A Day of Atonement [Quiz #12]

Answers here

1. Who wrote the 2001 novel Atonement, on which the 2007 movie was based?

2. Minister Louis Farrakan called for “sober, disciplined, committed, dedicated, inspired black men to meet in Washington on a day of atonement.” What was this event known as, and in what year did it take place? [half point each]

3. Perhaps the most famous act of atonement of the Middle Ages was performed by King Henry II of England, whose penance including a beating by 80 monks with birch twigs. Whose murder in 1170 had he incited? [half point each for the victim's name and title]

4. The Roman Catholic sacrament of penance involves both confession and an act of contrition. What adjective is used to describe sins such as murder and adultery, and what adjective describes less serious sins? [half point each]

5. In a classic French novel, Jean Valjean, released after 19 years in prison, steals silver from a bishop. The bishop confirms Jean’s false alibi (that it was a gift) but exacts a promise of atonement. Jean spends the rest of the novel atoning for his crime by becoming an honest man. What is the novel, and who is the author?

6. For what action did the United States government atone by passing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (and a 1992 amendment) appropriating reparations of $20,000 for each of what turned out to be over 80,000 surviving victims?

7. A surprising amount of atoning has come from gaffe-prone politicians. These examples come from the 2008 US presidential campaign. [half point each]

(a) Who apologized to Republican primary candidate Mitt Romney in December 2007 for a New York Times Magazine article in which he asked, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”

(b) Who apologized for saying that Barack Obama was “talking down to black people,” and adding “I want to cut his nuts off,” during a July Fox News interview when he thought his microphone was off.

(c) What word had Obama advisor Samantha Power used to describe Hillary Clinton in March, leading to apologies by both Obama and Power and to Power’s departure from Obama’s presidential campaign?

(d) For what false claim involving a 1996 trip to Bosnia did Hillary Clinton apologize for making in April?

8. Match these “atonal” song titles with the artist and year the song was a top ten Billboard hit. One song title applies to two artists. [one point for matching all five artists, half a point for matching three or four]

(a) Brenda Lee [1960]; (b) John Denver [1975]; (c) Elton John [1976]; (d) Chicago [1982] (e) Timbaland featuring OneRepublic (2007)

(1) “Apologize” (2) “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” (3) “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” (4) “I'm Sorry”

9. What two Japanese terms are also used in English to describe the act of ritual suicide by disembowelment, originally reserved for samurai, that was sometimes done as an act of atonement for serious offenses? [half point each]