History & Comment for March 21, 2025

A look at historical and current events on this day, comment and humor so dry it would make a camel thirsty. 

Transcript

This is History and Comment for Friday the 21st of March 2025.

The Reign of King Henry the 8th was something of a joke,  with his numerous wives.  But compared to the next 11 years and three monarchs it is rather tranquil.   Well, except for the part where Henry dumped the Catholic Church.  That tidbit was the cause of a great deal of the turmoil with his successors.    Would England be Catholic or not?    One of the players during the period was Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer.    He was pivotal in supporting King Henry’s annulment and the moves away from the Catholic Church.  In the Catholic resurgence under Queen Mary, Cranmer was a major target.   He had recanted most of his position in a move to spare his life, but it was not enough, the Queen intended to make an example to those who might oppose her restoration of England as a Catholic Realm.    Cranmer, deviates from his scripted sermon to excoriate the Pope and is dragged from the pulpit and executed.    Now to be fair, there had been a long series of legal proceedings and it was clear Cranmer was going to be executed and this was one final sermon, is it was not as dramatic as it might seem.    The Queen and court were firmly against him.   Religious dissent had been given the position of treason against the Crown.    That alone, more than Cranmer’s position was criminal.    

I can find no passage in the Bible, that even hints that unbelievers, no matter how profane, should be put to the sword.  Solely on that basis.   

There was an execution in Louisiana the other day that drew media attention.   In the following press conference, I found some of the questions and replies to be interesting.    One of the prosecutors, when asked, took a legal position that the laws of the state had been upheld.     That is a poor argument.    Murder might be the single case where the death penalty should be applied.   The  simple principal is this:   All human life is scared.   The intentional taking of a human life, is so extreme that it calls for the perpetrator to forfeit theirs.  

That thinking will not fly in much of society as it should be clear that abortion violates it also.     The death penalty is not a trivial manner, in part because of the principal.  But our society has made it a joke.     The murder in Louisiana took place 28 years ago.    There was a flurry of last minuets appeals ranging from the method would violate the condemed’s religious rights or induce psychological trauma.  Little regard is giving to the rights and suffering of the victim(s).      

Much of the same thoughts can be applied to the abortion issue.  We are more concerned with the rights of the person who can appear in court, than the rights of the person who cannot appear.    Society is generally messed up.  

New Orleans suffers its great fire in 1788, consuming 850 of the towns 1,100 structures.  The fire started in residence not far from Jackson Square, in today’s French Quarter.   Since this was the afternoon of Good Friday, priest would not allow the church bells to be rang as a fire alarm.    Fed by strong winds, by sunset most of the town will be a smoldering waste land.    

From the year 756 until late in the 19th Century,  a sizeable portion of the Italian peninsula was under the direct control of the Pope and Church and known as the Papal States.     French troops are making a push on the States and the Pope and church leaders flee Rome.   During this period a new Pope is crowned on this day in 1800 in Venice.  The crown created for this event was of paper-mache’ , encrusted with jewels.  It is the oldest of 23 papal crowns known to exist.    Many have been gifts and several have never been worn. 

Following in the shadow of the Russian Revolution, the Hungarian Soviet Republic is formed in 1919.  It will be short lived.    We hear the term Soviet, it simply means a workers council.   Specifically one that is socialist.   Most time is it connected to the Russian Revolution.   The misnomer might be Republic in any of the Soviet settings.   Republic is a latin term meaning the power rest with the People usually through representatives.    The United States is a Republic and not a democracy where the people have a direct vote.   

Socialism, in nearly all cases requires a top down power structure.    Granted there have been a few voluntary socialist societies, and they fail due to the unwillingness of the members to fully commit to the ideal.   

Their were a number of communal societies attempted in American in the 1800’s and some were successful for a period of time. The Shakers were one prime example.    Their downfall was lack of growth.    They practiced celibacy, with men and women living in separate dwellings.  At their highwater mark there were 18 shaker villages in America with 6,000 members.   Today there is one active shaker village in Maine with two or maybe three members.   

The Butler Act is signed into Tennessee Law one hundred years ago today.  While you have most likely have not heard of the act, you most certainly have heard of the immediate legal proceeding culminating in the Scoops Monkey trial.     The Act prohibited the teaching that man arose or evolved from lower life forms in any Tennessee public School or University.   The most inflammatory provision was it gave priority to the Bibilical narraitive with respect to the origin of man.   It did not address the origins of other animals nor geology and the age of the earth.    From a legal perspective, had it not cited the Bible it might have been upheld.    This is a common flaw in many of the arguments on the subject.  

It was Immediately taken to court, opponents threw the bait out in the form of science teacher John Scoops.   Who was served a warrant almost before the Governors signature was dry.     The case worked its way through the courts with the Tennessee Supreme Court finding: “We are not able to see how the prohibition of teaching the theory that man has descended from a lower order of animals gives preference to any religious establishment or mode of worship. So far as we know, there is no religious establishment or organized body that has in its creed or confession of faith any article denying or affirming such a theory.”   But on a technically they overthrew Scoops conviction, there was no fixed amount of damages set.   The case was not retried.   

We are running short on time.   This would be a good point to discuss the courts and how they are used, especially in the current national climate. Maybe one day next week. Stay tuned.   

What is considered the first Rock Music Concerts takes place in Cleveland on this day in 1952.   And like today it was a Friday, when DJ Alan Freed host the Moondog Coronation Ball.  There are varying accounts, but what is clear is the ball ended before the scheduled 1 am time.   The venue was way over packed due to counterfeit tickets and authorities feared problems with the overcrowding.   

San Diego Comic-Com debuts in 1970.  Such events make for an interesting social discussion.    In the sake of bevity, I will quote a long deceased friend,  Who are we to call the skillet black?   I believe at the time we were dirty and greasy from working on a steam locomotive that day. 

Jimmy Carter boycotts the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics. 

Twitter is founded in 2006.   If anyone is familiar with that app,  please share this program on that forum also, along with all of the others.  

Where else can your friends find such wisdom, common sense and humour so dry it will make a camel thirsty?    We should play on that ….. The Thirsty Camel.  Maybe the official mascot.  

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