WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:03.520 I want to talk about a weird topic, but it's 2 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:07.519 something that's in Catholic circles and it interests me. So 3 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:09.160 if you get your own radio show, you can talk 4 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:10.720 about what interests you. But I'm going to talk about 5 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:14.759 what interests me. And it's the topic of kind of 6 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:23.480 anti semitism, and this somewhat growing anti semitism on the right. 7 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:30.000 There is plenty of anti Semitism on the left that 8 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:35.039 seems to be kind of sort of out of such 9 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:41.439 sympathy for Islam and so much sympathy for Islam and 10 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:49.039 so much anti colonialism, and you looking at the Israel 11 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:54.520 Palestine conflict through the lens of anti colonialism, it gets 12 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:58.119 to such a point that basically Israel is blamed for everything, 13 00:00:58.200 --> 00:01:04.519 and and it crosses over from disliking the colonialism or 14 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:08.959 perceived colonialism of the Jewish State of Israel to just 15 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:11.840 disliking Jews in general, and certainly when you get over 16 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:18.480 into Islam. Whatever fine line there may be between disliking 17 00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:22.239 the state of Israel and outright anti semitism, that line 18 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:27.799 basically goes away. Hamas hates Jews, they don't. It's not 19 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:30.120 just that they hate the state of Israel. They hate Jews, 20 00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:35.280 They think Jews are bad and awful. And the American 21 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:41.120 left has so much sympathy for the anti colonialist idea, 22 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:48.239 the idea that any situation that involves a European power 23 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:55.200 imposing on some kind of indigenous population its political structure 24 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:58.680 is evil and horrible and must be resistant. Even though like, 25 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:04.159 if we're gonna this is my general opinion about the 26 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:09.199 Israel Palestine conflict, if we're gonna get our panties in 27 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:15.840 a twist over every people group that got rightly or 28 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:23.319 wrongly displaced after World War II, then we're never gonna 29 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:25.360 get over ourselves. There has to be some kind of 30 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:30.280 statute of limitations. Jews have been living in the area 31 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:33.639 of Palestine since time immemorial, A bunch of European Jews. 32 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:36.680 After this little thing that happened that maybe some of 33 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:38.840 you remember that was pretty unjust that happened to the 34 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:41.400 Jews during World War Two, this little thing called the Holocaust, 35 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:47.560 A bunch of European Jews wound up settling in Palestine. 36 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:55.479 There were some Palestinians or trans Jordanians, whatever you want 37 00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:59.159 to call them, who were living in that area who 38 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:03.080 got displaced, and it's unfair, and it's unjust that some 39 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:09.319 of them got displaced. And I guess I just don't 40 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:13.159 want to keep fighting that war over the injustice of 41 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:20.439 people groups that got moved eighty years ago, when plenty 42 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:23.759 of people groups got moved unjustly eighty years ago, and 43 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:27.400 we're not fighting wars over We're not fighting wars over 44 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:31.120 the injustice of the Volga River Germans who got moved. 45 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:35.960 Plenty of people groups got moved and displaced unjustly after 46 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:41.400 World during and after World War Two. Anyway, that's the 47 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:44.560 anti Semitism of the left, anti colonialism on the part 48 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:51.599 of American and European academics who and who for some 49 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:56.439 reason they perceived the Israelis as white and the Palestinians 50 00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:00.319 as a person of color. I don't know why that 51 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:06.439 doesn't necessarily make all this. I'm from what I have heard. 52 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:08.560 I have never been to Israel, I've never been to Palestine. 53 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:10.840 But I don't know that it's such a clean cut 54 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:15.319 distinction between white Israelis and people of color of Palestinians. 55 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:17.920 I think the ethnic situation is a bit more mixed 56 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:26.879 up than that. Anyway, on the left, there's anti colonialism 57 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:30.600 that can maybe lead to anti Semitism. There's sympathy for Islam. 