The Pope And The Witch (And The Bitch)

I think I’ve come up with a master plan to achieve literary success, and it’s almost sure-fire. Just write a movie script, tv script, novel or play that is offensive-the more offensive the better-to Bill Donahue, the head of the Catholic Leaque. He’s sure to go on all the major news networks caterwauling like a little bitch, and you’ve got more publicity than you could possibly have imagined, for not one red dime.

That’s the way it seems, anyway. Just a couple of months ago, he went after little Dakota Fanning, of all people, for portraying a character who becomes a rape victim in a movie. He must not have raked in much in the way of contributions from that controversy, as it seemed to die out relatively quick. Now, he’s found another target-a school play, of all things (you would think catholic leaders would know better than to harass child stars and school play performances, but I guess some people just don’t have a sense of irony), called “The Pope And The Witch”.

Here is a very brief synopses of the play. The Pope in question is in a state of anxiety over an impending visit of a hundred thousand children from the third world. No, you wags, not because he doesn’t know possibly how he can ever secretly pick out the most attractive from such a large number in the middle of what will be a media circus. It’s because he thinks it’s all part of a leftist plot to embarrass the Catholic Church over it’s doctrinaire stance on birth control. These children are all from impoverished regions, and families, and they are soon to arrive in Saint Peter’s Square for an audience.

Sometime during the play, the Pope engages in a dialoque with an African shaman (the “witch” of the title), with whom I imagine he engages in a narrative exchange pertaining to wisdom, righteousness, and the responsibilities and consequences of power.

Yeah, it sounds kind of cheesy to me too, and if I had to wager money, I would be willing to bet the play is indeed somewhat anti-Catholic. Does that give Donahue the right to complain about the school’s production? Yes. Does it give him the right to issue a response? Yes.

Did it give him the right to demand the school stop production of the play, which was scheduled to be performed from March 1-9 at the University of Minnesota? No, in my opinion. Luckily, in what Donahue calls a "collapse of leadership" the school decided to go ahead with this example of what Donahue called "hate speech".

What Donahue and his cartel of supporters were attempting, obviously, was the censorship of a work of art that didn't meet their approval. And, thankfully, censorship lost, this time.

And I come at this position honestly as one who is totally opposed to all forms of censorship, save in the following cases- is the work in question slanderous/libelous? Does it encourage incitement to violence? Does it contain child pornography?

In the case of the play in question, the answers would seem to be no, no, and no. So there’s your answer, Bill Donahue-no dice.

So, how about my ideas?

BURN- A drama in which a group of early Christians plan out the burning of Rome in the days of Nero, and carry it out, resulting in the entire movement being persecuted.

So, would this be slanderous? A case could be made for that, I guess, but on the other hand, this is theoretically within the realm of possibility. In point of fact, this is actually what I honestly believe happened. Also, there are no living people that could be directly impacted by the accusation, of course, so no one would be unfairly maligned by such a theory( involving fictional characters), which again, is a most reasonable assumption to make. So, let Billy bitch, about this one and others, such as-

THE PROMISED LAND-A comedy in which a Catholic Priest, whose parish is in danger of shutting down, becomes involved with coyotes smuggling illegal immigrants into his parish in order to increase his flock, which becomes filled with drug smugglers and prostitutes, and gang members. His parish prospers due to the influx of illegal money but his conscience takes a hit-especially when he is investigated by the authorities-though he is encouraged by many of his superiors.

FATAL CHOICE-Yet another Catholic Priest, one involved in the Pro-Life movement, undergoes a crises of faith when he learns the Anti-Christ is soon to be born. He comes to suspect that the mother is a woman in his parish who is-yes, seeking an abortion.

And, finally-

CUTE-

Guess what this one is about? If you need a clue, put it this way: I have to be careful that it doesn’t cross over the line into the realm of matching my third criterion for acceptable censorship.

On the other hand, I’ll probably never write this one, or in fact any of these, I’ve got too many irons in the fire as it is. But just in case I change my mind, I will be counting on Billy Bud, Wailer, for all the publicity I need to make the debut of whichever one I might choose a resounding success.

