Open Mind, Insert Thought

One of the many fun surprises about becoming a dad was the arrival of the Dr. Seuss book collection. My parents got a subscription for Dani early on, and she, her mother, and I all enjoy them quite a bit. I thought these were simply whimsical children’s books, but one in particular has made me realize that there might be way more to them than just the story.

One of Dani’s favorites is Ten Apples Up On Top, and I’m convinced it’s an allegory for nuclear proliferation and the concept of mutually-assured destruction as a way to create peace. A bit about the story:

A dog, a lion, and a tiger are showing off to one another about who can stack the most apples on top of his head. They also demonstrate that they can do other things (hop, roller skate, dance) while balancing the apples. The three of them end up in the house of a bear and start taking apples from the bear’s refrigerator (and drinking the bear’s milk, just to demonstrate that they can do it while keeping the apples balanced). The bear chases them outside and vows to make the apples fall. Once outside, with the bear still chasing the animals, birds come along and try to eat the balanced apples off of their heads. More bears and birds join the chase until everyone runs into an apple cart, sending apples everywhere. At the end, in the wreckage of the apple cart, everyone has ten apples on their heads. The lead bear, happy with the outcome, says “Look! Ten apples on us all! What fun! We will not let them fall.”

The characters, the pacing of the buildup, and the balanced outcome all spell nuclear arms race to me:

• The apples, obviously, are nuclear arms
• Who gets them first? The lion (Brittain), the dog (U.S.) and the tiger (India)
• Who wants them? The bear (USSR) and the bird (Japan?)
• When everyone finally has the same number of apples, even though things are a mess, everyone looks most peaceful

Granted, you might think I’m stretching here. But after a bit of research I’m not so sure. Theodore Geisel won an Academy Award for a film he made examining Japan’s culture before WWII, and it looks as though many of his books were modern-day fables dealing with consumerism, fascism, and, yes, the arms race.

If you haven’t read some Dr. Seuss in a while, take a look.

I just finished reading a fascinating book that was (ironically?) given to me for Christmas.  The title is Misquoting Jesus, and it takes a critical look at the Bible we English speakers read.  The upshot is that the New Testament has changed dramatically from the original texts (all of which are actually lost).  The source material available in any language was changed by the scribes who copied the texts in the early centuries of Christianity, and those changes stuck, ultimately giving us divergent "families" of texts that tell sometimes significantly different stories.

A few good examples: the King James Bible is based on a Latin translation of a single Greek version of the New Testament (and a heavily altered Greek version at that).  Earlier Greek versions, among the "closest" we have to the originals, leave out some fairly well-known stories: the famous "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" story and Christ’s sweating blood before he is captured to be crucified, to name a couple.  Also, scribes often tried to reconcile the gospels, which means we don’t have to grapple with the question of whether Jesus was an imperturbable figure (Luke’s story) or a bit of a moody badass with a message (Mark’s original story!).

I have always been fascinated with history and love to study religions, so I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Take a read through it, then go consult your Bible and see if it has a few of the incredibly well-researched footnotes that perhaps it should.  No version is perfect, but as for me, next time I want to read the Bible I’m likely to consult the NRSV.