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Thursday, August 31, 2006

 

Commentary: "Nuns with Guns" - A 'Textual' Interpretation


"Nuns with Guns" - A 'Textual' Interpretation
Nuns with Guns
It has come to my attention that the "Nuns with Guns" photograph pictured here may be viewed as offensive by some practitioners of the Catholic religion. I couldn't disagree more, and in this Commentary I intend to explain why.

Let me first say that I view this picture as portraying a positive role for Catholics and their role in God's redemptive process. The caption at to foot of the picture sets the tone of the message being communicated: The 'virgins' conceived by Muslims are juxtaposed with the chastity of Catholic nuns. This functions to link the (distorted) theology of Islam with the (true) theology of Christianity and the Catholic church. In this sense, the caption and the picture work together as a 'lens' to correct the demonically-induced distortion perpetrated on Muslim believers.

Turning to the visual elements of this picture, an immediate incongruity in detected between the concepts of 'nuns' and 'guns'. Guns are weapons of physical warfare, typically used by males of the warrior-type. Nuns, in contrast, are by definition female, and engaged in peace-making, charity, and caring for the poor and afflicted. So what is the purpose of putting guns in the hands of nuns? The guns function not as a symbol of physical power and earthly warfare, but instead represent visually (by use of a familiar object) the spiritual power that nuns assert in their roles in the war against the corruption of sin and evil.

Thus the nuns pictured, as the brides of Christ Jesus, bringer of ultimate redemption, are portrayed as having a crucial and powerful position in the spiritual warfare of God's redemptive process.

In conclusion, let me note that I do recognize how a superficial glance at this picture might be suggestive of many negative comparisons: Humble and chaste Catholic nuns being depicted with vile instruments of violence, labeled as 'virgins' (a word that comes attached with particularly strong intensional meanings). Hopefully I have been able to convince you, dear reader, that digging beneath the surface and engaging in an extensionally-based process of meaning-making can be productive in getting at deeper levels of meaning.


[NOTES]
The terms intensional and extensional come from Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics. For more information, see here and here.

(Photo courtesy Michael Savage - origins unknown.)

(Originally Posted: 8/17/2006 @ 1:30PM)

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News/Commentary: Legal Justification for War with Iran

Romania Reports Oil Rig Occupied By Iran's Military

Iran's Navy Attacks and Boards Romanian Rig in Gulf

The following commentary comes to The View-Point courtesy of 'Prof. E':

(Originally Posted: 8/22/06 @ 1:52PM)

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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

 

News/Ethics: Ethical Issues & the 'Baby' with Two Heads

Indonesian baby born with two heads

(Originally Posted: 8/15/2006 @ 11:24AM)

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Best of the Web: Must-See Videos

Must-See Videos (August 2006)


(Originally Posted: 6/20/2006 @ 1:16PM)

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Thursday, August 24, 2006

 

News/Best of the Web: Islamo-Fascist Indoctrination TV

MEMRI TV - The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) TV Monitor Project

(Originally Posted: 8/16/06 @ 4:13PM)

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News: 8/22/06 = Doomsday?

Iran Hints at Aug. 22 Doomsday for Israel

(Originally Posted: 8/9/2006 @ 1:48PM)

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Friday, August 18, 2006

 

Pittsburgh Cricket Association

Pittsburgh Cricket Association

(Originally posted 8/10/2006 2:50pm)



Tuesday, August 15, 2006

 

News: UK to 'Profile' Muslims

Muslims face extra checks in new travel crackdown (UK)

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Monday, August 14, 2006

 

Best of the Web: Coolest Websites, Historical Photo Fakes, & one Iranian's Blog

Time Magazine's 50 Coolest Websites 2006


Pictures That Lie - from CNET News.com


Live from Iran, it's Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Blog!

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Friday, August 11, 2006

 

News/Photos: Egyptian 'Students' vs. 9/11 Terrorists


Egyptian 'Students' vs. 9/11 Terrorists

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Thursday, August 10, 2006

 

News/Opinion: Al Gore's Hypocrisy

Gore isn't quite as green as he's led the world to believe - USA Today Opinion piece

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Wednesday, August 09, 2006

 

Best of the Web: BlogTalkRadio & Bizarre Statues

BlogTalkRadio

Bizarre Statues from Around the World - Viewer Discretion is Advised

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Tuesday, August 08, 2006

 

News: Reuters Photo Fakes, Floating Bed, & a Simple Motor

Reuters Faked Photos - YouTube video presentation of the Reuters Photo Scandal

Designer creates floating bed - Cool News of the Day

Video: The Simplest Motor In The World - Cool Video of the Day - For Geeks Only!

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Monday, August 07, 2006

 

News: Hizbollah, The Female Brain, & 'Open Pipes'

What we still don't understand about Hizbollah

FEMME MENTALE - San Francisco neuropsychiatrist says differences between women's and men's brains are very real, and the sooner we all understand it, the better

Bikers' 'open pipes' disturb communities - a USA Today Opinion piece

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Friday, August 04, 2006

 

Best of the Web: H.D.R Photography

High Dynamic Range Photography - Painting-like photography with vibrant tones and rich colors

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Best of the Web: AllYouCanUpload & Xdrive

AllYouCanUpload.com - Free Image Hosting; No Account/Sign-on Required!


Xdrive - Coming in Early September: AOL offers everyone 5Gb of free storage

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Thursday, August 03, 2006

 

Best of the Web: TiddlyWiki

TiddlyWiki - A reusable, non-linear, self-contained personal web notebook/wiki

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Wednesday, August 02, 2006

 

Best of the Web: meebo & Photosynth

meebo -- Web-based Instant Messaging (IM)

Photosynth from Microsoft Live Labs -- 3-D Imaging from 2-D Photos


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