Got your attention, didn’t it? Some media announcements about archaeological discoveries paint them as shaking the very foundations of faith in Jesus. The latest such has been described on many blogs over the past month. In a nutshell, the media storm concerns a stone tablet that is said to date from the 1st century B.C. and which appears to describe a pre-Jesus messianic figure who dies and rises on the third day.
Well, maybe. Or maybe not. CNN has a helpful video summarizing the possible implications of “Gabriel’s tablet”...
Going green. It's everywhere. Slogans like "Composting is a 'berry' good idea!" and "'Lettuce' make an impact on our community" are hugging the sides of buses in California. Times Square is unveiling its first solar-powered billboard at the end of the year. Boeing is developing a new jet that burns less fuel and cuts carbon emissions. Green is in. It's trendy. It's big business. And it's also very Jewish. Eco-friendly Jewish farmers are promoting the "going green" lifestyle with their free-range livestock, fairly-traded foods, and agricultural cooperatives.
I've been listening to the radio far more often since receiving my recent birthday present to myself: a compact table-top radio/cd/alarm clock. And so it was that I heard a personal essay deemed important enough, or deep enough or who-knows-what-enough to be read aloud on National Public radio.
"I do not want to be a God-fearing man," the slightly southern sounding drawl intoned. The man went on tell how the religious institution in which he'd been raised was ruled by fear. He used words like "sledgehammer" and "intimidation" to describe his experience. He recalled how he'd been "disfellowshipped" as a teen, after having premarital sex with his girlfriend. He'd been offered the following choice: announce to the congregation that the behavior was a sin, repent and be forgiven, or leave the church. He made his choice, and has since gone on to discover "God as I understand him."
