The View-Point

• Over the past few days, The View-Point has been getting a lot of hits from people searching for a connection between Christianity & the Virginia Tech massacre committed by Cho Seung-Hui. While I have no great argument to make at this point, I can only offer the following point:
  
  "Why does God allow this kind of evil thing to happen?"
  "How can He be a God of love and yet let such pain and suffering prevail?"
  
  These are questions that many people may be asking at such a difficult time as we are now in. The essential question is one of the role that God plays in the actions and choices of individuals.
  
  The Christian faith holds that God has created human beings with a 'free will' and as moral 'free agents'. Simply put, God allows us to choose to 'do our own thing,' whatever that may be. Indeed, the concept of sin essentially refers to actions and thoughts that are contrary to full communion with God and with His creatures and His creation (including our fellow human beings).
  
  This may not be very comforting in such a trying time as this, as it leaves us in a state of temporal vulnerability to such evil, malicious actors. But the point is that the actions of deranged individuals such as Cho Seung-Hui cannot properly be attributed to God, no more than the actions of a child are the direct responsibility of its parents.
  
  The perceptive reader, of course, will have noted that the key term in the previous paragraph is temporal vulnerability. It is through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, fully human and fully divine, through his suffering, death, burial, and resurrection that God has come into our temporal realm of free will and free choice to freely offer to us the gift of eternal life.

(Originally Posted: 4/18/2007 @ 8:25pm)

Labels: commentary

posted by Jason  # 8:30 PM 0 comments

• If yesterday's horrible massacre on the Virginia Tech campus by South Korean native Cho Seung-Hui has proved anything, it has illustrated the utter failure and disaster presented by anti-Second Amendment, Gun Control laws.
  
  As I understand it, after a round of so-called 'gun violence' last year, the campus of Virginia Tech implemented a "Gun Free Zone" policy. Now understand that I am no 'gun Nazi'; I've never owned or even held a real gun. But let's look at this issue from a philosophical perspective:
  
  A person with a loaded and functional gun holds a significantly disproportionate amount of power over and above that held by people with no gun. Any decent person is unlikely to use this disproportionate power for selfish or personal gain, but a corrupt or troubled individual, simply from the possession of a gun, has a powerful tool to accomplish selfish and/or disturbed actions.
  
  What does this have to do with gun control? The gun-holder only has this disproportionate power over non-gun holders; against someone who also has a gun, this disproportionate power is diminished and somewhat neutralized (given relatively equal skill levels in gun handling). As an extreme example, if Cho Seung-Hui would have walked into a classroom with 30 students, all armed and skilled at shooting, his only advantage would have been an element of surprise; other than that, he would have stood no chance.
  
  It is absurd to think that everyone should have a gun, let alone be properly trained in shooting it. But it does not take a roomful of decent people with guns to reduce or neutralize the disproportionate power held by the malicious gun-bearer; it only takes one.
  
  By instituting a "Gun Free Zone" policy/rule/law [Side Note: Criminals by definition do not obey policies/rules/laws!], Virginia Tech essentially sealed its fate in ensuring that no decent, altruistic, gun carrying individual could even potentially have come into contact with Cho Seung-Hui and 'neutralized' his disproportionately deadly level of power.
  
  Gun Control -- It only benefits the malicious and ill-willed.

(Originally Posted: 4/17/2007 @ 4:50pm)

Labels: commentary

posted by Jason  # 4:50 PM 0 comments

• "New scientific evidence [...] suggests a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem tomb could have once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family. The findings also suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene might have produced a son named Judah...."
  
  "'Mariamene, or Mariamne, probably was the actual name given to Mary Magdalene.' [...] Although not included in the Bible, the 'Acts of Philip' mentions the apostles and Mariamne, sister of the apostle Philip...."
  
  "Since tombs normally contain either blood relations or spouses, Jacobovici and his team suggest it is possible Jesus and Mary Magdalene were a couple. 'Judah,' whom they indicate may have been their son, could have been the 'lad' described in the Gospel of John as sleeping in Jesus' lap at the Last Supper...."

• Along the lines of the "Da Vinci Code" comes the next assault on the foundations of the Christian faith: a Discovery Channel so-called 'documentary' titled, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus".
  
  All of this comes from "Academy Award-winner" (and therefore expert on everything) James Cameron. The so-called 'documentary' will be shown on the Discovery Channel on March 4 at 9pm.
  
  Question: Why don't we see any serious effort put towards trashing other religions (e.g. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Atheism, Materialism, Positivism, etc.)? Why must the assault unilaterally be against Christianity, in either its Catholic or Protestant forms?