Hat Tip To Renegade Eye, my cool communist friend who, if communism ever does take over, I hope is put in charge of all the Gulags.

Ancient Days-Ancient Pains

It’s hard to believe that a lot of old bones and dust could stir up such controversy, but then again it’s not often that a Hollywood filmmaker comes out with such an extravagant claim as James Cameron's recent declaration of the discovery of the remains of Jesus Christ. As if that were not enough, also included in the alleged find were the remains of a woman whose name, according to Cameron and his supporters, translates into Mary Magdalene, who it seems must have been married to Jesus, as their four children are also included in the family crypt discovered as long ago as 1980 in the suburbs of Jerusalem.

Add to all this the realization that the second Mary is allegedly none other than the mother of Christ herself and we are faced with what amounts to a triple sacrilege. The most profound disputes toward the findings are as follows-

1. Jesus was resurrected from the grave, after which he ascended into heaven.

2. Jesus Christ never was married, nor did he engage in sexual relations, therefore he could not have had children

3. Mary the mother of Jesus in fact never died, according to Catholic Church tradition, but instead was taken bodily and alive up into heaven.

Therefore, these must be the skeletal remains of a different family, albeit with similar names, right? Well, according to Cameron, that would be a near statistical impossibility, as the discovery is all the more enhanced by the markings on one of the ossuaries that identifies the one set of remains as those of “Jesus son of Joseph”.

Aside from the theological disputes, there is one curious response give by opponents of the claim as to why this could not possibly be the holy family. This being that Jesus was a poor Galillean, and as such would have been buried with any family members in an ordinary grave-not in Judea or outside of Jerusalem, but in Galillee, probably in either Nazareth, or maybe in Cana, where he apparently had relatives.

Of course there might well be one incidental bit of admittedly circumstantial evidence that would support Cameron’s claim. What would this be, you might wonder? Well, how about a certain little old ancient book called –

THE BIBLE?

It doesn’t take much digging through the chapters of the Gospels to ascertain that, indeed, Jesus was buried in the outskirts of Jerusalem, such as might well make a fine location for a modern day Jerusalem suburb, I would suspect, in a rock cut tomb that happened to have been donated for the purpose by a certain Joseph of Arimathaea. This Joseph was a wealthy member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, and one of the few members of that august Jewish body who was a sympathizer of the Roman era teacher, rabbi, and some would claim, messiah.

Here’s how it worked in those days. Wealthy Jews had their bodies entombed in caves cut out from the natural rock of cliffs or other sheer natural rock walls and ledges, the entrances to which were covered after the bodies were deposited inside specially cut niches within the inner walls. After an appropriate amount of time, the skeletal remains were removed from the niches and deposited within special ossuarie boxes which were inscribed with the persons name. His or her spouse and children would later join him in the cave in their own special ossuarie box, or at times more than one set of bones would be placed inside one box.

At any rate, this much is in keeping with the gospel records, but there is a small problem. According to the Gospels, the Jews accused the early Christians of deliberately removing the body of Jesus from it’s tomb and hiding it, or perhaps even ignominously disposing of it, after which they developed what they insisted was the fiction of his resurrection and ascension into heaven.

We have to make a lot of assumptions here, the most important of which would be the assumption that Jesus Christ (or Yeshua) actually existed as a historical personage. I am willing to make that assumption, at least for the sake of argument, though insofar as the myth of his resurrection and ascension-well, sorry, I just ain’t ready to go that route. However, if he did exist, then it is easy to conclude that something happened to his remains. Could the Jewish opponents of the early Christians have been correct?

If so, it seems they would have been taking a big chance to either re-inter him and his family within the confines of the old tomb, or to bury him in yet another similar edifice on the outskirts of Jerusalem. This, however, is not taking into account the great Jewish rebellion of 67 AD. It was probably during and after this time that the Gospels were composed, and this would have been during a time when most Jews were expelled from the environs of the city. It might have been a perfect time for the Christians of that day to decide to re-inter the remains, along with the other members of the family that might have been dead at that time.

