[UA] Re: TABOO

[David M Jacobs]

At 03:11 AM 22/04/02 +1000, Timothy Ferguson wrote:

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ua-admin at lists.uchicago.edu [mailto:ua-admin at lists.uchicago.edu]On
> > Behalf Of David M Jacobs
>
>One does not give laws for acts which one's subjects seem unlikely to 
>commit.  Indeed, God clearly says "these acts were committed before you", 
>which may mean "by your ancestors."
>I mean, is there a law which says "It's against the law to nail your penis 
>to the fridge", no, there isn't.

Whew, that's a relief.  Now, can someone please pass me a claw hammer?

It's natural to assume that laws are always there for a reason, but once 
you've had a chance to see the inner workings of politics, you get to see 
that this isn't always the case.  (Bismarck has a great quote: "Laws are 
like sausages: you have a lot more respect for them if you don't know what 
goes into making them.")

For instance, "ballistic knives" are considered prohibited weapons in 
NSW.  The trouble is, they don't exist; the MP who pushed the amendment 
through parliament saw one on a TV show, and didn't bother to check their 
facts.  Also, politicians often aren't as serious in practice as TV would 
have you believe; KY HR 256 (the resolution wherein Kentucky decided to buy 
a sub to torpedo casino riverboats) is a great example.

There are also laws which seem downright bizarre.  I read somewhere that 
it's technically illegal to talk to a stranger in an elevator in NY, for 
example, and one US county purportedly has a law against having sex with 
virgins.  Think about that last one.

> > and bestiality formed part of the fertility rites in Canaan.
>
>According to the Israelites, who then took it upon themselves to kill the
>Canaanites and rule their land?  Yep, I'm finding that convincing.

There are also Roman accounts of religious practices in Carthage, many of 
which have been backed up by archaeological evidence (although, obviously, 
they may be a tad biased).  True, bestiality would be hard to prove from an 
archaeological standpoint, but they've found evidence of Hebrew reports of 
child sacrifice in Canaanite/Phoenician cities, and Greek accounts of 
practices wherein young women were imprisoned within temples to Asherah 
until they'd been deflowered, usually by passing sailors.  It would've 
turned a pretty penny for the temples, I'd guess.

>The references are no more convincing that mare-feis rites in Ireland.

Mare-feis?

>I'd note that although I can't think of a law against it in the prechristian
>empire, this does not mean that Roman military camps were like the YMCA.

A fair while back, I did read reports of homosexuality in the cults of 
Mithras.  OTOH, they could have been based on Christian propaganda.

>They'd have been unmarriagble, most of the women would have died
>in puberty, and the men would bleed to death due to the daily accidents of a
>life of toil.

Actually, IIRC, female embryos that have the hemophilia gene on both X 
chromosomes generally terminate.  If, for some reason, they did survive, 
then they'd die during puberty, though I can't think of any cases off the 
top of my head that made it that far.

> > On the subject, though, I hear that the US Supreme Court is reviewing new
> > censorship laws with regard to depictions of underage sexuality.
>
>The review is complete, isn't it?  CGI kiddie porn is allowed under the
>First Amendment (over there - here of course its not allowed at all.)

True, though I'm not allowed to use the word "fuck" in this email, 
either.  #%o)



David M Jacobs
dmjacobs at zipworld.com.au
http://www.zipworld.com.au/~dmjacobs/
ICQ UIN: 17027598

"'Kevin,' David interrupted, 'what the Germans should have done
was show the Russians a dead cat and ask them to explain it.'

"'That would have stopped the Soviet offensive right there,' I said.
"Zhukov would still be trying to account for the cat's death.'"

— from Valis, by Philip K Dick


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