58 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:34.480 Many expressions of Islam are quite anti Semitic. But there's 59 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:39.439 this little growing anti semitism on the right too. Now. 60 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:43.240 Some of it on the right is just tied to 61 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:47.720 people being cranks on the internet and just wanting attention. 62 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:52.040 Some of it on the right it seems like when 63 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:59.680 people get really hardcore anti American intervention militarily in Israel's affairs, 64 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:07.680 a position with which I very much sympathize. There's so 65 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.680 many people who are like that, who sort of devolve 66 00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:17.040 into like these very unfair standards for judging the Jewish state, 67 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:22.199 and it slips into anti Semitism. Sometimes not every single person, 68 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:26.120 but I think it often slips into anti Semitism. My 69 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:30.759 own position is I dislike the fact that we're involved 70 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:33.600 in that whole region of the world at all. I 71 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:38.600 don't like it. I don't like being involved over there. Frankly, 72 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:40.839 I wish we didn't have anything to do with the 73 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:44.279 entire Middle East whatsoever. If Israel has enough big boy 74 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:47.480 weapons to take care of itself, that's fine. We have 75 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:53.040 gotten nothing that positive out of our intervention and involvement 76 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:55.600 in the Middle East. We've gotten a lot of negative 77 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:57.800 We've got whole regions of the world that hate us 78 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:05.560 because we keep funding Israel militarily. I guess I have 79 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:10.600 sympathy for Israel as a you know, some sympathy for 80 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:14.560 Israel as a democracy. Is one of the few places 81 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:21.480 that has toleration for Christianity within the Middle East, total 82 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:29.360 toleration for Christianity. But I just it's an ocean and 83 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:35.000 a continent away. I don't want America to be involved 84 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:37.240 in it. I am tired of America being involved in it. 85 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:40.680 If the Israelis have enough military might to defend themselves, 86 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:43.879 let them defend themselves. I'm just tired of the whole 87 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:49.839 region and of Americans involvement. I think Israel had the 88 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:52.759 right to defend itself after October seventh, and after other 89 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:55.720 kinds of terrorist attacks. I don't understand why we have 90 00:06:55.759 --> 00:07:03.040 to pay for it. Just tired of America getting involved 91 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:05.480 in proxy wars, which is really what this is. A 92 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:08.920 proxy war is a war that you fight through a proxy, 93 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:14.680 through some other actor acting on your behalf. And whatever 94 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:18.800 excesses Israel may have done is on us because we 95 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:23.480 gave them all the money and it's going to inflame 96 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:29.319 anger against us for something that I don't feel like 97 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:33.399 is really in our national interest. The geopolitical makeup of 98 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:37.920 the Levant is not something that impacts the national interest, 99 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:43.720 I don't think, only in so far as it makes 100 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:47.079 it easier or harder for us to engage in more silly, 101 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:52.120 unwise adventures in the Middle East, to keep buying more 102 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:54.319 oil from the Middle East, which we shouldn't be buying 103 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:56.000 at all. We should just be producing our own oil. 104 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:02.480 We have more than they do anyway. However, on the 105 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:05.279 right though, there are more and more of sort of 106 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:07.680 people who are expressing anti Semitic views, and some of 107 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:10.720 this came into Catholicism over the weekend with people chattering 108 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:16.399 on Twitter. So any of you who are Catholics know 109 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:24.040 that yesterday was Palm Sunday, and on Palm Sunday Catholics 110 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:31.560 Roman Catholics have during the Mass every Sunday, during Mass, 111 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:34.480 we read a passage from one of the Gospels, and 112 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:37.919 on Palm Sunday we read the Passion narrative from one 113 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:41.519 of the three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark or Luke. Traditionally 114 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:44.919 it was just Matthew, but then in the modern right 115 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:46.480 of mouse that we have currently, it'side of the Matthew 116 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:48.679 Marker Luke, and it just rotates on a three year cycle. 