Let’s make another giant leap of faith that Jesus actually died the way it was described, including his brutal beating by a cat-o-nine tails. This was an implement that contained not just a leather whip, but shards of sharpened stone, metal, and glass. Wielded by a strong and brutal soldier, this device caused excruciating pain and torture. It could rip through flesh and muscle and conceivably chip and scar down to the bone. It was considered so harsh and torturous, a Roman citizen could not be legally flogged with the cat-o-nine tails more than a set number of times, although there was no limit to the lashes a non-Roman citizen-such as Jesus- could receive.

If this really happened, no wonder he died fairly quickly upon his being hung on the cross. But was he really dead in such a way that would be recognized clinically in this day? Or was he just in the beginning stages of death-a coma, as it were-and thus technically dead, just not all the way so?

After a relatively few hours of this agonizing ordeal, a centurion speared him in the side to insure that he was dead, whereupon it was noted that a mass of plasma which had congealed flowed out from the wound. He was then taken down and doubtless unceremoniously dumped on the ground, after which he was handed over for burial to his mother, let’s assume.

Now comes the intriguing part. Is it possible that the spear thrust, along with possibly the thudding drop upon the ground, inadverdently and unnoticeably made his heart once more resume beating? Were the soldiers stationed at his tomb (assuming there really were such soldiers so stationed) drugged? Or were they bribed? Was someone in this or in any other such fashion given entrance to the tomb only to discover that the messiah yet clung barely to life, thus enabling this person to nurse Jesus back to health enough to remove him from the tomb?

The other more fanciful accounts of his words and deeds we can put down to embellishment, but this would definitely explain his resurrection. After all, his period of hanging on the cross has been said to have been no more than about six hours, by far a less amount of time than afforded the average crucifixion, some of which could last for days. In addition, there were no broken bones, no damaged organs outside the flesh and skin, and possibly some bone nicks and at most some slight fractures.

He would have been in a great amount of pain, would have been exhausted physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, but outside of this, and the very real possibility of infection from his wounds, and loss of blood, no true damage was done. Even the larger side wound from the thrusting spear might have afforded some healing by encouraging and enhancing blood flow.

As such, he could have in a very real sense “risen from the grave”. His ascension into heaven would have come later, through the hearts and minds of his followers, throughout the years to come. As for his actual physical body, who is to say that at some point in the years to come, he did not finally meet his death, and was returned to that old donated crypt, now long forgotten by those few remaining Jews that lived, most of whom had by then moved on to other lands.

Or maybe he was buried instead in Japan. Or Kashmir. No matter where he was buried, his bones might well conceivably bear the nicks and cuts from the cat-o-nine tails, though admittedly they might not after all this time show to the naked eye. Still, with infrared lighting, with x-rays, etc., they might show up. Or maybe they wouldn't. Maybe it has just been too long, and the circumstances of his internment just were not conducive to their preservation. And, it has to be noted, even if these were to show up, as compelling as this might be, it still would not necessarily constitute proof.

It doesn’t really matter in a sense. No matter where he was buried,or whether or not his remains are ever found, or whether even his physical body has long ago entirely faded into the dust of the ages-he is still very much alive.

Caligula And George W. Bush

Is George W. Bush sufferring from the same mental/emotional malady that best the Roman Emperor Caligula (37-40 A.D.)? There is very good reason to think so. Caligula thought he was a god. He believed this quite literally, and fervently, from all accounts. Unlike his predecessors, who adopted a kind of benign, exalted godhood out of a need to establish a social structure that was consistent and orderly, he took it quite seriously. Bush is similar in this regard. American Presidents have always believed they had a special status, as guardians of a divinely ordained institution. Bush, on the other hand, seems to go well beyond this. If I didn't know better, I would think the man believes he is the messiah, to all intents and purposes The Second Coming Of Christ. And, this would fit in well with the conservative Christian view of the present age as an end to "The Millenium", with all it's myriad supposed signs of the encroaching apocalypse. After all, Bush has made claims as to his special relationship with his supposed "Creator". The implications are obvious, and frightening.

There are other similarities. Caligula, as well as Bush, wrecked the treasury of his nation, which had previously been on not only sound financial footing, but was a repository of up until then unheard of wealth. Caligula, like Bush today, went through the treasury like it was Kool-Aid, and soon the country was bankrupt.

