Proverbs 17:4,15 (NKJV) -
An evildoer gives heed to false lips;
A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue.
He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we [originally] preached to you, let him be condemned to destruction! As we have said before, so I now say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from that which you received [from us], let him be condemned to destruction!
It's always "Hades isn't bad or cruel, his deeds are just metaphors of the inevitable death" or "Hades kidnapping Persephone represent the premature death".
But when the argument "Zeus has numerous affairs and many children because he represent the fertile rain" is brought up, all nuance is suddenly out of the window and Zeus is just a womanizer who can't keep it in his pants.
I think, perhaps one of the funniest things to come from EPIC popularising the Odyssey is that now a ton of people think Poseidon wanted to kill Odysseus.
In the Odyssey, Poseidon has no intention of killing Odysseus. In fact, part of the whole reason Zeus lets Poseidon do whatever he wants even though he thinks Odysseus is rad and should get to kiss his wife is explicitly because Poseidon had no intentions of killing Odysseus. Poseidon wanted to pay back the suffering/inconvenience blinding Polyphemus would have caused. It's a really abstract thing tbh. How do you pay back someone permanently disabling your son? Poseidon's solution was just to amputate Odysseus from his other half; i.e. Penelope. The end game was never murder, it was always an endurance race.
(Od. Book 1: Zeus reassuring Athena that he is not, in fact, a part of Odysseus Hater-Nation. Trans. Robert Fagles)
Also, for those wondering if there's any sort of in text reason for why Poseidon wasn't around in God Games - at the time in the Odyssey when Athena petitions Zeus to let Odysseus leave Calypso's island, Poseidon was -checks notes- on vacation in Ethiopia. Yep. He left to Ethiopia for a festival and thusly was very much absent for Athena's whole "please let Ody go? Please? 🥺" request.
(Od. Book 1: While Odysseus was suffering, Poseidon went to party in the east)
I am begging y'all to read the Odyssey. It's a comedy for everyone except Odysseus and Penelope who are, in fact, suffering 24/7 365.
Japan condemns Yemen's Houthi rebels hijack of cargo ship in Red Sea
Image source, ReutersImage caption,
The Japanese-operated freight ship Galaxy Leader
By Emily McGarvey
BBC News
Japan has actually highly condemned the hijacking of Japanese-operated freight ship Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The Yemeni militia declared the vessel was Israeli, however a Japanese federal government representative stated the vehicle provider was run…
During her speech before demonstrators in New York, author and journalist Naomi Klein condemned Israel's crimes against Palestinians, asserting that Zionism has strayed from Jewish values and stating, "Zionism is a false idol that has betrayed every Jewish value."
“We don’t need or want the false idol of Zionism. We want freedom from the project that commits genocide in our name,” she added.
The demonstration, held just one block from the residence of US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, resulted in the arrest of hundreds of protesters. This event coincided with the Senate's approval of a $95 billion foreign aid package, which includes approximately $17 billion in arms and security funding for Israel.
Jezebel Advises Ahab, James Jacques Joseph Tissot. Source: Jewish Museum.
"Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds."- Revelation 2:20-22 KJV
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."- Revelation 18:4 KJV
Jezebel was a Phoenician royal whose identity and name have come to signify a power-hungry, violent, and whorish woman. A follower of Baal, she promises to kill the prophet Elijah, who flees when hearing her plan. She also manipulates many powerful men around her in a story about land ownership, leading to the death of several men. Jezebel is ultimately murdered by palace officials, and she is referenced consistently in biblical texts as the epitome of an evil, non-believing female. However, her narrative shows that she wielded significant power and was one of few women to do so in the Bible, and resentment of her can be at least partially attributed to the general scriptural dislike of powerful women.