We Did It Again: Damn Liberals!

As I was viewing time’s blog, specifically a blog by Joe Klein exclaiming the characteristics of “left wing extremists.” These are not just characteristics of say, Fidel Castro or Tito, but characteristics that seem to resound in our current political system. These are the type of comments that infuriate me, as it is ludicrous to believe that anyone would buy into such blasphemy. Allow me to address a few of Mr. Klein’s claims.

In the realm of foreign policy, we have these comments:
--believes the United States is a fundamentally negative force in the world.
--believes that American imperialism is the primary cause of Islamic radicalism.
--believes that the decision to go to war in Iraq was not an individual case of monumental stupidity, but a consequence of America’s fundamental imperialistic nature.

A lot of these comments are going to be blown out of proportion and “misread,” but it is the opinion of many that the US is an increasingly negative actor in world politics. I would not say that America is again an imperial power, such as England was throughout much of the 18th, 19th, and some of the 20th centuries. But needless to say, it is a terrifying prospect and could soon become reality, especially if our war monger president decides to pick another fight. America is not the cause of Islamic radicalism, but in essence our current activities in the Middle East are pissing off a lot of Islamic fundamentalists, which could lead to perpetual terror in our nation.

In the realm of domestic policy, we have these comments:
--believes that eternal problems like crime and poverty are the primarily the fault of society.
--believes that America isn’t really a democracy.
--believes that corporations are fundamentally evil.
--believes in a corporate conspiracy that controls the world.
--is intolerant of good ideas when they come from conservative sources.
--dismissively mocks people of faith, especially those who are opposed to abortion and gay marriage.
--regularly uses harsh, vulgar, intolerant language to attack moderates or conservatives.

I disagree that our society has caused poverty, but it is the fault of the individual. Remember, we all have a little thing called free will, which we can think how we want, hence we can motivate ourselves to work anytime that we want. I have news Mr. Klein, America is not a democracy. America is a federal republic with democratic tendencies. It does not take a scholar to figure that one out. The founders did not want to create a democracy, but a republic. Democracy in its own right is one of the worse forms of government on the planet; nothing would ever get done, just ask the Greeks.

Corporations are really not a bad thing, they help to drive the economy and make the U.S. a world power. Corporations just add to income inequality and such minor pains in the side. I am not going to even address the comment about corporate conspiracies, which is simply not even true. I cannot speak for my fellow liberals, but I personally look at new ideas without filtering them through my party ID. I give the ideas careful though and if it is a decent idea, I am game to listen more. If not, chances are it was a dumb idea. I do not dismiss those who are opposed to abortion and gay marriage, I simply disagree with them. I am sure that they have their reasons for their beliefs, as well as I do. Did I use intolerant and vulgar language to express myself? Nope!

And The Debate Rages On

It has been a bedrock principle of Christianity for the past 2000 years that Jesus Christ died a single man and rose from the dead in order to save man from his sins. But a recent documentary produced by James Cameron entitled ‘The Tomb of Christ’ presents a challenge to the paradigm that has guided man for two millennia. The documentary, which is to air on the Discovery Channel on March 4, is based around ten ancient stone boxes (coffins) discovered in Jerusalem in 1980, which carbon date back to the time that Jesus lived. Within those ten boxes were believed to be the remains of Jesus, Mary Magdalene (his supposed wife), and remainder of his family.

One box even has an inscription stating, “Judah, son of Jesus,” which could signal that Jesus had a child, which would refute the basis of Christianity. But of course there are those that refute the evidence, especially scholars and those in religious community. It is believed that Jesus and his supposed family would have no business being entombed in an area that was of middle class status in Old Jerusalem, as Jesus is referred to as a poor man in scripture. Plus, it is widely believed that he spent three days lying in “state” at a temple across town, far away from the middle class area.

Others all calling the documentary propaganda aimed at misleading people and making money. Other say such names like Jesus and Mary were rather prominent during the time period the boxes were entombed. It is not even known if the boxes actually state the name Jesus, as the language of the time period (Ancient Semitic) is rather hard to decipher. Never the less this is another potential dent in the armor of Christianity. Other evidence has come to prominence that possibly disproves the legend of Jesus, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls found from 1947-1956.

The scrolls include what is referred to by religious scholars as the Gnostic Gospels. These particular gospels were not included in the New Testament (completed around 300AD) and include the gospels written by Judas (the apostle who betrayed Jesus) and Mary Magdalene herself. In a historic sense, we do know that Jesus did exist (unlike Abraham or Moses, which is in doubt) from 4-33AD. But the trouble is that he is only written about in an external source once, a book of Antiquities composed in 90AD. It is obvious that Jesus existed, but it is not so obvious of what context he existed in.