• Archaeologists, Scholars Dispute Jesus Documentary
  (CNN.com, 2/26/2007; Thanks to BC)
• Bones of Jesus & son uncovered in Jerusalem? Airing new evidence
  (israelity bites, 2/23/2007; Thanks to KW)
• ‘Lost Tomb of Jesus’ documentary claims unfounded, hype, archeologist says
  (Catholic News Agency, 2/26/2007)
• Prelate's Assault on "Tomb of Jesus" - Archbishop Forte Says Discovery Is False
  (ZENIT.org News Agency via EWTN, 3/1/2007)
  

Follow-up Commentary:

• Now that this 'documentary' has aired, it seems to have come Dead-On-Arrival. (Full disclosure: I did not watch it.) Leading up to the 'exclusive' Discovery Channel showing, I saw about 3 stories refuting these ridiculous claims for every 1 promoting or supporting them. And a quick Google News search on 3/6/2007 presents the following sample of headlines:
  
  'Lost Tomb of Jesus' doesn't shake the foundations (Siftings Herald, AR)
  The Jesus Tomb: Find of the Century or Publicity Stunt? (Emediawire - press release)
  Biblical Documentary Producer Challenges "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" (WDC Media News)
  India won't air 'Jesus Tomb' documentary (Spero News)
  'Tomb' can't keep Christianity down (Los Angeles Times, CA)
  
  Note to James Cameron: You are known for producing high-quality fiction. What made you think you would be taken seriously with this 'documentary'? People are predisposed to expect high production-value fiction from you, and that is what they got. As for you, you've earned a reputation for shamelessly profiteering off of the sacredness of religion & religious belief -- and, no doubt, some extra punishment in your eternal rest.

The Discovery Channel Recants:

• Is Discovery Burying 'Lost Tomb'? Net Pulls Repeat, Declines to Tout Ratings
  (TVWeek.com, 3/8/2007)
  
  "Departing from normal procedures, the cable network didn't tout its big ratings win. The network also scheduled a last-minute special that harshly criticized its own documentary, and has yanked a planned repeat of 'Tomb.'
  
  "'This is not one where you necessarily beat the drum, from a business perspective,' said David Leavy, executive VP of corporate communications at Discovery. 'It's not necessarily about making money, or making ratings, or shouting from the highest office building. Sometimes having some maturity and perspective is more important than getting picked up in all the ratings highlights.'"

Scholars Backtrack on 'Documentary' Claims:

• Jesus tomb film scholars backtrack
  (Jerusalem Post, 4/11/2007)
  
  "Several prominent scholars who were interviewed in a bitterly contested documentary ... have now revised their conclusions, ... a new study on the fallout from the popular documentary shows.
  
  ... dramatic clarifications, compiled by epigrapher Stephen Pfann of the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem in a paper titled 'Cracks in the Foundation: How the Lost Tomb of Jesus story is losing its scholarly support,' ..."

Labels: commentary, news

posted by Jason  # 5:10 PM 0 comments

• Crystal Gail Mangum (Photo source: The Smoking Gun)
  
• The identity of the accuser in the Duke Lacrosse Team rape case has been revealed, now that all charges have been dropped as completely baseless and unfounded. We now have the name and a photo of Crystal Gail Mangum, whom Michael Savage of The Savage Nation has dubbed "The Durham Dirtbag" -- a moniker that now has the evidence to back it up.

(Originally Posted: 4/11/2007 @ 9:40pm)

Labels: news

posted by Jason  # 9:40 PM 0 comments

• "Sen. Dianne Feinstein has resigned from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee... she had a conflict of interest due to her husband Richard C. Blum's ownership of two major defense contractors, who were awarded billions of dollars for military construction projects approved by Feinstein..."

The View-Point:

• This story first reached national attention on the 3/28/2007 edition of the Michael Savage radio talk show. Although the reporting newspaper and author are virtual unknowns, some simple Internet research using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine can confirm the basic facts of Feinstein's exit from the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee:
  
  Wayback Machine archives of: feinstein.senate.gov
  - 7/1/2006 archive lists Feinstein as belonging to the following committees:
  -- Appropriations Committee
  -- Ranking member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee
  
  Wayback Machine archives of: appropriations.senate.gov
  - 5/25/2006 archive confirms the above information:
  -- SUBCOMMITTEE on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs
  -- Senator Dianne Feinstein (Ranking Member) (CA)
  
  The current versions of both of these websites reflect that Feinstein is no longer a member of the subcommittee in question:
  - United States Senator Dianne Feinstein: Committee Assignments
  - United States Senate Committee on Appropriations - Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
  

Bottom Line: If my third-grade level of research can confirm a few of the most basic facts of this story, then I only expect that members of the 'professional' (read: paid) media can bust the full details wide open.

UPDATE:

• NewsMax.com has picked up coverage of this story:
  Sen. Feinstein Resigns Military Appropriations Post
  (NewsMax.com, 4/2/2007)

(Originally Posted: 3/28/2007 @ 11:48pm)

Labels: commentary, news

posted by Jason  # 8:55 AM 0 comments