The Tower of Babel

Of language diversity in the United States, Saul Bellow once quipped, "A melting pot, yes. A tower of Babel, no." The Nobel Laureate's comment, indicative of American norms, undermines the meaning of the parable he invokes. Where human institutions (in line with Bellow's axiom) consolidate and unify, the biblical God imposes diversity. Where powerful nations go beyond lingua franca to demand una lingua, in Genesis, the Lord deliberately confounds human speech. Proponents of institution sometimes assert that multilingualism in Genesis is a negative outcome, but this assumption falls out of step with the story's plot. In Genesis, God's victory at the Tower of Babel is part of a larger war against the strategic agendas of human empire. This week, Richard and Fr. Marc reflect on the Tower of Babel in Genesis and its implications for multilingualism in North America. (Episode 84; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★