If you're coming out of the 116th Street subway stop, be prepared to be serenaded and accosted by some Bible studiers singing melodiously, wielding an array of folk instruments and distributing colorful fliers with butterflies on them.

Pop LitHum quiz: They quote from the one non-synoptic Gospel, which one is it?

Armin Rosen reports on the big semi-annual, semi-mandatory sophomore class lecture.

The title of this post is actually a wee bit inaccurate. This wasn't just the biggest walkout of the year--it was also the biggest walkout of last year, and was probably bigger than any walkouts that were held the year before that one, too. About seven hundred students were at Roone for Friday's Contemporary Civilization course-wide lecture. By the time Berkley Talmud professor Daniel Boyarin had finished dissecting the seventh chapter of Daniel, a mere handful were left in the audience, proving that while Iraq might convince 400 or so people not to go to class, intellectual passivity is one cause around which practically everyone can rally. Even at Columbia.

If only John Erskine could have lived to have seen so spectacular a "fuck you"¯ to the Core Curriculum and everything it represents. Granted, it was a Friday afternoon. And granted, I've heard some people complain that Boyarin's central thesis--that the all-time mindblower that is Daniel 7 represents an attempt at suppressing certain polytheistic ideas within ancient Judaism, and that its formulation of an "older"¯ and "younger"¯ God provided a theological basis for the emergence of Christianity as a protestant movement within Judaism itself--has nothing to do with what we've been reading and studying in CC. I've heard others say that his brilliant synthesis of linguistics, history, literature and religion was off-topic and irrelevant; that his meticulous application of comp-lit methods both on a practical and theoretical level were limited to ideas and concepts uninteresting to people without a strong background in Judaism.

In which Bwog correspondent Josh Mathew reports on last night's lecture about a book and all the hubbub it's caused.

The Underground Lecture Series: What Archaeology Tells Us About Ancient Israel

Alan Segal, PhD, Professor of Religion and Ingeborg Rennert Professor of Jewish Studies, Barnard College

What does Biblical archaeology tell us about the First Temple Period?

Professor Nadia Abu El-Haj is wrong. At least, that's what I learned pretty quickly from Professor Alan Segal. The flyer for the event hadn't mentured El-Haj, but Segal made it clear that, though not a "harangue or tirade," his remarks served to question El-Haj's scholarship.

The event was sponsored by LionPac and the cheerfully-named Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, who, according to their website, are "trying to counterbalance the well-documented and increasing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic forces that have made their way to the college campuses today." A survey of their position papers reveals a dearth of articles actually about peace or conflict resolution, but the name sounds nice.

Segal's lecture focused primarily on the debate between Biblical maximalists and minimalists—those who consider the Bible to be a reliable historical source regarding non-miraculous things, vs. those who don't—and finally moved on to El-Haj's supposed reliance on the latter in her book Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society. He accuses her of inaccurately portraying maximalists as Biblical fundamentalists and evangelicals, and minimalists as rational thinkers. In a short history, Segal discussed the historical dominance of the maximalists and the challenges posed by the minimalists, whom he described as an academic minority with little supporting archaeological evidence.

Just when you thought the dialogue around Columbia's sexual atmosphere couldn't get any worse...Ann Coulter got involved. Today on FOX News, Bwog's favorite channel, she opined (click for video!) on the Daily News "report" "exposing" our "creepy" carnal persuits. Money quotes:

"I really think you should get a picture of some of these [S&M] clubs and a picture of the young College Republicans and the Christians, because someone who has to join a club at college to have sex? Probably not your lookers." Conservatives don't care about kids having premarital sex--just WEIRD premarital sex!

"This has been well documented. Christians have more sex, better sex, more sexual satisfaction...you want a sex club, become an evangelical." Then assume the missionary position.

And responsible for all of this? "Most of all the culture of children raised in households without two married parents. Ask the girls in that club how many grew up sleeping in the same house as their fathers."

And that's the word.

Every second Tuesday of the month, members of a Christian fellowship on campus sit quietly on the Lerner ramps, reading and smiling when people walk by. They don't want to convert you, or take your money, or make you sign anything--just put in a good word for you in heaven. On Thursdays, they read the prayer requests at their group meetings.

