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A little dissertation, a lot of Voltaire

(02/20/03 10:00am)

A 600-page biblical commentary with advice, such as "Do not marry the widow of those whom you've assassinated," is very important advice to heed -- at least, according to Cindy Gommel. Recognizing the relevance of such a work from the Enlightenment in today's scholarly community, Gommel joined others from the Religious Studies Department yesterday to discuss Voltaire's opinions about the Bible -- a mere fraction of her dissertation topic. "He was clearly a rational thinker out to prove that the Bible was... fabrication and should be done away with," Gommel declared of Voltaire as she stood before a group of Penn's most prestigious religious scholars. And that was exactly the point -- the Religious Studies graduate group holds a colloquium every Wednesday in order to "socialize everyone" within the department, said Robert Kraft, the graduate chair of the Religious Studies graduate group. In her discussion, Gommel explained that Voltaire "was interested in debunking the Bible entirely." With his mission in hand, and only two years before his death, Voltaire sought to do away with the Bible in intellectual Europe. Although his book was titled The Bible Finally Explained by Several Almaners for his Majesty the King of Prussia, his work, ironically, did little or no explaining at all, Gommel pointed out. In fact, the irony is that Voltaire wrote his book like a "regular Biblical commentary," but actually satirized the very foundations of the Bible itself. Gommel noted that "while doing this, he brings in all the voices in this discourse -- the orthodox, the church father, the naturalists" and more, which only further ridiculed the fact that so many people would talk about a book that was so absurd to Voltaire. In fact, many today might be disappointed to know that Voltaire considered the Bible nothing more than "a tissue of lies." Furthermore, Gommel said that he blamed the Jews for the ridiculousness of the Bible. It seems peculiar that "Voltaire, the champion of tolerance, is virulently anti-Semitic," Gommel said. Voltaire sarcastically declared that the Jews must have been great used-clothes salesmen since their shoes lasted for 40 years in the desert before arriving in the Promised Land -- of which Voltaire asks, "Where's the milk and honey?" In short, Gommel asserted that Voltaire's goal was to "let the Bible fall apart on its own." To add to the excitement of her study and investigation, Gommel was actually working with a copy of the text signed by Voltaire himself. After her speech, a question-and-answer discussion forum opened up, and books that were centuries old were passed around the room. Overall, Kraft said that the colloquium was successful in accomplishing its goal because "it went well and engendered discussion."

https://www.thedp.com/article/2003/02/a_little_dissertation_a_lot_of_voltaire

Local writers share lesbian, golf stories

(02/07/03 10:00am)

A nude model, a gardener and a dental assistant all have something in common -- they are former occupations of novelist Diane Ayres, one of last night's guests at the Kelly Writers House. She and writer Harry Groome both came to Penn as part of the Writers House Spotlight Series in order to have an intimate reading with their personal guests as well as others from the Penn community. Describing her novel "about relationships between women, set in the mid-'70s when feminism hit," Ayres talked of her work as "a satire of the college-women genre." After a risqu‚ introduction by her husband Stephen Fried, Ayres discussed her newly published novel Other Girls and then proceeded to read passages to an enthralled audience. Laughing hysterically at stories about a "college freshperson" who "gets into trouble by hearing fights between a lesbian couple" downstairs, the packed crowd at the Writers House could not wait for more. Giggling at her own anecdotes, Ayres said, "When you write a book, you forget what's in it." Scott Edward Anderson introduced the evening's second guest, declaring that "Harry Groome has a gift for the story," and then added, "He thankfully has never posed in the nude." The attendees were not to be disappointed with Groome either. Although he recently finished his first novel Wing Walking Groome chose to read a short story -- "Club Champion" -- about a former golf club champ and disgruntled retiree Wally. "The stories were very compelling, and I was drawn in by both narratives," said Kerry Sherin Wright, director of the Kelly Writers House. She explained that this was all part of the Writers House "Spotlight Series, which features talented local writers whose work we admire." When Groome spoke about inviting friends and family to come hear him read, he jokingly told the audience that "it took on the character of being invited to my birthday party -- no one wanted to say no!" A personal friend who came to see Groome read and also a first- timer at the Writers House, Lew Manges said that "the readings were great." And even those who were not immediate friends enjoyed themselves. "One of the best parts about working here is getting to see all the guests," College freshman Matt Rosenbaum declared, adding that "it's exciting to be exposed to" this atmosphere. Both Ayres and Groome are closely affiliated with the University. For years, Ayres acted as an instructor at the annual Young Writer's Conference here at Penn, and Groome himself is a 1963 College graduate. A project in its second year, this was the second reading in the Spotlight Series during this school year, and two more are planned for the spring.

https://www.thedp.com/article/2003/02/local_writers_share_lesbian_golf_stories

S. Asian leaders gather at U. conference

(01/30/03 10:00am)

Discussions of secret food and idolizing Bobby Brady were just a few of the anecdotes shared by guest speaker Bobby Jindal at this weekend's South Asian Political Awareness Conference. Jindal, the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation for the Department of Health and Human Services on President George W. Bush's cabinet, came to Penn Saturday night and spoke to a group of enthralled students and community members. He is the highest-ranking South Asian official in the United States. After PennMasala, a campus a cappella group, engaged the audience with a variety of ethnic melodies -- as well as Seal's "A Kiss from a Rose" -- Jindal proceeded to discuss the eccentricities of being an Indian American and the similarities shared by the South Pacific Asian community. "The American Indian community is very diverse, but there are some special things that connect us," Jindal said. Through a variety of amusing stories and personal experiences, Jindal spent some time discussing the bonds that unify the Pacific South Asian community. He emphasized an important point and the lesson with which he wanted the students to leave -- "Don't be afraid to take a chance." Jindal elaborated on this point, "A lesson I took to college was that I was going to take chances," he said. And Jindal said he knows this lesson all too well -- he waited too long to ask out the first girl he had a crush on, and the next day, she moved away. "I'll never know if she would have gone out with me," he said, and now he has learned to always take the chance and ask for what he wants. The conference also included a variety of other speakers from the South Pacific Asian community, including Natwar Gandhi, chief financial officer of Washington D.C., and Kapil Sharma, vice president of Madison Government Affairs. "It's great to see the South Asian political leaders come together," Wharton sophomore Anita Butani said, adding,"It was very inspiring -- South Asians need to get involved in politics." Over the past four years, the "conferences have become continually successful," Wharton senior and conference co-founder Gaurav Kapadia said. "Bobby Jindal's presence is a real treat... and speaks of how our organization has grown in popularity." Despite the growth, however, College senior Naeema Ginwala said the conference has not lost sight of its mission -- to "generate interest in South Asian issues... and get the community involved." This year's theme was "Leading the Way: South Asians Breaking the Mold."

https://www.thedp.com/article/2003/01/s-asian-leaders-gather-at-u-conference

Israeli leader discusses 'crisis'

(01/23/03 10:00am)

In a time of difficulty, with the threat of war and guards at every store and coffee shop, Israel is preparing for yet another election. But despite turbulence on the homefront, one of the leading members of Israel's Likud Party made time to talk to Penn students yesterday during his short visit to Philadelphia. "Israel is in a very big crisis," said Eli Cohen, a prominent Knesset member. Cohen gave an informal speech at Hillel in order to share his beliefs about Israel's current political situation, including the complicated election at hand. But weighing more heavily on everyone's minds was the Palestinian question. "Many Israelis have moved to the right" because they want firmer resolutions to the daily issues with which they are confronted, Cohen said. As the head of the Preservation of Values of Likud, Cohen said he must remind his fellow party members what their party name supports. And that position is no Palestinian state, a view taken by both Cohen and the Likud Party. Israel is "not negotiating with someone normal" because the negotiations are against the threat of absolute terror, Cohen affirmed, further stating that Israel must try to fight terror at its source because "protecting each individual citizen from attack... 24 hours a day" is an impossible task. In the long term, he feels that the Palestinians must be able to govern themselves locally, but that the current situation makes that all but feasible. "It was very interesting hearing his analysis of the current political situation and of the upcoming Israeli election," said Andrea Allmayer, the director of Jewish Graduate Student Network for Hillel. As a lieutenant colonel in the Israeli army, Cohen knows the pressure of fighting for his country and believes that a show of strength is the only way to end the threat of terror. "It's a long term problem," Cohen asserted, laying down his solutions to the issue of two to three million Palestinian refugees -- a number that will only swell -- as well as a method by which to create a working infrastructure with homes and industries for the Palestinians. Trying to return stability to a government that he feels is up in the air, Cohen will return to Israel for the elections after completing his visit to the United States.

https://www.thedp.com/article/2003/01/israeli_leader_discusses_crisis

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