117 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:53.559 Yesterday we read the Passion narrative from Saint Luke, which 118 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:59.200 is beautiful, and I've started doing this lately, but I'd 119 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:02.720 recommend to all of you who may be christianly inclined, 120 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:06.039 try to read through the passion narratives from all four 121 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:09.679 Gospels this week. I think it's a really beautiful practice. 122 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:14.039 The older traditional Catholic practice was you'd read Matthew on Sunday, 123 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:20.159 Mark I think on Tuesday, Luke on Wednesday, or those 124 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:24.279 passion narratives would be read during Mass or chanted during Mass. 125 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:28.000 So Matthew on Sunday, Mark On I believe Tuesday, Luke 126 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:32.639 on Wednesday, and then John on Good Friday. I'd encourage 127 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:33.600 all of you to do it. I think it's a 128 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:36.440 beautiful practice and it really helps you enter into the 129 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:39.960 spirit of Holy Week and Good Friday and then prepare 130 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:47.000 you for Easter Sunday. In the modern right of Mass, 131 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:52.159 if the Passion narrative is read, there are certain portions 132 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:59.840 of the Passion narrative that are that can be read 133 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:04.759 out out loud by the whole congregation saying the words. 134 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:09.240 We have little booklets in the pews, with little books 135 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:13.320 in the pews that have the whole reading, and people 136 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:16.759 read along with the use of the priests and the 137 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:19.000 deacons who are reading the Passion narrative. And there are 138 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:22.039 certain points in the narrative where there's a crowd of 139 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:26.600 people speaking where the whole congregation can join in, including 140 00:10:27.399 --> 00:10:32.000 certain things read said by the Jewish crowd, the crowd 141 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:36.879 of people in Jerusalem who ultimately wound up kind of 142 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:44.600 swaying conscious pilot to okay, the execution of Jesus, Crucify him, 143 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:51.879 crucify him. We want Barabbas, not Jesus. Okay, those passages 144 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:59.200 which are found in all four Gospels. So in the 145 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:02.240 modern right of mouth, most of the time this narrative 146 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:04.559 is read out loud, and the people read those parts 147 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:10.759 out loud. Traditionally, the Passion narrative would be chanted. So 148 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:17.399 remember that for about nineteen hundred years of Christianity. We 149 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:19.799 made it through about nineteen hundred years of Christianity with 150 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:23.559 no microphones. So if you're at church and you wanted 151 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:26.720 to have something read out loud for people to hear it, 152 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.919 how would you do it well, you either needed to 153 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:32.960 shout or you needed to sing. And so most of 154 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:39.799 Roman Catholicism Eastern Christianity opted for the singing option, and 155 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:44.000 so they would chant the whole passion narrative. And the 156 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:46.399 traditional way it was done, you'd have three deacons chant 157 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:49.279 the passion narrative, and one deacon would be the narrator, 158 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:51.799 one deacon would play the part of Jesus, and one 159 00:11:51.799 --> 00:11:56.559 deacon would play the part of everybody else, okay, including 160 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:01.159 the crowd saying crucify him. Now, for those parts that 161 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:05.399 involved a crowd, they're developed these beautiful musical traditions within 162 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:15.480 Roman Catholicism, these beautiful polyphony or choral settings of some 163 00:12:15.559 --> 00:12:17.519 of those parts. And I think it was particularly for 164 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:22.960 Matthew's Gospel and John's Gospel, beautiful choral settings of some 165 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:27.600 of those exclamations by the crowd send us Barabbas, not Jesus, 166 00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:32.000 crucify him, crucify him. Beautiful and elaborate musical settings by 167 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.919 some of the greatest proposers composers in the Western tradition. 