To abjure

The first time I read the Koran as a child it was a Penguin edition, yes, in English, sorry. Oddly the only line that has stuck in my head is from the prologue: a brief timeline of the life of Mohammed, viz: the 627 raid on the Jewish tribe of Qurayza where 800 men were executed, a bloody process, beheading them in batches at the edge of a trench dug in the market place, which occupied the whole day and much of the night, and the woman and children sold as slaves. However, and this is the thing that has always fascinated me: one Jew did abjure his religion to save his life. What is this process, this abjuration? Did Mohammed's followers require this man to actually change his belief or to merely say the words of rejection?  If one believes something, how can that belief really be changed anyway?  And, of course, quite incomprehensible to my suburban middle class upbringing: how can a belief be so important that one would die for it? Especially a belief, in this case Judaism, which was, I thought, commonly a bit vague about any kind of life after death beyond some vague Classical shade-existence, except for the Sadduces, who were pretty clear about their lack of belief in the whole deal. Couldn't you get away with just saying whatever and crossing your fingers or whatever and then believing whatever you wanted?  Or, can't we maintain like the White Queen her six impossible pre-breakfast beliefs?

Anywho, this is all merely a prologue to the real news of the evening.  Lynne made a lovely dinner tonight and we snagged Jill Tracy and Kathleen up from the basement fitting room for a lovely relaxed conversation over margaritas. This is the new order of things here at the Rutter house: polite dinners, conversation with no hanky panky please.  Jill has a record release party at DNA on Wednesday which promises to be a delight.