I would like to take this chance to inaugurate the 10th of November as Freak out and Shout About Kick Butt Literature Day. I recently read an article in Poets and Writers about Malamud and the article raved about his devotion to his craft and art. After reading the Fixer all I can say is, right on man. People say I have a way with words, funny. The story about Yakov Bok or (Mendel Beilis) is a blood stain on the human carpet that annoys us like an obsessive compulsive (me) who stays up all night thinking about dirty walls or hair in the sink. Yakov is falsely accused of killing a Christian boy for his Jewish witchcraft. The Fixer is only half fiction. It follows the actual trial of Beilis. This is not meant to be a professional writing about the ins and outs of the socio-historical aspects of the novel, but a shout out against hatred in general. Then there was the Blood Libel. A blood libel is when a group is falsely accused of using humans in sacrifice for religous purposes. The Christians were accused of it by the Romans because of communion. They thought they were literally drinking the blood of Christ (transubstantiation a philosophy some Christians subscribe to) and superstition took it to the point where people thought that they drank the blood of others. Holy vampires batman! It is really sad because in the Beilis trial that is exactly what the Christians were accusing the Jews of doing. They based the entire proceedings on racial prejudice and unadulterated ignorance. In fact all of the evidence points to the saintly Christian mother (who was actually a scarlet and a lowlife) who killed her own son because he knew too much about her shady dealings, but they refuse to believe it. They wanted a Jew to burn. I felt that I was the heartless prosecution throughout the whole story. I am a Christian and my brothers did this. People that I would normally trust and look up to because of our shared belief. Where does love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you fit into war and hatred. Where does that fit into the Inquisition or the Killing of Servetus by Calvin (a highly enlightened man right). Where does turn the other cheek come into the killing of the American Indians or Yakov Bok. Some people have said to me, well yeah well they were killing us. I do not see anywhere in the Bible kill someone if they try to kill you. In fact the Bible mocks that ideal. Look at Mathew 5:38-39. I am afraid sometimes of what is going on the world around me, I do not know the answers, but I know from the history of my religion that most of us do not care to believe what the Bible really says. So if you do not believe what I believe, I apologize to you. I am sorry for every ignorant judgemental Christian who says they believe in what Jesus said, but is unwilling to do anything about it, or to believe in it for that matter. To anyone who is a Christian do not be mad, just change. How hard is it to let go? How hard is it to get rid of those fears and sins that easily ensnare us. Do not act of fear, but love and trust. Cheers mates. Literature Rocks-R