168 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:43.159 So there's this long standing tradition of not just one 169 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:45.840 of the deacons reading it, not just elector reading it, 170 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:49.240 but of acchoir joining in, lots of people joining it. 171 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:51.679 We have this tradition now in the modern Catholicism where 172 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:57.879 everyone's reading it, and all of a sudden you get 173 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:03.840 these cranks on the right saying no, no, Catholics should 174 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:12.399 be saying crucify him during church. That's horrible, and then 175 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:16.440 going on to insert the Jews are the Jews even 176 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:19.159 today are still responsible for the death of Jesus. It's 177 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:22.639 you know, they carry the blood guilt of their ancestors. 178 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:27.360 Blah blah blah. Now I'm not gonna, I guess I 179 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:29.320 am going to dignify it, because I think it's nonsense. 180 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:35.759 The Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint John Chris Sistem, plenty of 181 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:41.320 Catholic authors throughout the ages took the opinion that, no, 182 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:48.159 the Jews of today are not still cursed by what 183 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:52.720 the Jews? Why, why by what? That crowd of Jews 184 00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:56.039 in Jerusalem and that crowd of Jewish leadership at that 185 00:13:56.120 --> 00:14:01.320 time in Jerusalem, They're not still guilt carrying the blood 186 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:07.279 guilt of Christ. Chris Fixion, Saint John Christistom, who was 187 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.960 the great Bishop of Constantinople and one of the great 188 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:14.879 theologians in all of Christian history, certainly one of the 189 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:20.039 great theologians of Eastern Christian history. He took the opinion 190 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:23.440 which Saint Thomas Aquina is very favorably quoted Saint Thomas Aquinas, 191 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:29.039 who's the greatest theologian of Western Latin Catholicism, that basically 192 00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:34.639 God refused to put that sentence on the Jewish crowds. 193 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:37.720 One of the expressions from the Gospels is may His 194 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:41.320 blood be on our heads and on our children's And 195 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:45.159 Saint John christ system says, no, there's still a role 196 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.159 for the Jewish people. God refused to put that condemnation 197 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:54.559 on them, and salvation is still you know, the universality 198 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:58.399 of Christianity, its openness to all persons, is also open 199 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:07.919 also to the Jewish people. Now there are some people 200 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:11.200 who I there's this strain of liberal Catholicism that I 201 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:15.039 think it was so urgently not wanting to be antisemitic 202 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:19.200 that they would say silly things. They would say, well, 203 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:24.240 the Jews, the Jews didn't kill Jesus. The Romans did well. Again, 204 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:29.480 not saying all Jewish people everywhere, through all times killed Jesus, 205 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:37.039 but clearly Jesus's death was precipitated by some of the 206 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:45.000 Pharisees and priestly class prominent in Jerusalem at that time, 207 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:48.440 and by the crowds of people in Jerusalem, any of 208 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:54.279 whom were Jews. Yes, they needed Ponscious Pilot as the 209 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:58.720 Roman representative to actually okay his actual execution. The Jewish 210 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:01.120 people were not allowed just to ex acute people without 211 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:04.720 permission from the Roman authorities. But if we're talking about 212 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:10.039 who killed Jesus, the historical question, there are certainly yes, 213 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:14.559 certainly there were Jewish people who were responsible. But the 214 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:19.200 overriding point that Catholicism has made, and I think all 215 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:23.720 of us, of whatever Christian stripe we belong to, will 216 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:27.799 probably agree with me on this The point I think 217 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:31.639 the Catholic Church is making by allowing some of those 218 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:39.440 words like crucify him, allowing all of the members of 219 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:41.960 the church to say that, all the members of the 220 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:46.720 of a choir to sing, that is to make the 221 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:54.240 point I christified Jesus, You christified Jesus. Jesus came to 222 00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:58.000 this earth to die for my sins and yours and 223 00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:03.799 yours and yours and yours and yours, And it shows 224 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:09.039 the hypocrisy of me and every other Christian that you know. 225 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:13.920 In the Palm Sunday Mass, we begin by processing, marching 226 00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:17.279 into the church in a procession, waving, holding palms in 227 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.319 our hands, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David. 