But what really got me interested in this possibility, and caused me to take notice of it, quite by accident, was astrology. I had long been intrigued by the possibilities inherent in the prospect of astrological planetary returns. For example, Neptune is now at roughly the 14th degree of the sign of Aquarius. It takes Neptune roughly 163 and 3/4 years to make a complete orbit around the sun, therefore that amount of time to make a complete run throughout the zodiac. Thus, one return. What do you see then if you multiply that times twelve? Twelve, of course, being a significant number astrologically in that there are twelve signs of the Zodiac. You run it back from there and, sure enough, the twelth time going back that Neptune was at the 14th degree, or thereabouts, of Aquarius, was during the year 40 A.D.-the year Caligula was assassinated.

One needs now to bear in mind that Neptune is the planet of illusion and delusion, of deception and mystery. What it's presence in the sign of Aquarius brings to bear is not to me immediately clear, as I am not, I am sorry to say, that great an astrologer insofar as comprehensive depth of knowledge goes. On the other hand, I did discover these aspects and similarities between Bush and Caligula, so go figure.

Another thing I noticed, quite by accident, is that in 40 A.D. the planet Pluto was at, roughly, the 26th degree of Saggittarius-about where it is at this present time. So we have a double whammy, a double matching aspect pertaining to the two men. What does it mean? I wish I knew. Does it mean Bush will be assassinated. Maybe not. It could augur, however, that he will come to an ignonimous end, though this might not necessarily entail a physical death. It could simply mean a political downfall, one from which he will never recover. And one which, more likely than not, he will have brought on himself.

I will be watching, and paying close attention, that is for sure.

Olympic Gold

Well, there you have it, exactly one day after the announcement that London beat out Paris to be the host city of the 2012 Sumer Olympics, a terrorist attack, courtesy of Al-QAueda Europe, has claimed, at last count, 43 lives, and this shall doubtless grow. By the time I have finished with this post, I wouldn't be surprised to hear there have been another one, or others. If not by then, perhaps by sometime in the day, or the next one, or the next, etc.

The irony is, I for one believe London was chosen to be the host city of the 2012 Olympics for security reasons, more than any other single reason. What amazes me was even that Paris was in the running to begin with, to say nothing of making it up to the top two. True,m there have been no terrorist attacks in Paris. But think about it. There is a large Muslim population in France, more so than in most other European countries, and this has had a heavy, considerable impact on French politics. One need only to look at the recent rejection of the EU Constitution to see this. One of the major reasons the French people voted overwhelmingly to reject the EU blueprint, besides a growing dislike for Jacques Chirac, and dissatisfaction with the state of the French economy, is their wariness, and weariness, with immigration. Specifically, with immigration from Muslim countries. This has been a bad problem which the EU does not deign fit to address, probably due to the fact that Turkey is an important member. Still, the French people spoke with a huge voice on the matter. As did the Dutch.

There are many Arabs and Muslims, currently living in European countries, who have no respect or regard for European people or culture. It seems to be an ongoing policy of immigrate, breed like rats, do not assimilate any more than necessary, and then one day become the majority. Then, rule with an iron fist, doubtless, over a European Islamic state. This I have heard is actually a stated goal of a certain Turkish Islamic fundamentalist group, who are in fact responsible for recent violence in the Netherlands, culminating in the death of Dutch film maker Theogh Van Gogh.

But as uncertain as the situation is in The Netherlands, it is worse in France, in fact, France is a powder keg, getting ready to blow up at any time. Small wonder the Olympic Committee chose London. To be sure, Britain itself has a sizable Muslim population, and liberal policies towards it's immigrants, but it's record and policies toward security are far more comforting.

Until today. I believe the Al-Queda network has really screwed up now, though. I remember when Argentina thought they could bulldoze their way into the Falklands, a small group of islands that belongs to Britain, off the coast of Argentina, that contains a larger population of sheep than it's few thousand citizens. The war that resulted could have almost been missed had we blinked long enough. The British made short work of this bunch.

