Protestors outside of The Testament Of Mary- Page 2

[Idiot]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 2:25pm

I no longer want to define our 'country' by the nutjobs. I don't define a banana by the brown spot. I just don't eat it.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 5:06pm

Thanks, AEA; but I think I was half right:

Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. Mark 16:9.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 5:11pm

And they protested JCS.

But didn't this protest also involve people handing out anti gay flyers? i that related because it was on Broadway? because author Colm Toibin is very openly gay? The work itself doesn't have anything gay... Or do they just wanna get all their messages out at once?

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 6:51pm

No the play is based on the Virgin Mary's life in Ephesus after the Gospels.

Got it, Dubliner. Thanks for the correction. Oh, yes, some of the Marians go insane at the least provocation. I learned that the hard way with an oratorio about Marian manifestations that I thought was entirely non-controversial.

Updated On: 3/27/13 at 06:51 PM

[whatever2]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 7:03pm

> It [Christianity] started as a political system to rule the masses.

actually, it started out as radically *not* that; unfortunately, it's (d)evolved into precisely that.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 7:12pm

Gaveston I'm no Gospel expert, but doesn't the resurrected Jesus first appear to women in all of them? And in at least one/some to a named Mary Magdalene? Not in spirit form I understand.

I had to check:

In MATTHEW, the two "Maries" (Magdalene and, by tradition, Jesus' mother or aunt) are met by an angel who announces the Resurrection. They return to the disciples with the news, at which point Jesus appears to the whole group.

In MARK, the two Maries meet a "young man" who tells them Jesus is gone and they should go tell the disciples. (ETA as we discussed elsewhere, there are additional verses describing a meeting with Jesus, but scholars consider them most likely to be later additions.)

In LUKE, a group of women go to prepare Jesus' body with spices, but encounter two men (probably angels) who say, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" Jesus himself appears later when the women are with male followers.

Finally, in JOHN, we get considerable embellishment: Mary Magdalene finds the tomb empty and runs to tell the disciples, several of whom visit the empty sepulcher. Mary camps outside the tomb, weeping for her dead lord. She is visited by two angels who admonish her for her lack of faith. Then Jesus himself appears to her, but she assumes he is the gardener. Finally, Jesus reveals himself to Mary and sends her to tell the disciples.

So only one of the three synoptic gospels has Mary M. greeted by anyone but angels. Even in John, Jesus tells her not to embrace him before he ascends to his heavenly Father. I'm not a biblical scholar, but I think the implication is that his corpse, while reanimated, is bloody and corrupted.

By contrast, IIRC, in the Gnostic Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Jesus appears to Mary fully restored, but does so in a sort of vision. Whether such an honor would be given to someone as important as a woman is hotly debated, as is the question of whether the Resurrection is a physical or psychic or mental event. (As you probably know, henrik, the Gnostics hotly debated whether eternal life would take place in physical form (a la Zoroastrianism) or spirit form (as most Christians believe today).

Sorry, everyone. This is all OT. Dubliner has already pointed out that the play in question is about the Virgin Mary's life after the crucifixion, not about Mary Magdalene. But the gnostic Gospel of Mary Magdalene is a great source for SOMEBODY's play. It's gender politics are absolutely current today.



Updated On: 3/27/13 at 07:12 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 7:19pm

Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. Mark 16:9.

henrik, the Revised Standard Version stops with Mark 16:8. It considers verses 16:9 through 16:19 to be later interpolations. I'm not a Biblical scholar and have no opinion as to what is genuine.

(In fact I know of no neutral proof that Jesus ever existed.)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 8:38pm

Maries?

[all that jazz]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 8:49pm

Yes, they're are many Maries in the bible. It was of the most common names in that era. Actually the Mary Magdalene we know today as the prostitute wasn't really a prostitute, there was a Pope who decided that there were too many Maries in the Bible, and joined many of them into one, Magdalene, so that christians wouldn't get confused. Kind of like Tim Rice did in JSC, where he joined Mary his mother, Mary Magdalene,The adulterous woman and Mary of Bethany.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 8:55pm

Okay, but let's hear about some of the Maries now.

[kieranbec]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 9:03pm

It's just kind of pathetic that they couldn't find anything more serious to protest (although that might actually be a good thing).

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 3/27/13 at 11:29pm

The protestors are calling attention to, and giving publicity to, a show that I doubt many people want to see. Tourists are excited for Matilda, Cinderella, Motown, or The Book of Mormon. In an overcrowded Broadway field, they probably haven't even heard of this show, and if they did I'm sure they have absolutely zero interest in seeing it. The only way tourists would pay $135 for a one-woman show with a topic like this, is if it starred Lady GaGa or Madonna. Good for the protestors for standing up for what they believe.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 1:47am

yes the protest also apparently involved children handing out anti-gay fliers -.-

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 1:53am

Maybe they got confused when they heard about all the Marys? (Maries?)

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 1:55am

no its because the author and director are both openly gay.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 2:26pm

"Yes, they're are many Maries in the bible. It was of the most common names in that era."

As long as we're being "educational," let's get it right.

"Mary" is a translation. In Aramaic, the name is "Maryam," in Hebrew "Miryam," closer to our still-in-use "Miriam." In Greek, it's Maria or Mariam.



Updated On: 3/28/13 at 02:26 PM

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 2:31pm

They call the wind that, dont they?

[newintown]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 3:30pm

They weren't walking around Nazareth like Rhoda Morgenstern saying, "hey, Mare;" it was more like Mrs. Lefkowitz in Prospect Heights saying, "shalom, Miriam."

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 8:11pm

If one of these fools hands me an anti gay flyer, they will be digging it out of their ass for the next year.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 8:18pm

PlayIt--well yes, I said that originally (at least about the author.) I still wonder if they think this is some "blasphemy" on the level of Corpus Christi.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 8:24pm

The anti-gay flyers are beyond ridiculous!! If they were to protest every Broadway show that has gay men as part of their creative team, there wouldn't be enough angry christians in NYC to cover them all.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 8:31pm

Exactly. And that extends into many other aspects of life as well. Is it time for a revival of Paul Rudnick's Regrets Only, when all gay people go on strike and then straight people suddenly cannot function?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 8:38pm

All That Jazz--I agree with your sentiment, but they would be too busy if they did that--they'd have to hand them out at every movie, outside every home watching tv shows, etc...

[all that jazz]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 9:23pm

^ And don't forget every store that sells designer apparel...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/28/13 at 11:49pm

I'm pretty sure our most erudite poster believes "Maries" is the plural for "Mary."