228 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:22.440 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 229 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:26.960 We imitate the people of Jerusalem who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. 230 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:30.119 As he wrote in on a Donkey, singing Hosanna to 231 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:31.759 the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in 232 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:34.839 the name of the Lord might have been the same 233 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:38.079 members of a crowd who were singing that on Palm 234 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:45.759 Sunday and chanting crucify him on Good Friday. And isn't 235 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:51.799 that the Christian struggle? We proclaim our love for God, 236 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:56.440 we proclaim our following Jesus, and at the same time 237 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:02.640 we betray Him with our own sinfulness and growing as 238 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:10.440 Christian means growing in repentance and growing in conversion. So 239 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:16.880 this stupid anti Semitic thing that's kind of gaining more traction, 240 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:20.359 it's probably just gaining more traction online, honestly, but it 241 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.359 helped me sort of think through more of Holy Week 242 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.119 than I had before. And I just thought i'd share 243 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:28.759 it with all of you all right when we return 244 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:32.000 Holy Week. Recommended reading from yours truly. Next on the 245 00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:37.759 John Girardi Show, Well, we just had Palm Sunday yesterday 246 00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:41.759 and we are entering into Holy Week. Thought i'd give 247 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:47.079 you guys some recommended reading for the week. So I'm 248 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:49.680 basing this a lot of in sort of the traditional 249 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:53.960 Catholic sort of cycle of stuff that is read or sung. 250 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:01.920 I'd recommend throughout Holy Week. This is sort of the 251 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:07.359 preparation stuff for Easter. First, go through all four Gospels 252 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:11.359 and read their passion narratives sort of starting with the 253 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:17.279 Last Supper narrative through to just before the Resurrection. And 254 00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:19.039 you can do that through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 255 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:23.400 As I said, the older form of the Catholic Roman 256 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:28.240 Catholic Mass, you would read or chant Matthew's Gospel at 257 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:33.680 Mass on Palm Sunday, Mark's Gospel on Tuesday, Luke's Gospel 258 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:39.160 on Wednesday, and then John's Gospel on Good Friday. So 259 00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:42.720 I try to do that or something like that myself 260 00:19:42.839 --> 00:19:46.559 during Holy Week. Let's go through the four Gospels. Passion 261 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:50.279 narratives also a great thing to look at is the 262 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:54.960 beginning of the Book of Lamentations, which is sung in 263 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:57.880 a lot of Catholic churches. They do this office called Tenebrae, 264 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:04.720 which is basically a nighttime service of prayer. Psalm's scripture 265 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:10.039 readings that focus a lot on the passion. Psalm twenty 266 00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:18.640 two is definitely worth looking through, so you get started there. 267 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:23.799 I think it certainly has helped me over the course 268 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:26.680 of many Holy weeks kind of enter more deeply into 269 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:29.759 the spirit of the thing. So anyway, my recommendations to you, 270 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:34.759 the Four Passion Narratives, Book of Lamentations, the Psalm twenty two. 271 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:40.440 Check them out. All right, when we return, I'm going 272 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:44.000 to dive into more Fresno Unified stuff. Enough of this 273 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:49.319 theological nonsense. Let's talk about Fresno Unified and how oh 274 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:56.920 there's this haggling over this designated extended hours schools. Guess 275 00:20:56.920 --> 00:21:00.480 what it's about? Money? That's next On the John Drardy Show, 276 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:06.359 I've talked a lot last week about Fresne Unified and 277 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:11.920 the ongoing search for its new superintendent. It sounds like 278 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:18.160 Misty her might be indeed the pick to be the 279 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:22.079 next permanent superintendent. She's currently the interim superintendent. She was 280 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:27.640 the assistant superintendent. Basically, they had settled on hiring Misty 281 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:31.880 Her to be the superintendent, and then several members of 282 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:34.160 the Fresne Unified Board of Trustees sort of blew up 283 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:36.519 