . ” reads their call for donations.
James Dobson thinks that the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School has something to do with gay marriage. WHAT THE FUCK?
A California school system with a comprehensive yoga program is trying to avoid a lawsuit from some objecting Christian parents.
Only 1 out of 1000 people of the nearly 7 billion people in the world identify with a supernatural myth religion, reports The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
Reuters notes that those reporting “no religion” represent the largest group, since Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus are all barking uo the wrong tree..
Gunmen killed six people working on a campaign to vaccinate Pakistanis against polio amid rumors that the program is part of a Western plot to harm Muslims.
Interfaith minister Phillip Goldberg celebrates Ravi Shankar’s spiritual legacy.
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Due to a production error, a quote attributed to Lieutenant Colonel Ghulam Jehlani Shafiq in a report in The Weekend Australian on Saturday (“Afghanistan battles scourge of corruption”, page 16) was altered to change its meaning. Colonel Jehlani did not say: “It’s not like 25 years ago. I was killing everybody.” In fact, he said: “It’s not like 25 years ago I was killing everybody. At that time too we tried not to have civilian casualties.” The Australian apologises for the error.
How is that a production error?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:02 AM on December 18 [1 favorite]