And Britain has without a doubt the best intelligence service in the world, with the possible, arguable exception of Israel's Moussad. I have always been of the opinion that Britains major contribution to the Allied cause in World War II was not so much it's military (though it's contribution here is more than is generally recognized) as it was it's intelligence services, particularly MI5. I have no doubt the British tradition of efficiency in intelligence gathering and consequent appropriate actions taken will result in a massive apprehension of Al-Queda terrorists, not only in Britain, but probably as well in Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, and France. It may take a while, and there may well be more terrorist incidents in Britain in the meantime, as well as in the aftermath, but the British will do what they have to do, and will not allow themselves to be hamstrung by the so-called "liberal" politics which has afflicted the United States, and so many other European communities. The British, I am certain, will stand together as one people, much like the Americans in the aftermath of 9/11, only the difference will be they will stand united. Those who oppose any necessary actions will be marginalized and shunned, as they should be.

There is just too much at stake, for Britain and for the civilized world, for the British to not take a firm, just stand against this barbaric savagery.

Scientology-Cruise Needs A psychiatrist

I had to make a comment as regards the subject of the previous post. Cruise is obviously losing his mind, so it is only natural and perhaps fitting that he should grasp so whole-heartedly onto the Scientologist belief on the matter of psychiatry. There is something about religion as a general rule that makes a person so crazy he or she just has to "spread the word". I was this way when I first began my ventures into Wicca, which lead to my own Hellenic Pagan Path. It's an exciting new world, and you can't help but want to share it, sametimes to your own detriment. He will calm down in time, just as I did, as do most of us. In the meantime-

Cruise needs to consider the following facts. The brain is an organic part of the body, and there are times when certain medications may be vital to it's oerall functioning, the same as with all other parts of the body. Not to say that there are not abuses, there most certainly are. I myself have great qualms about the tendency of childrens' parents to put them on Ritalin when the fucking television doesn't seem to keep them out of their hair for very long at a time. Far too many kids are misdiagnosed, and I suspect a great breach of medical ethics here, as well as parental ones.

Nevertheless, there are times when it may be necessary, as is the case of prescriptions to anti-depressants, again a potentially dangerous and probably abused procedure. But Cruise wants to level a blanket indictment against all psychiatrits and their patients, and this is really unjust. He seems to think that a regimen of healthy food, exercise, and vitamin supplements will cure all ills. Prescription drugs, he claims, merely mask the problem. This is really quite extraordinary. I am a big fan of vitamin supplements, as well as herbs, minerals, and amino acids. Having researched these thoroughly, I can state with a degree of knowledge that vitamins and other such supplements can as well be abused. In fact, they too can mask the symptoms of illnesses by making the person who takes them feel better than may be the reality concerning his or her health. Somebody needs to explain this to Cruise. Then, somebody needs to slip him a good tranquilizer.

Michael Schiavo Should Sue The Schindlers

Most of even the supporters of Michael Schiavo seem not to have noticed the real story behind the efforts of the Schindler family over the last decade. A time line might prove helpful in discerning certain facts. The Schindlers first sued for custody of their daughter, Terri Schiavo, within a year of Michael Schiavo winning a lawsuit which netted him 1,000,000 dollars for the care of his wife. It is easy to see that, had they won this initial custody suit, Michael would have been obliged, potentially, to hand over the money he had won in this lawsuit. Now, here is the important thing to consider. It was not until three years after this lawsuit initiated by the Schindlers, that Michael petitioned the courts to remove Terri's feeding tube. Take the time to digest that simple fact. When the Schindlers started their shit, it was three years before Michael petitioned the courts to have the feeding tube removed. Here comes a chronology.

1992: Michael Schiavo wins settlement of 1,000,000 plus dollars for the care of his wife.
1993: The Schindler family initiates a lawsuit to gain custody of their daughter from Michael Schiavo.
1994: Michael Schiavo petitions the courts to remove Terri Schiavo's feedign tube.

So what was the reason for the initial lawsuit on behalf of the Schindlers. It can only be money. Of course, this money was long since dissipated in the course of the numerous lawsuits filed by the Schindlers, which Schiavo was obliged to fight. But the Schindlers cause became the cause celebre' of Right wing Christians and social conservative politicians across the country, so they received, I would suggest, a great deal of metary support for their continuing endeavors. Look out for the book. And for the movie.