over this and said, wait a minute, Like this, this 284 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:41.640 is a massively underachieving district. We're only hiring internally for 285 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:44.799 the supervisor position. This is the third largest school district 286 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:48.799 in California. We really can't do a national search. We 287 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:52.519 really can't do a broader than Fresne Unified search. Like 288 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:56.160 Presne Unified is failing. Why would we just promote people 289 00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:59.759 from within? Who are you, for good or for ill, 290 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.039 fairly or unfairly part of this failing system? Why don't 291 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:06.759 we bring someone from the outside. This basically has led 292 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:11.000 to a year's worth of search and investigation and the 293 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:13.559 board doing, the Board of trustees doing like a board 294 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:17.640 retreat to help understand better the responsibilities as board trustee members, 295 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:21.559 which I sort of have thought, well, what on earth 296 00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:23.480 are we talking about? What? Why on earth is the 297 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:27.559 president Unified Board of Trustees doing such a thing, given that, 298 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:32.319 like you're it's an elected position. You ran for this job, 299 00:22:32.359 --> 00:22:35.519 presumably because you understood the purpose of the job. Why 300 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:38.920 is the taxpayer paying, you know, one hundred thousand dollars 301 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:44.200 for consultants to help you guys figure out your job anyway, 302 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:47.440 so they're going to be in the news. And Misty 303 00:22:47.559 --> 00:22:50.759 her possibly being the next permanent pick, I think is 304 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:53.839 going to cause another local brew haha, given that, well 305 00:22:54.119 --> 00:22:55.559 she was going to be the pick, they did a 306 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:57.680 national search and now they're still just sticking with her. 307 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:03.680 I don't know, seems it seems weird to me. But 308 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:05.880 one of the points I've made is one of the 309 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:12.119 challenges President Unified faces is from a unionized workforce. President 310 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:16.559 Unified as a unionized workforce, and I think so much 311 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:22.319 of President Unified's policy, the news that's driven about President Unified, 312 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:25.200 the things that the Board of Trustees winds up having 313 00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:32.039 to care about, is driven by the union. It's the 314 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:35.920 union on one side and the Board of Trustees on 315 00:23:35.960 --> 00:23:44.400 the other. And the thing I always try to emphasize 316 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:49.440 to people the point of a union, the point of 317 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:56.759 a teacher's union is not actually to teach kids. An 318 00:23:56.839 --> 00:24:00.920 individual teacher might have as a goal teaching kids. That 319 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:03.119 is the tellos of a teacher. That is the job 320 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:06.680 the end goal towards which the teacher is ordered teaching 321 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:11.519 a kid. But it's not the end goal the tellos 322 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:18.079 towards which a union is ordered. Unions are ordered. A 323 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:22.279 good union one that is appropriately ordered towards its end. 324 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:30.000 It's Greek word tellos. Okay, A good union is one 325 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:33.799 that gets as much of the pie for its members 326 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:39.240 as it can. It gets its members high pay, it 327 00:24:39.319 --> 00:24:46.400 creates more and more jobs for the workers within that 328 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:49.400 that that union represents. So if there's more workers, it 329 00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:52.279 means more dues to the union, more power for the union, 330 00:24:54.039 --> 00:25:00.400 more jobs, higher pay, fewer hours, better benefits, better conditions. 331 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:06.279 That's the job of a union. Okay, that's the end 332 00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:10.559 goal towards which it is ordered. If a kid happens 333 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:14.240 to learn something, well, that might be a happy byproduct 334 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:17.519 of the union doing its job, but its job is 335 00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:23.759 fundamentally not educating kids. The union's job fundamentally is getting 336 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:29.240 money for adults. And this is what causes us to 337 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:31.720 lose sight and causes I think a lot of people 338 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:35.799 in left wing politics to their because they're so pro union, 339 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:40.559 they're so in favor of labor rights, ro workers' rights, labor, 340 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:45.759 they get so focused on that that they forget all right, 341 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:53.079 this is like a public service job. There's a public 342 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:56.240 good that public education is ordered towards it. We have 343 00:25:56.279 --> 00:26:02.240 a certain sort of, i'd say over idealistic vision in 344 00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:05.319 America of the role that a public school is supposed 345 00:26:05.319 --> 00:26:08.359 to play, the idea that no public schools are about. 