Some call him a politician, but that is too limiting. Sharpton calls himself “Reverend,” but doesn't seem to have a congregation. His trade isn’t one we easily recognize today, because the Catholic Church stamped it out in 1418. Sharpton is a pardoner -- he pardons sin in return for payment. The sin he specializes in expiating is whiteness.
In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1400), one of the pilgrims in the story, the Pardoner, is an itinerant con-man who preaches sermons that accuse his hearers of great sins, so they will repent and buy his fake indulgences and relics. He confides to his traveling companions that he takes no vow of poverty, and lives well.
- Duncan M. Anderson at Human Events (read full story here)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment