Leviticus - Part 11

After all these months of publicity, here's my chance to see Leviticus live! What can I expect? Music? Poetry? Self-immolation?
Meanwhile, the Freestyle Family was busy taping up these mini Bible pages around the East Village, challenging our ideas about biblical proportions.

Leviticus - Part 8

Two pieces by Leviticus found on Park Avenue South just north of Union Square. The uniting theme is the use of crayons.

The first one I found is a portrait on a page torn from a sketchbook.

The second is a page from a coloring book of Bible stories. The story concerns Joseph bringing his family back to Egypt.

The skull superimposed over Joseph's face and genital -like shapes over the bodies of both figures suggest a sex-death motif while the riot of color is an allusion to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

CSI:New York

This is another Jews for Jesus flyer trying to be relevant, this time by borrowing interest from the popular CSI television series.

The premise is "What do you think Mac Taylor and his CSI colleagues would have done if they had to investigate the Death of Y'shua (the Jewish way to say Jesus)? Who would they pin the murder on?"

Then it goes on to work in every character from the show as they review the facts of the case as described in the Bible.



The biggest flaw in hypothetical situation is that the NYPD would have no reason to investigate this case. No murder was committed. It would be like looking into someone who was sentenced to death in Iran. Their legal system doesn't work like ours does, and we may disapprove of it, but it's out of our jurisdiction.


The flyer concludes with "the evidence points to all of us being guilty, since anyone who ever sinned put put Y'shua on the cross."

Uh...no. No New York judge would ever convict someone for a murder committed two thousand years before he was born. At least I hope not. I don't want to take the fall for what happened to Saint Bartholomew.

Leviticus - Part 6

Found this one taped to a bus shelter at 23rd and 8th Ave. Leviticus shares his name with the book of the Bible often cited as the God's condemnation of homosexuality. I think what's happening over the mountains is what the Bible is warning against. The scriptures say nothing against enjoying a hot mug of coffee, though.

Leviticus - Part 3

Another Leviticus original, this time found in the West Village. The poem reads,

The only thing we have time for here is power
penetrating ebbs and flows
rushing
Volcanic power determins (sic) destinies dreams...

I always thought that Leviticus was the name of the guy that wrote the book of the Old Testament, but in fact it comes from the Old Latin title, "Liber Leviticus" (Book of Leviticus). This is an adjective suggesting the complete title "the Levitical book" or the "book pertaining to the Levites".

HELL

I found this chunk of fire and brimstone on the sidewalk in The first part of the text explains how the Bible condemns homosexuality and the second part claims that by giving yourself over to Christ you will be saved and no longer gay.

This is exactly the wrong way to win people over. It's like if Revlon ran an ad that had UGLY as the headline (with Unattractive and You extending from the U and Y) with copy citing Revlon corporate literature that specifically forbids not wearing makeup as not only unsightly but also morally bereft. After setting up the problem, the solution would be a face full of Revlon products that would transform you into Halle Berry no matter how ghastly you look at the moment.

Project Light

Christians don't post many flyers in NYC and I had to go to Long Island City to find this one. This event is giving away lots of free stuff - Bibles, clothing, hotdogs, popcorn, sodas, fruit juices, cold water, and "lots of personal items for your home."

If you read the Bible, you'll see that Jesus used to provide snacks and refreshments to his followers, like loaves, fishes and wine. He probably handed out some personal items for the home too, but that never made it into the gospel.