346 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:14.200 It's about more than simply preparing young people for the 347 00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:18.559 job market or for college. It is forming the next 348 00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:24.039 generation of responsible citizenry, providing a generation of citizenry with 349 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:29.200 enough intelligence and basic educational formation to be able to 350 00:26:29.240 --> 00:26:34.000 contribute to a democratic form of government, a form of 351 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:37.319 government that has democratic elements to it. In California, we 352 00:26:37.400 --> 00:26:40.079 have a lot of direct democracy where the people are 353 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:44.240 straight up voting up or down on laws. Everyone has 354 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:45.839 the right to vote. People have the right to vote 355 00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:48.440 for the people who will represent them in Congress, in 356 00:26:48.440 --> 00:26:51.079 the state Assembly, in the state Senate, vote for the 357 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:57.000 US senators, vote for the governors. And basically, if you 358 00:26:57.279 --> 00:27:04.759 have a populace who is completely unformed and uninformed and uneducated, 359 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:09.039 that is a populace that is really not suited for democracy, 360 00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:15.319 because if they don't actually know cow excrement from shinola, 361 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:20.319 then how can they meaningfully contribute to governance, How can 362 00:27:20.359 --> 00:27:22.880 they meaningfully play a part in a democratic society if 363 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:26.359 they're not well educated. So this is part of the 364 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:33.200 great motivation for compulsory public funded K through twelve education 365 00:27:34.200 --> 00:27:37.400 is that we need an educated citizen rate if we're 366 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:39.359 gonna do if we're going to have this sort of 367 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:43.000 democratic experiment, we need an educated citizen. Right, It's an 368 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:50.480 urgent must, so that there is an element of service 369 00:27:51.079 --> 00:27:56.599 to this. And if so much of our conversations about teachers, 370 00:27:58.880 --> 00:28:01.400 so much of our conversation about in the specific context 371 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.119 of President Unified, if so much of our conversation is 372 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:08.640 dominated by the union and its debates with the board 373 00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:15.440 of trustees, and really our main focus, that the main 374 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.680 focus of such discussions is money for adults. That's the 375 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:23.519 main focus, money for adults. If that continues to be 376 00:28:23.559 --> 00:28:28.160 the main focus, then we run the risk of missing 377 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:30.880 the forest for the trees, missing what is the whole 378 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:35.759 point of this enterprise. It's a public service. It's not 379 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:46.880 a revenue generating business where you have management, capital ownership 380 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:48.880 trying to get as much of the profit pie for 381 00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:51.319 itself as it can, and labor trying to get as 382 00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:53.519 much of the profit pie for itself as it can. 383 00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:57.400 That's the case in a private business. In a private business, therefore, 384 00:28:57.440 --> 00:28:59.599 I think labor unions make all the sense in the world. 385 00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:06.559 Where there is risk, that there's serious risks of worker exploitation. Well, 386 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:12.279 what is the risk of worker exploitation when you're talking 387 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:15.200 about an enterprise that we know is losing money? That 388 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:20.079 is about public service. We want to pay that. There 389 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:23.880 is a there is a natural politically motivated instinct to 390 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:27.279 want to pay teachers better. They're not fighting with anybody. 391 00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:36.279 Politicians wo support from teachers, and thus the focus of 392 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:41.440 these things, the focus of boards of trustees should be 393 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:47.799 very squarely on improving educational outcomes rather than haggling over money. 394 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:50.000 How much money adults are going to get? And I 395 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:54.640 kind of don't believe in the walk and chew gum theory, 396 00:29:54.680 --> 00:29:58.000 the idea, well, they can have productive discussions about paying 397 00:29:58.359 --> 00:30:02.680 adults well and be focused on educating kids when so 398 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:12.759 much of policy effort attention is focused on the CBA 399 00:30:13.160 --> 00:30:15.519 negotiating things with the union. I think people only have 400 00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:18.519 a certain quantum of attention. I really do believe this. 401 00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:23.079