Where do Columbia students need the most divine help? According to today's attendant, the requests are often vague, but most frequently about ailing relatives and midterms. Which are really about the same thing, if you think about it.

After the reform Kol Nidre service at Hillel, everyone wishing each other a good year:

(Jewish) Law Student 1: Rosenblum? Yale '02? Seligman? We graduated in the same class!

(Jewish) Law Student 2: Yeah, yeah, you're in my litigation class now right?

(Jewish) Bystander (muttering): Bunch of Jews.

Happy atoning!

Heard outside Butler, Saturday night

"It's amazing what religion will do to a person."

CC Instructor Ivan Savic, to his 9:00 AM class:

"Not holding the door for people is just one step away from chaos and cannabalism, which is just inconvenient."

After a Blue and White meeting, Monday night:

A bearded man standing in front of St. Paul's chapel, with arms held out ą la Jesus-on-the-crucifix. A few minutes later, he lowered his arms, and left soon after.

Thanks to CML, Nick Frisch, and Grace Duffy for their observance.

'Primordial Ooze' Blessed by Church, and Reindeer; Bwog, However, Wants to Know Where Bwog Can Buy Its Very Own Screeching Piglet

University Administrators, Luminaries, Quip, Joke, Tease Their Way into Trustee Pocketbooks

"It's Easy to Blame That Man-Slut For Fucking You Over"

Columbia Lends Hand to Estonia, Spec Opinion Hopes Estonia Will Lend Hand Back. Soviet Union No Longer in Tact

And in Sports, Aggressive Defense is the Only Way to Win, But if Only It Wasn't for That Stagnant Offense!

Columbia is not fertile ground for religiosity. And Bwog's pretty savvy about the conventional evangelical techniques, like free copies of the New Testament and the sweet women who accost us with invitations to Bible study on our way across College Walk. What got us was the man at the Amsterdam gates handing out boxes of detergent (a one-dollar value!), which came with a helpful postcard of laundry tips and a notice about a place called Journey Church. Thanks for the soap, guys. Bwog might come if you did our laundry too.

There's something different about Columbia's homepage, and it's not wittier news headlines. A few days ago, eagle-eyed website watcher Chris Szabla noticed that the two spades on Columbia's crown logo have morphed back into crosses, prompting our tipster to wonder whether the Campus Crusade for Christ had paid off or if there are more divine forces at work. If the latter, He could move a little faster: the secular crown is still visible on many University webpages. Today, CU Public Affairs explained in a note that they made the "very slight" change "in order to maintain a simple design while also more accurately echoing the classic crown that is distinctively 'Columbia.'" Bwog reached Vice President for Communications David Stone as he was leaving for the weekend--let us know what you're thinking and we'll relay questions when we talk to him next week.

Meanwhile, one Bwog staffer recalled a comment made by one professor last year about the pre-spade iteration: we should obviously remove the crosses since we are all no longer Christians, but keeping the crown seems quite fine as the majority of students remain staunch monarchists.

Amen to that!

It's not unusual to be accosted several times on the way from Lerner up to the steps by earnest Bible studyers asking whether one is a Columbia student and/or Christian. Bwog usually thanks them politely and walks on, reminding itself to dodge the next time one homes in like a heat-guided missile. But it couldn't help but raise its eyebrows at the quintet singing Amazing Grace on College Walk this afternoon, especially since it included two performers from the Varsity Show (here and here), not generally known for its good family values.

At least they sing well.

For those too lazy and apathetic and jaded by the godlessness of Columbia to go to church, the International Christian Fellowship brought the gospel to Morningside's most degenerate pit of iniquity--the Low Steps.

"In an atmosphere like this academy, we all want to believe that, given the right evidence," one fellowshipper said, "we're going to make the right decision. But it's often, even a majority of the time, just not so. It's just not how people operate." All that research? Useless.

Also: "There really are only two sides of it. You either accept him and know him, or you're lost for eternity." Even if you're lost for eternity, you might as well pick up the free Bibles and sell them at high prices to clueless future Lit Hummers.