Michael Schiavo is a hero in my opinion, one of the few true American heroes (a term which is oft used and abused). And now that the final autopsy report has been released, verifying that Terri was indeed in a persistent vegetative state, the Schindlers, as I predicted, could not let it go. They are still insisting the doctors are wrong, even implying that they are lying, or hiding the truth to protect their reputations, with the assistance, no doubt, of the courts and state agencies which were involved in the matter and had decided time after time on behalf of Mr. Schiavo. Other amongst their long-time supporters will hold fast to the belief that regardless of the veracity of the autopsy, it was still morally wrong to remove the feeding tube. And then there is Governor Jeb Bush, who, in an effort to regain favor with ths crowd, which was tested severely when he refused to intervene with an emergency order to prevent the tube from being removed, has now stated the time line should be investigated as to how long it took Michael Schiavo to contact emergency personnel upon Terri's collapse, implying of course the potential for foul play on Michael's part.

Yet, no one has questioned the Schindler time line, and their obvious, to me, grasping for money and influence. I would strongly suggest that Michael Schavo should sue the Schindlers, as well as several of their supporters, including possibly their priest. Jeb Bush, too, might be considered by some a tempting target, including me. What Michael Schiavo has been going through over the last twelve years amounts to libel and slander of the most obscene variety. A good stiff lawsuit against the perpetrators might send a well needed message to them, and to the right wing smear merchants in general. It's time to bring this shameful episode in American jurisprudence to a close.

Terri Schiavo-Autopsy Report Due Today

The Schiavo controversy may be due this day for a resurrection of sorts, when the final autopsy report is finally made public. There are hopes that the report will prove conclusively that Terri Schiavo was indeed NOT in the vegetative state that her husband, scores of doctors, and a variety of court judges decided that she was, before the feeding tube that kept her wasted body going was finally removed, resulting in her death some nearly two weeks later. But just who is it that hopes for this? Her family, of course-her mother, father, brother, and sister-and one would assume their myriad supporters among the politicos, pundits, and religious figures ranging from the catholic hierarchy, to right wing evangelists such as Jerry Falwell and Doctor James Dobson, to Jesse Jackson. In other words, all of them are waiting on pins and needles in the hopes that poor Terri did, indeed, suffer grievously during her final days and hours.

In the event this does indeed turn out to be the case, hold your breath-and your nose-for the release of the numerous prepared statements to the press excoriating the widower Schiavo and his supporters. In the event that the opposite turns out to be the case, you can count on a separate variety of prepared statements from the same circle of allies, only in this case it will probably be a play in two acts.

Act One will contain the story of how the courts, the media, and Schiavo's attorneys have doubtless all conspired to lie on the documents for political, monetary, and legal reasons. A type of cover-up, if you will. They might maintain that this conspiracy has been on-going from day one, from the day Terri first suffered the on-set of her mysteriously degenerating condition, in the case of Mr. Schiavo and his shadowy supporters. Others might maintain the cover-up came after the fact of the death, in the case of political considerations of a good many of Mr. Schiavo's political supporters. There will be accusations of bribery and corruption in high places.

Act Two will come somewhat later, and will develop into an excoriation of the all-pervading "culture of death" that is all too ready to end a human life at the first convenience, and on the slightest pretext. And, once again, the culture wars will be in full fury, with the smiling, unaware face of Terri Schiavo the poster child of the Far Right, invoking the kindness of compassionate conservatism.

Only this time, the play will be performed to a nearly empty house, and will close after a very brief run, in the event that Mr. Schiavo's and his supporters claims turn out to be verified. Still, in the unlikely event that it does indeed turn out that Ms. Schiavo suffered form excruciating pain and agony during her last few days, as a result of Mr. Schiavo and his supporters selfishly removing the feeding tube, and it is proven that Terri was not, after all, in a persistent vegetative state, but had minimal consciousness and feeling-then, the family of Terri Schiavo and their friends and supporters will have a reason to smile. Of course, they will try not to, but, like Terri, hopefully they would be unable to control themselves.