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Whereupon I Get Radically Religious
2007-03-02, 11:38 a.m.

Anyone planning on watching The Lost Tomb of Jesus on Sunday night? I am, and I can't wait.

First, it's produced by James Cameron and directed/hosted by Simcha Jacobovici (The Naked Archaeologist), so it promises to be overblown, heavy-handed, and an absolute hoot. The Naked Archaeologist is one of my favorite shows. I love the humor and some of the crochety experts that give testimony, and hope a number of them growl their way through the ossuaries.


Second, it's time for some good Christian discourse. Shake things up a little, and maybe more people (especially so-called Christians) will pay more attention to the message of Christ, and less to the stuff that isn't quite as crucial.


I am a different breed of Christian�I took what my parents and my childhood church taught me, studied further, explored a personal relationship with God, took personal experiences, and have continued to evolve an individual and unique belief that makes sense to me and enriches my life. It's by far not my mother's version, and I would be burned at the stake by most any good card-carrying Baptist out there, but it makes me a better person and works for me. I don't force my views on anyone, and I also appreciate a wide variety of faiths. Different things appeal to different people, as it should, and so long as we all work towards a common goal (the betterment of mankind) and (since I believe) we all work for the same boss, I think that's cool.


So now we get to the possibility (regardless of the probability) that man has uncovered the earthly remains of Christ and his family. Does it anger me? Does it shake my faith? Absolutely not. There's no way to ever prove or disprove the identity of the remains, only to analyze them in light of what historical and religious data we currently possess. I have no problem with the idea of Jesus having a wife and children�knowing what great pleasure I derive from my family, should I not also feel joy that Christ could have also had this, had he so chosen? If Christ did not die on the cross, that also poses no problem for me. There were numerous other religions long before Christianity with common themes of birth, death, and resurrection. We're not the first, and that doesn't change Christ's "Christ-ness" for me. We're talking God here�he can do WHATEVER he wants or needs to do. If he experienced life fully as human, that does not for me diminish his greatness. He just went through the human experience, and Jesus being human was here to bring us all closer to God, anyway. I don't care if one day they find irrefutable evidence that Jesus in fact was green with purple dots and originated on Alpha Centauri�it doesn't change who he was, who he is, and most importantly, what he said. If I were to get my panties in a wad every time anybody questioned anything about God, that would be a reflection upon my own faith and failings, not on God. He doesn't fear hard questions and exploration...why should I?


Today there seems to be a sad majority of "Christians" who in reality practice little of Jesus' teachings. They spend their time pointing out the 50 different flavors of going to hell and how everyone except adherents to their (man- made) denomination or congregation already have flames licking their heels. They judge others by appearance, thought, race, orientation, etc., and give lip service to Christ's admonition to "let he who is without sin cast the first stone". They skim over the parts where Jesus hung out with the fringes of society, welcomed all, loved all. They twist the Bible, change meanings of words and phrases, pick bits apart to justify their version and breed new unholy faiths, where even persecution and murder have been justified "in the name of God".


That's not Christianity.


That's not Jesus.


So whether you feel in your heart Jesus is the son of God, God incarnate, a prophet, or a figment of ancient imagination, I hope this documentary inspires discourse and a rediscovery of what Jesus said:

Love and rejoice in your creator, do good things�


and be excellent to each other.

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